The New Husband

After Nina Garrity's husband, Glen, vanishes, she does her best to carry on. Although she is a licensed social worker, she has not held a job in years. Finances are tight, and her two children, sixteen-year-old Connor and thirteen-year-old Maggie, miss their father. Seventeen months later, her neighbors in Seabury, New Hampshire are shocked when Nina, her kids, and their adorable golden retriever, Daisy, move in with a local middle-school teacher named Simon Fitch. Simon claims to have enough money to support them, and he assures Nina that there is no need for her to go back to work. For some reason, while Connor gets along with Simon, Maggie takes an instant dislike to the new man in her mother's life. Meanwhile, Nina is grateful for show more the comfort and affection that Simon provides. Still, there are many unanswered questions that trouble Nina. What happened to Glen? Did he commit a crime and go into hiding, run off with another woman, or is he injured or even dead? No one seems to know.

D. J. Palmer's "The New Husband" is a page-turner about a disturbed individual who has two faces—one that he shows to the world and one that he makes a great effort to hide. There have been many domestic dramas about naïve women who fall for men who seem too good to be true. Then, little by little, the masks begins to slip, and warning signs (usually ignored by heroines in denial) point to trouble ahead. The author is particularly successful at capturing Maggie's desperate voice. Although Palmer writes in the third person, he gives Maggie chapters of her own in which she pours out her heart about the bullying she has endured from former friends, her suspicions about Simon, and her yearning to see her dad again.

Little by little, Palmer divulges much of what is going on, so this is not a typical whodunit. Rather, "The New Husband" is an eerie exploration of abuse in all of its forms. As many of us know, children who are mistreated may grow up to become warped and predatory adults. We watch in horrified fascination as Nina seeks employment over Simon's objections; Maggie and a close friend launch an investigation of their own; and a horrific act of violence leaves an innocent person near death. This is a suspenseful and absorbing--albeit far-fetched—tale. It has vividly drawn characters and an unnerving plot that will appeal to fans of fast-paced and creepy psychological thrillers. show less

I must admit that I was not a fan of Mr. Palmer's second book. After reading the first and really enjoying it, I was looking forward to reading this book. What did not work for me was how naïve, Nina came off. She had many signs hitting her in the face and she ignored them all. Than, when she was confronted with the truth; she acted as if she was surprised.

Simon was not likable at all. This is the point but he also was not a very good liar. He would act like a gentleman one moment and the next he would lose his temper. Nina was in an emotional abusive relationship and she went with it. Nina's actions frustrated me so much that I found myself yelling at her constantly and getting even turned off by her.

While, this book may not have show more been a winner for me. I do look forward to the next book by Mr. Palmer as I know he can write. show less

This book was so incredibly good! I’ve been looking to The New Husband after seeing it on a few Goodreads giveaways, but I went into it a little wearily—I’ve just skimmed through a couple of books I had been anticipating and I didn’t like them at all.

But I flew through this one, reading to the end with a good sense of dread in case it ended as a feared.

It starts with the disappearance of Nina’s husband, Glen Garrity, who had apparently been leading a shady double life. When Simon Fitch comes into her life, he’s the answer to everything. But Nina’s daughter Maggie has some serious reservations about his behavior. And can any man really be as perfect as Simon seems to be?

D. J. Palmer has a well written and tightly paced show more thriller on his hands. Simon is a satisfyingly devious and creepy antagonist and you want to scream WAKE UP GIRL at Nina throughout. But it’s 8th grader Maggie who steals the show. Palmer has written the best child’s POV I have seen in an adult book. I loved her chapters.

I really recommend this one. Special thanks to Goodreads and St. Martin’s Press for this giveaway. show less

This new thriller by DJ Palmer may take a bit to get going, but once it does, there is not a dull moment! It definitely fits the definition of a thriller.

When Glen Garrity goes missing, everyone assumes he must be dead—even his family. His wife Nina eventually begins a relationship with a middle school teacher named Simon. The children, Connor and Maggie, have two distinctly different feelings about Simon.

As time goes on the relationship between Simon and Maggie becomes very tense. Simon and Nina are having trouble as well, because of Maggie and because of Nina’s lingering feelings for Glen and her reluctance to go ahead and marry Simon.

Eventually Maggie gets Connor involved in a scheme to find out some things about Simon. Things show more within the family soon reach a dangerous level and thankfully Connor is able to make a decision that saves his family.

Along with the family’s loyal dog, Daisy (my favorite character), they all soon learn what really happened to their dad and what secrets Simon has been hiding. The ending was so tense, that I had to put the book down and walk away for a bit!

For sensitive readers, there are some violent scenes and references to domestic abuse. Readers who love a great thriller, will enjoy this one. It may be a bit predictable, but I still found it quite an exciting read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for allowing me to read an advance copy and give my honest review. show less

Nina Garrity was devastated when her husband, Glen, disappeared – presumably drowned because police couldn’t find his body – when he was out fishing on his boat at Carson one day.
After more than one and a half years, Nina moved on with her life, finding her new love, soon-to-be- new husband, Simon Fitch; and hoped to rebuild a loving family with him and her two children, Maggie and Conner…
However, Nina slowly learned that she was being isolated from her social circle, her job, outside world… To make things worse, something horrendous had happened to her therapist that almost killed her! Nina’s life was turned upside down when she discovered layer after layer of dark secrets and lies about Glen as well as Simon!! Were there show more more unthinkable disasters coming her way?

D.J. Palmer has brilliantly weaved plenty of twists and turns into this gripping thriller “The New Husband” that keep one on edge! I loved his “Saving Meghan” and “The New Husband”, both full of compelling plots! D.J. Palmer is a stunning author with great potential and I truly looking forward to reading his future thrillers! show less

I always find it difficult to review mystery novels, because I live in fear or the spoiler, and I know mystery lovers like myself will be able to read between the lines and pick up on clues that may spoil the experience for them as well. So this is why I just leave vague feelings of the book and hope it helps a little.
Pretty predictable, with a few twists I didn't see coming, though in hindsight I should have. However, I enjoyed the writing very much and I liked several of the characters. Not overly gratuitous in the love scenes or the violent scenes so readers averse to overly graphic descriptions of either will be pleased.
All in all I will read more of this author as they do have a nice style, and I would recommend this to anyone show more looking for something more than a cozy but not some gritty thriller. show less

I am not exactly sure why this book is called The New Husband because unless I slept through the ceremony, Nina and Simon never got hitched. That being said, I might have missed it since I did have to rewind after falling asleep a number of times listening to this book and not because I was tired (sometimes I noticed that I had wandered off to somewhere more interesting than the story while still awake).

A fisherman sidles up alongside a boat that seems to be drifting. There is blood all over the floor of the boat but no skipper, no human soul on board, only a dog. Nina is surprised when a policeman comes the door of her house and begins asking questions about Glen, her husband of (c.) 20 years. She and the couple’s children, Maggie show more and Connor, receive the devastating news that her husband’s boat was found with their dog on board, but the husband is missing and may be dead considering the volume of blood at the scene.

As Maggie picks up the pieces, she soon learns that her husband was keeping quite a few secrets from her and his memory quickly slips sloppily from the devoted hardworking father to the douchebag, lying, cheating husband. Enter Simon, Middle School Geography teacher who ingratiates and insinuates himself into the family. Within only a few months Nina has rebounded, and the couple have purchased a new house together and are living Simon’s ideal of the happy family. Simon has a few issues, to say the least, and two previous wives who disappeared/died under mysterious circumstances. DING DING DING where is your commonsense Nina? It soon becomes clear to the reader and Maggie that under the façade of Simon’s placid and friendly demeanor lurks a monster.

The hero of this story is Maggie, who takes a real emotional beating both by the tragic loss of her father and then by the carefully hidden abuses she suffers at the hands of Simon. Nina spends ¾ of the book with her head in the ground (I opted for the more polite phrase), allowing herself to be manipulated and isolated. Her neediness to be taken care of places herself and everyone around her in mortal jeopardy.

It took the same ¾ of the book to finally take off. There are no unpredictable twists and turns, only a sudden flurry of thrilling suspense at the end of the novel. I felt kind of cheated at having to waste so much time rolling my eyes to finally get to that point.

The ending was so exciting that I might have pushed this up from 3.5 stars to 4, but then, the ultimate insult: the lengthy and totally meh epilogue. (Here I go again) Why do so many authors feel that they must write an epilogue? That is the true mystery. show less