Birthday Girl – ARC Book Review

Jonathan’s wife disappeared more than twenty years ago. Now he’s seeing her everywhere . . .

New York in the 1990s – impoverished writer Jonathan Dainty takes his wife Maddie out to the beach for her birthday. Hours later he finds himself at the local police precinct trying to explain how on earth he let his wife get into a stranger’s car, and allowed it to drive her away.

More than twenty years later, Maddie is presumed dead and Jonathan has channelled his grief into a best-selling series of crime novels. As far as he can, he is living the perfect life.

Then one day he catches a glimpse of his dead wife, moving through a throng of people. Is Maddie alive? Has she come back? And why does no one believe him? As Jonathan attempts to uncover the truth, it soon becomes clear that the people closest to him are hiding something, something that could change everything . . .

The propulsive thriller from debut talent Niko Wolf, perfect for fans of Gone Girl and Blood Orange

In the 1990’s, Jonathan is a struggling writer and Maddie, his wife is an aspiring actress. Then one day, Maddie gets into the stranger’s car and disappears. Jonathan was trying to explain the police about his wife’s disapperance and soon comes to term that his wife maybe is dead. Many years later, Jonathan is now a sucessful writer. One day, among the throng of people, he spotted Maddie. He believed that she was still alive but was not sure why she was avoiding him. No one else seemed to believe that Maddie was alive but soon find that his closest friends might be hiding something.

I do like the plot but then I found this slightly boring. The story shifts between present and past–the past his life with Maddie, the time of her disappearance and how he ended up becoming a successful author. This wasn’t much fast paced and not much twists and turns you would normally expect in a thriller. But then it wasn’t really bad either–the writing was great and the plot was good as I mentioned before. The ending, well, in my opinion or maybe it was just me was slightly confusing.

Overall, it my opinion, it was an OK thriller and worth three stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Hodder for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.