Book Review: The Wife Stalker by Liv Constantine

Book: The Wife Stalker

Author: Liv Constantine

Pages: 400

Read on: Kindle

Read in: ~4 hours

Plot Summary: Joanna and Leo seem to have the perfect relationship. Two adorable children, a beautiful house in a chic area of Connecticut – they have the kind of life people envy.

Then Piper moves to town. Piper is young, attractive, flirtatious. It’s almost no wonder Leo is tempted away. 

Devastated, Joanna starts digging into Piper’s past, and discovers some very disturbing secrets – not least that Piper’s previous two husbands ended up dead. But Piper dismisses Joanna’s fears for her family as paranoia. Who is telling the truth? Joanna? Piper? The only certainty in this web of lies is that no one is who they appear to be…and no one will escape unscathed.

Things I Liked: 

1. The premise of the book seemed interesting. A new woman comes to town, hints of her shady past, her making a play for a married man and his wife doing her best to expose this charlatan. All good things, right? Right? That's what I thought as well and bought this book. 

2. The story unfolds through two perspectives- Joanna's and Piper's. We know straight off the bat, from Piper herself, that she is desperate to leave her past behind in California and start afresh. She doesn't want anyone from San Diego to recognise her or hound her because of which she has even changed her name and profession. Joanna has more typical wifely concerns- getting things ready for Leo, looking after the needs of her kids (Evie- 8 and Stelli- 6) and being a bit on guard when it comes to other woman making a play for her handsome husband. So, the alternating chapters told from these two women's perspective makes for an interesting reading. 

Things I Didn't Like: SOME SPOILERS AHEAD

1. Now, I enjoy an unreliable narrator as much as the next person. It is a good trope used in the crime/ thriller genre and it keeps things interesting. However, I don't think it is the proper use of an unreliable narrator as a storytelling tool, if the author/ publisher straight up lie about something in the plot summary itself. Yes, beloved reader, there is something in the plot summary that I've posted right above, which is a bald-faced lie and we are, as readers, supposed to pretend it is a good use of the unreliable narrator trope in crime/ thriller storytelling. Nope, it is not. It is very disingenuous to let the set up of a big plot twist come from the plot summary of the book rather than from the character herself. It really annoyed me! 

2. Open endings are interesting, but leaving an open ending in a crime/ thriller book is most ungratifying. When someone gets invested in the book's characters, they'd want to see the good guys thrive and the bad guys punished. Sure, you could argue that in real life there are no real good or bad guys, just a bunch of grey people with unclear motivations. However, that is nearly not the same thing as one character getting away, with what seems like, three murders! The last line of the book really, really annoyed me! It was so unnecessary and try-hard! Call me old fashioned, but I am not a fan of open endings, but if you are, then maybe you won't dislike this book as much as I did. I think it is important for an author, especially, in this genre to take a stand. Learn from the masters, Ms. Constantine! Learn from Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle! *shakes head*

MAJOR SPOILER 

3. Apart from the kids, there are no real characters that one gets to care about! Both Joanna and Piper are sociopaths and Leo  is just an easy to manipulate, pathetic excuse of a man! You honestly don't care if he gets killed or ends up with a bitch! 

Rating: 1.5/5 

Don't waste your money on this book!