Synopsis
A vanished wife. A crumbling marriage. And a web of explosive secrets.
Pregnant and living an Insta-perfect lifestyle, Sarah seems to have it all. But one evening halfway through making dinner, she vanishes into thin air leaving behind her keys, her handbag and James, her bewildered husband.
The pans are boiling over and the smoke alarm is screaming, but he is alone in the house.
Keen to get their picture-perfect life back on track before their followers start wondering where his wife is, James desperately tries to find her.
But her sister Kate is the only one who knows Sarah has run like this before. And she’s terrified for her sibling and for the unborn child she is carrying.
The more Kate digs for answers, the more questions she has about her sister’s life – it seems Sarah may have been hiding a terrible secret. Even more worrying, Kate is now having her every move watched.
Someone out there wants their deadly secrets to remain hidden. How far will they go to make sure those secrets stay buried?
My Review
I have been a fan of Ruth’s work for a while although I haven’t managed to read everything that she has written to date. I read the synopsis of ‘The Silent Wife’ and it certainly sounded like the sort of story I have come to expect from Ruth – a psychological thriller with more twists and turns to it than you would find on a ‘Snakes & Ladders’ board. Well it was all that and so much more. I really enjoyed reading ‘The Silent Wife’ but more about that in a bit.
I was drawn to this book by the intriguing synopsis alone. When I started reading the story itself I knew that I was reading something special and that I would become addicted to the story. I was right on both counts. I initially picked the book up only intending to read a chapter or two but I became so wrapped up in the story and in the lives of the different characters that I was still sat there reading several chapters and an hour later. I had my own suspicions as to what was going to happen and I had to keep reading to see if I was on the right track or if I had wandered off in the opposite direction. The pages flew past at speed and at one point it was almost as if they were turning themselves. All too soon I reached the end of ‘The Silent Wife’. I found ‘The Silent Wife’ to be a gripping, gritty, tense and dramatic read, which certainly kept me guessing and kept me on the edge of my seat.
‘The Silent Wife’ is extremely well written. Ruth certainly knows how to grab the reader’s attention and draw them into what proves to be one hell of a story. For me this was a slow burn type of read, which suited the story that Ruth was intending to tell. The story starts slowly but as it continues the pace gathers momentum and leads to a tense and dramatic conclusion. The characters were very realistically described and they seemed just as real as you and I. I love the way in which Ruth makes the reader feel as though they are part of the story and at the heart of the action. That’s how I felt anyway. Reading ‘The Silent Wife’ felt like being on an unpredictable and scary rollercoaster ride with several twists and turns along the way.
In short, I really enjoyed reading ‘The Silent Wife’ and I would recommend this book to other readers. I fully intend to read much more of Ruth’s work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 4* out of 5*.
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