About the Book
Before She Knew Him

Before She Knew Him
Author: Peter Swanson
Pages: 309
ISBN: 0062838156
Genre: Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Thriller
Publisher: William Morrow
Released: March 5, 2019

Rating:

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Synopsis

Catching a killer is dangerous—especially if he lives next door

Hen and her husband Lloyd have settled into a quiet life in a new house outside of Boston, Massachusetts. Hen (short for Henrietta) is an illustrator and works out of a studio nearby, and has found the right meds to control her bipolar disorder. Finally, she’s found some stability and peace.
But when they meet the neighbors next door, that calm begins to erode as she spots a familiar object displayed on the husband’s office shelf. The sports trophy looks exactly like one that went missing from the home of a young man who was killed two years ago. Hen knows because she’s long had a fascination with this unsolved murder—an obsession she doesn’t talk about anymore, but can’t fully shake either.
Could her neighbor, Matthew, be a killer? Or is this the beginning of another psychotic episode like the one she suffered back in college, when she became so consumed with proving a fellow student guilty that she ended up hurting a classmate?
The more Hen observes Matthew, the more she suspects he’s planning something truly terrifying. Yet no one will believe her. Then one night, when she comes face to face with Matthew in a dark parking lot, she realizes that he knows she’s been watching him, that she’s really on to him. And that this is the beginning of a horrifying nightmare she may not live to escape. . .


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Our Review

SPOILER ALERT: My review contains SPOILERS. I have chosen to hide the spoilers within drop-down links so I don’t ruin the book for other readers.

This was an interesting plot with some “I didn’t see that coming” twists that really kept me entertained. I felt that Hen’s condition was a little toooooo convenient though and certain situations felt highly unlikely, but it did allow the plot to work and add to the suspense.

View Spoiler For example, what are the odds of Hen and Lloyd living down the street from Dustin when he was murdered before moving across the street from his killer later on? Not to mention the convenient coincidence that Hen happened to randomly encounter Dustin in a coffee shop (prior to his murder), agree to sketch him (at his request), and have a similar situation that would have justified the likelihood that Dustin most likely did rape a fellow student during a fencing event?

First, she’s an older, married woman encountering a younger, college-aged student but her character doesn’t indicate any form of interest of infidelity or naiveness.

Second, the author portrays her irrational actions to her uncontrolled manic episodes at the time, but yet she was described as a mostly introverted, anti-social and occasionally paranoid person. Even if that WAS the case, introverted, paranoid woman don’t go home with random strangers…. especially guys.

Third, Matthew hid his killings successfully for many years and was never even a suspect, and yet he suddenly confesses and comes clean with his (accurately) accusing neighbor with the justification that no one would believe her because of her manic episode in the past. It just felt like the puzzle pieces were too tidy, too coincidental, too, well, conveniently perfect.


Overall, I think it’s a good read for thriller and plot twist lovers and worthy of 4 stars  but the unlikely situations felt a little like “cheating” in order to make the plot work, hence my final 3 star review.

This book was used for prompt #6: A book recommended by someone in the group in the BOTM 30/30 – Summer 2019 Challenge and BOTM Summer Slam.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges: