The Perfect Couple

Favorite Quotes:

In the hallway, a plaster statue of Jesus, arms outstretched, greeted visitors, while the rest of the house was dominated by paintings and figurines depicting the Madonna and Child, Saint Bernadette (‘patron saint of illness’, Danny had hissed, one eyebrow raised, as he’d given me the tour), Saint Jude (‘he’s for desperate causes’) and Saint Clare (‘eye diseases. And, weirdly, patron saint of laundry and television,’ he’d said). Wildly sceptical, I’d googled Saint Clare at the first available opportunity, only to find out he’d been absolutely right. Laundry? Why did laundry need a patron saint?

They’re complicated sometimes, family relationships, aren’t they? Love and hate, hate and love, so show more tightly entwined that they almost become one.

DS Clarke was looking at me with a new interest, the gentleness I’d seen in his eyes previously replaced with something more piercing, as if I was a fascinating exhibit in a museum.

Karma, I thought yet again. The number of times I’d been part of a press pack, staking out the home of a politician or a paedophile, desperate to get that shot, that interview. I’d barely given a thought to how awful it must be for those trapped inside their homes. Well, I knew now, didn’t I?

My Review:

This tale had me chewing on my lips and wanting to pull my own hair, it was cunning, deviously clever, and maddeningly paced. I devised numerous wild and far-fetched theories and while partly correct, I hadn’t worked it all out as this plot was so twisty I doubt anybody could have and dare anyone to claim they had. The little pea in my brain was scorched from the effort and during the big reveal I wanted to shout at the idiocy of the main character, but I’m not sure how I feel about the conclusion other than brain bruised and distressed. Several of these characters were chillingly abhorrent and I despised the nearsighted and mono-focus of the police. Oh the sheer guile and artifice of this crafty author, Jackie Kabler is a full-blown trickster who ruthlessly tipped her own special blend of itching powder into my gray matter. show less

Wow! I'm exhausted after reading 47 chapters of this chilling, edge-of-your-seat psychological crime thriller.

Gemma O'Connor's life is about to change. Her husband, Danny, is missing and there is a serial killer on the loose who is murdering men who have an uncanny resemblance to Danny. Unfortunately, circumstantial evidence points to Gemma, and with time running out, she frantically rushes to prove her innocence. But what she finds is so much worse.

Told from Gemma's perspective and from the perspectives of detectives investigating the case, the author does a fantastic job building the momentum of the case and drawing the reader in. I admire Gemma's strength and determination trying to prove her innocence in a hopeless situation where show more all the cards are stacked against her. The detectives, on the other hand, could have handled the case better, but I understand the pressure to solve the murders and the evidence is damning.

I can't recommend this crime thriller enough. I cringed at the injustice and was frightened of the outcome. This fast-paced book will grab you from the start and when every shocking piece unravels, it will blow you away. It would make an awesome motion picture. Recommend highly!

Thank you to Ms. Kabler for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review. show less

From start to finish, this book was superb.

My favorite part of this story was its consistency. From the beginning, and all the way through to the end, the author manages to drop in just enough of a hint or plot point to keep you engaged. There are no dragging moments where you're just in it for the end result.

Throughout the story line, I was second guessing my predictions and wondering if I was being led on in the wrong direction. Was I being told to look right when the story was going left? Is this person as sane as they think they are, or are we being given a normal narrative from an insane character? You never find out until the end.

The author did a fantastic job filling out each character without bogging you down with details. No show more character was too minor or insignificant. You could recall each person with familiarity, even if their role was small.

Jackie Kabler has written the epitome of a psychological thriller.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review. show less

Where do I start? The Perfect Couple sums itself up pretty well with that cover. Jackie Kabler has no qualms with instantly placing the reader into the center of a perplexing mystery. Gemma arrives home to realize that Danny, her husband, is missing. No sign of foul play, no missing items, just…. gone. Even worse for her, the police start to suspect that she is the one behind his disappearance. After all, she’s the only one who has seen him in weeks. Who’s to say that she isn’t trying to cover up something nefarious? What follows is a slow burn chase, with Gemma trying desperately to figure out what on Earth is going on.

Now I have to say that I definitely enjoyed Gemma’s character. She, unsurprisingly, starts the story out in show more a whole heap of shock and feels unable to do much. However as the story progresses, I found myself wholeheartedly cheering her on. She was unwilling to rely on the police to solve things. Gemma was smart. Let me tell you. If I were in her position, I don’t think I would have had half the amount of tenacity and stubbornness that she did. Her determination was refreshing, and I loved how outside of the box her personal investigations were.

I also very much enjoyed the way that the plot was laid out. Don’t worry, I won’t spoil anything for all you potential readers out there. Still I feel that it’s safe to say that this book has a good handle on slowly laying out the clues and the facts, allowing the reader to feel like they are uncovering things right alongside Gemma. The pacing was pretty solid, and it was nice that there were other characters that made their way into Gemma’s story that felt like they fit in perfectly. If this book was a puzzle, it would have been a challenging one but also one that felt like all the pieces were meant to be there.

So, why the three star rating? My biggest hang up with this story was just that it felt too long for its own good. There were chapters that I ended up just skimming, because most of it was dialogue between the police that were on the case and none of it really seemed to add anything new to the case. This doesn’t change my earlier thought that the pacing was good. It was. There were just some portions that I think could have easily been shortened without losing the overarching mystery plotline. By the time I reached the ending I had actually figured out what was going on, mainly because the filler chapters gave me so much time to mull things around. I’m starting to see that, in most cases, shorter is better when it comes to mystery and thriller books.

All of that aside, this was an enjoyable way to while away a few hours. I kept picturing myself reading this next to a fireplace, snuggled under a comforter, with a cup of hot cocoa. That’s the vibe that it gives off. I hope that you’ll all enjoy it as well! show less

Life has been perfect for Gemma and her husband Danny. The successful journalist and IT specialist have decided to flee busy London and settle in Bristol in a nice home where the quality of living is higher. When Gemma returns one Friday evening only three weeks after their move, she expects Danny to be at home waiting for her with dinner. However, their house is deserted, no sign that her partner has been at home after work. First, she is only slightly concerned, working overtime is not unusual in his job, but not getting hold of him makes her wonder. After changing his job, he hasn’t gotten a new mobile phone and thus, they only communicate via e-mail which he doesn’t answer. Gemma bravely waits two days, becoming increasingly show more frightened before she contacts the police for filing a missing persons’ report. What she learns then is that two men looking like Danny’s twins have been murdered in the area and soon she finds herself prime suspect in a serial killer case as strangely, there is not the least sign in her home of Danny ever having lived there with her. What is she actually hiding?

Jackie Kabler’s mystery novel starts quite typical for a thriller, you are immediately thrown into the plot and discover the vanishing of her husband together with Gemma. Thus, you get her growing concern first hand and can easily follow her thoughts. When the police’s side of the story is told, the author switches the point of view and leaves you quite quickly in the positing where you wonder if either you were fooled by Gemma who seemingly has set up some very good murder plot or if the woman suffers from some kind of serious mental troubles and even only imagined to have a husband whom strangely hardly anybody seems to have known. On the other hand, there is some creepy feeling that Danny might have taken advantage of Gemma for some scheme of his own, they haven’t been married that long and he proposed only weeks after they had gotten to know each other.

I totally adored the constant insecurity about whom to trust and what to believe; the more you learn about the characters and the further the events develop, you have to adapt your opinion and change sides more than once. Some unexpected twists and turns keep you hooked to the novel and make it hard to put it down. “The Perfect Couple” is a psychological thriller with an interestingly drawn protagonist and a surprising storyline which make a thrilling and gripping read. show less

When Gemma O'Connor comes home after a work trip away, she is surprised to find her husband Danny isn't there and when he hasn't come back after a couple of days, she reports his disappearance to the police. She grows even more fearful when it turns out that two men who bear a striking resemblance to Danny and to each other, have been murdered and she is terrified that Danny may be a victim of the same killer.

As the police investigation moves forward, Gemma learns that Danny has been lying to her about all sorts of things and she starts to wonder how well she really knew her husband. And then she finds herself the chief suspect for the killings that have been taking place...

The premise of this book was great, although a book called The show more Perfect Couple could only be about a couple who are anything but! Unfortunately it became too silly for words, with a stupid protagonist doing stupid things, with a ridiculously incompetent police force investigating. The denouement when all was explained seemed to drag on and on and was almost like a farce. There was a also a lot of repetition in the early part of the story which bogged it down.

So overall, interesting idea but not a success for me.

This was an audiobook narrated by Elaine Claxton and Hattie Ladbury. One narrated Gemma's story in the first person and the other described the police investigation from a third person point of view. Both narrators did a good job. show less

The Perfect Couple was a really enjoyable, page turning read that kept me guessing until the end. One of my favorite things about this book was that it felt like the perfect blend of domestic suspense and police procedural. The story was told from two different viewpoints: one from Gemma's point of view where she was dealing with the fact that her husband had gone missing and the second point of view was from the lead inspector who was trying to solve the two recent deaths that had recently occurred and then also gets drawn into the case of Gemma's missing husband. The fact that there were two recent deaths of men that looked like Gemma's missing husband really had me guessing. I could not figure out what was going on and was kept show more guessing the entire time. I love the way the author set this book up. I found myself trusting Gemma and rooting for her...then questioning her...then trusting her all over again. It made up for a really fun reading experience in the end. Even when I started to "think" that I knew what probably had happened, there were still twists that I didn't expect as well as the fact that I couldn't figure out the why's behind it all. The night I finished this book I fully intended on getting things done - instead I sat wrapped up in my book until I turned the last page. I was just completely immersed in the best of ways. Also, I love the way this book ended! I won't say anymore for fear of spoilers but it just gave me a very eerie feeling. I cannot wait to read more by this author!

Overall, I'm sure that you can already tell that I really enjoyed my time reading this book! I think that readers that enjoy domestic suspense, those readers that enjoy police procedurals, and those readers who enjoy a page-turning, suspenseful read should definitely pick this book up! This is an author that I plan on reading more of and will be watching for future releases! An easy book to recommend.

Bottom Line: A suspenseful read that kept me turning the pages as fast as I could!

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher as part of a TLC book tour. Honest thoughts are my own. show less