With perhaps the creepiest and spookiest opening scenes in recent memory, DJ Palmer’s The New Husband is an intense and engaging thrill-ride, full of characters you can both love and love to hate!
Readers are first greeted with a chilling scene of a man, out on the lake who is fishing in the early morning hours. When he gets out on the water, he sees another boat, but as he nears, the other boat is only inhabited by a barking dog…and spots of blood. I could see it, I could feel it, and I was immediately drawn in!
We pick up the story 17 months later with a family in the midst of trying to heal after the father has simply disappeared. Teenagers Connor and Maggie and their mother Nina are in the process of moving into a new house with Nina’s new boyfriend Simon, who is a teacher at Maggie’s school. The various dynamics between these characters are handled masterfully by Palmer as we get to know the good-natured, ‘go with the flow’ attitude of Connor, Maggie’s dubious distrust of Simon balanced with her genuine love for her mother, and Nina’s often frustrating inability to see what the reader sees.
What the reader sees, that Nina so often discounts, is every single red flag ever described in any pamphlet about toxic relationships that has ever been produced! I know for a fact that I am not the only one who literally yelled at her book, just hoping we could get through to Nina. (“Come on! You’re a social worker!”) It could get incredibly frustrating, but the fact that a reader would feel such extreme emotion is clearly a testament to just how engaging the story and the characters were overall.
Chapters from Nina’s point-of-view are interspersed with chapters from her daughter Maggie’s point-of-view. Like the other side of a coin, every sigh and eye roll I had given to Nina was offset by a “yes!” or a “that-a-girl” for spirited, loyal Maggie. Not to mention Maggie’s close friend Ben, who may be the greatest supporting character (in every sense of the word) you’ve encountered in a book in a long, long time.
I did find myself concerned from time to time that the story was heading in a completely predictable direction, (which I am thrilled to say I was 100% wrong about). I like when a story, particularly a domestic thriller, takes me down a few wrong turns, as that is much more realistic to how we figure things out and solve problems in real life.
Additionally, there are a couple of chapters early in the novel where it feels a little slow just as you are hoping the pace and the action will ramp up. Once it does start to pick up speed, however, it is a wild ride, and more than worth the wait!
A thoroughly engaging read full of breath-holding moments and pulse pounding tension, DJ Palmer’s The New Husband is an incredible tale of secrets and obsession.
The New Husband is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers as of April 14th 2020.
Will you be picking up The New Husband? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
Just because you love someone doesn’t mean you know them.
Nina Garrity learned that the hard way after discovering that her missing husband, Glen, had been leading a double life with another woman. But Glen’s gone – presumably drowned while fishing on his boat – so she can’t confront him abut the affair or any of his other misdeeds. A year and a half after the accident, Nina considers herself a widow, even though the police never found a body. Following a chance encounter with Simon Fitch, a teacher from her daughter Maggie’s middle school, Nina finds love again and has hopes of putting her shattered life back together.
Simon, a widower still grieving the suicide of his first wife, has found his dream girl in Nina. His charm and affections help break through to a heart hardened by betrayal. Nina’s teenage son, Connor, embraces Simon as the father he wishes his dad could have been, but Maggie sees a far darker side of this new man in their lives. Even Nina’s good friends wonder if Simon is supremely devoted – or dangerously possessive.
But Nina is committed, not only to her soon-to-be new husband but also to resuming her former career as a social worker. Before she can move forward, however, Nina must first clear her conscience that she’s not making another terrible choice in a man. In doing so, she will uncover the shocking truth: the greatest danger to her, and her children, are the lies people tell themselves.
