Guest Review (my sister!!) – Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough 

Behind Her Eyes: A Suspenseful Psychological Thriller <— OMG OMG OMG!! I AM DYING to read this one BIG TIME!! YAY to my sister for telling me (and us) about it, it’s so right up my domestic/marital strife/the other woman thriller alley. She’s the other woman… but it appears to go WAY deeper than that. 😀

<— Holy moly… look what Stephen King says about the book (his quote is on the cover). And better yet… lookit what my SISTER says (she has sold me on this one for sure):

5 STARS

Review by Johanne Pearl Couturier

The second book I read on my last vacation I consider 5 stars. I bought the French version from my book club on the recommendation of the salesperson. I did not know Sarah Pinborough, but when I saw that Harlan Coben AND Stephen King were thinking highly of her book, I could not resist buying it.

I did not know either that my sister had already reviewed a book from her, Cross Her Heart (here’s her Book Review) but now that I know, I’m going to tell her: “Maryse!!!! You NEED to read this one!”

Unlike Maryse’s comments in Cross Her Heart, I did not get confused in the back and forth of the past and the present. Maybe the author is getting better and better at making sure we can follow. 😉 Does she play with your mind? Oh, heck yesssss… nicely too!

Like in her previous book, it is also the story of a single mom, Louise, who’s been alone for some time. Being encouraged to go out by her only friend, who’s constantly cheating on her husband, she finally does it one night and has a bit too much to drink. There is a gorgeous man in the same bar who had too much too… and they have a little “tongue massage” party! For the first time in a few years, she feels desired and it does awaken her body for more. The very next day, that gorgeous man is introduced to her office, along with his stunning wife, as her new boss David!!! Ok Louise… damn professional mmmh? She’ll try to stay professional, particularly when she’ll accidently meet with Adele, David’s wife, and will be absolutely swooned by her. 

And this is when the fun starts! Adele seems so perfect! And her life is strange, difficult. She looks fragile, and so scared of her husband! Louise cannot stand that duality. She must know what is going on. Who is that man that she’s cheating her new best friend with? In her determination to know the truth, she’ll be caught in a swirl of events where secrets are deeper than any one can realize. I understand that Harlan Coben enjoyed the book, because it is nonstop action and discoveries, where things of the past come back to haunt you.

The sick twist is that we are also in Adele’s mind… She knows everything about Louise and her husband. More than anyone could possibly know, because she’s able to do something that she teaches Louise to do… and this is where I understand Stephen King’s “Bravo.” From one woman’s guilt to the other woman’s rage, David is but a pawn in a story that he has no control over.

In the very end, I thought I was understanding what was going on, I was certain about it. The last chapter slapped me in the face! OMG, OMG, OMG! I did not even know how to react! It is just so BRILLIANT!!! And the last sentences are horrible… I loved it!!!