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The Mothers

Five women. Five secrets. One missing husband.

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About this listen

 FROM THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING AUTHOR

'Dazzlingly inventive'
Sunday Times, Crime Book of the Month

'A meticulously plotted exploration of friendship, foe-ship and the lies that bind, which builds to a gripping and powerful conclusion'
Cara Hunter

**********

FIVE WOMEN.

They meet at their NCT Group. The only thing they have in common is they're all pregnant.

FIVE SECRETS.

Three years later, they are all good friends. Aren't they?

ONE MISSING HUSBAND.

Now the police have come knocking. Someone knows something.

THE TROUBLE WITH SECRETS IS THAT SOMEONE ALWAYS TELLS...

**********

'The perfect dose of thrills and suspense, this will keep you engrossed to the very end' Heat

'Original and stylish... will keep you guessing to the last page'
Sharon Bolton

For fans of Big Little Lies, The Rumour and I Invited Her In, this is first class psychological suspense from the critically acclaimed Sarah J Naughton.©2019 Sarah J. Naughton (P)2019 Orion Publishing Group Crime Crime Thrillers Entertainment & Performing Arts Fiction Film & TV Mystery Psychological Screenwriting Thriller Thriller & Suspense Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Suspense Exciting British Fiction Domestic Noir
All stars
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Enjoyable but too many characters and many of them stereotypes. Found it hard to follow everyone’s plots. A decent enough read.

Enjoyable

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I liked the narration of this book and the story was enjoyable and more so because, for a change, I didn’t see all of the twists coming.

Good listen

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I started to expect something but not quite the plot twist the author threw in at the end. Good build-up and variety of characters. Had thought more of the detective than how that was left, although the ending makes sense why the detective character isn't given the gratification you believe she will get.

I did, however, find the author a little undermining of working women and her stance on the female body, and this expectation every woman should go back to pre baby weight

Overall, it's worth a read/listen, but you may find some of the descriptions of the characters a little misogynistic despite the fact it's written by a woman

Was a good story

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This book is hard to rate - I really liked "Tattletale" and I ADORED "The Other Couple" - so I really was expecting great things from this author Sarah J Naughton and had this book on pre order as soon as I heard of it. The set up of the diverse group of friends was intriguing and the missing husband and chapter one did start out well. The narration was excellent, the story seemed like it was a real page turner but being overshadowed by mental illness ruined it for me.

In fact I nearly returned it before I even reached the first chapter as I found the prologue so off putting. I listen to audiobooks for relaxation and I find a great thriller, especially one set in a luxurious exotic setting as "The Other Couple" was to be just perfect .... but as soon as the red herring of a hallucination inducing psychiatric disorder is introduced, I just do not want to hear any more.
Firstly because it is a serious, disturbing and gritty issue, especially when it involves post natal depression and secondly because it is such a cop out as a suspense device .... is a man really following me with an axe in his pocket or was it the milkman and I am going bonkers.
Rather like the equally serious and upsetting cave-in of animal cruelty being used to ramp up the drama and impending threat - I find it just such a cheap cliche and in the case of many less talented authors, struggling to write a thriller just plain lazy and transparently formulaic.
I suppose I just expected more from Sarah J Naughton who is a compelling storyteller and once the shadow of mental illness/postnatal depression and delusions was cast I just was no longer interested in reading a thriller - however good - which depends on psychiatric disorders to work.
I also think it is disrespectful to those who struggle with mental disorders that this is used so much as a weasel in thrillers.
I am sure this book was written very well as per the first two books but for me, I prefer plot lines where one of the main characters does not fear they are having a terrifying slide into psychosis, as apart from anything else,it has been done to death already.
I will look out for Sarah J Naughton's next book, but am returning this one and just so sorry it was not on a par with "The Other Couple".

Another Thriller Muddied by Mental Health Issues

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Really liked the narrator. Took a while to get into the story but was worth staying with it!.

Great story

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