Predictably creepy (and I of course mean that in the good way), and incredibly difficult to put down, Peter Swanson’s newest thriller, Every Vow You Break, is full of twists and surprises, but also constantly conveys that pit-of-your-stomach dread that suspense lovers are addicted to.
Abigail is about to marry Bruce, who is wealthy and completely different from every man she has ever been in a relationship with before. Unfortunately, a drunken one night stand with a stranger at her bachelorette party has filled her with guilt, even when she tries to rationalize that it happened before she was actually married. Those feelings of guilt are amplified into worry, and eventually fear when the stranger (who she met in California) suddenly appears in her neighbourhood in New York City. Not only in New York City in the days leading up to the wedding, but he is even there at the remote island resort that Bruce has brought them to for their honeymoon.
The stranger’s sudden appearance is not the only unsettling thing about the resort, however, as Abigail can not seem to shake the feeling that something is truly wrong here. Sometimes unable to believe her own eyes and ears, she is even more troubled when no one else seems to take her concerns seriously.
Swanson’s beautifully detailed descriptions will put the reader right on that island, seeing, hearing, and feeling all of Bruce and Abigail’s surroundings. But in his exquisitely chilling words, the reader also starts to feel Abigail’s desperation and confusion.
Readers who need main characters to be likeable might struggle here. Abigail and Bruce are both frustrating people and I know for certain that I scoffed at, sighed over, and shook my head disapprovingly at them on multiple occasions. They are excellently drawn characters, but as people, you would never really feel like you could fully trust either of them. In fact, if you were their mutual friend, I think you would often wonder, “What do these two see in each other exactly?”
Fans of tense thrillers like B. A. Paris’s Behind Closed Doors will undoubtedly love the tightly wound suspense that Swanson has weaved throughout Every Vow You Break. Keeping in mind the song from The Police where this book gets its title, and how people sometimes think of it as a love song, (but it really, REALLY isn’t), then you will perfectly understand the mood of this exciting thriller.
Every Vow You Break is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of March 23rd 2021.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
A bride’s dream honeymoon becomes a nightmare when a man with whom she’s had a regrettable one-night stand shows up in this electrifying psychological thriller from the acclaimed author of Eight Perfect Murders.
Abigail Baskin never thought she’d fall in love with a millionaire. Then she met Bruce Lamb. He’s a good guy, stable, level-headed, kind—a refreshing twist from her previous relationships.
But right before the wedding, Abigail has a drunken one-night stand on her bachelorette weekend. She puts the incident—and the sexy guy who wouldn’t give her his real name—out of her mind, and now believes she wants to be with Bruce for the rest of her life.
Then the mysterious stranger suddenly appears—and Abigail’s future life and happiness are turned upside down. He insists that their passionate night was the beginning of something much, much more. Something special. Something real—and he’s tracked her down to prove it.
Does she tell Bruce and ruin their idyllic honeymoon—and possibly their marriage? Or should she handle this psychopathic stalker on her own? To make the situation worse, strange things begin to happen. She sees a terrified woman in the night shadows, and no one at the resort seems to believe anything is amiss… including her perfect new husband.
