The novel is told from two different points of view: Meghan and Agatha. Both of these ladies are expecting babies around the same time, but the two come from very different backgrounds and situations. Meghan, from the outside, appears to have the ideal life—the flawless husband, two beautiful children, and another on I picked this up on Audible some time ago and finally got around to reading it this week. Meghan, from the outside, appears to have the ideal life—the flawless husband, two beautiful children, and another one on the way.
Agatha is also expecting a baby around the same time as Meghan. She works at the local grocery store where she keeps tabs on Meghan and the family. Agatha seems to have a huge interest in Meghan and watches her from time to time to the point where she knows her every move.
Why is Agatha so interested in her? What sort of secrets is she keeping from her past and why? From the beginning, this book kept my interest and after the first major twist I had to find out how the story would end. View all 28 comments. Jun 03, Meredith rated it really liked it Shelves: netgalley. Two pregnant women, Meg and Agatha, are harboring deep secrets. On the outside, Meg seems to be living the perfect life: handsome husband, two beautiful children, and a lovely house in a posh neighborhood.
But what goes on behind closed doors is far from perfect. On the other hand, struggling Agatha is on the outside looking in. Desperate for love, she would do anything to ha 4. Meg and Agatha are bound together by obsession. This book is jammed packed with tension and plenty of crazy. I received a copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
View all 31 comments. Jul 30, Debbie rated it it was amazing Shelves: netgalley , favorite-thrillers , thriller , almost-all-time-faves , best-readsthrough , omg-twists , esil-recs , crime-and-or-madness.
POW, right in the kisser! There's not one iota of violence in this tense thriller. Agatha is a psycho, and oh is she a good one—so creepy and twisted! Her plan is clever and her prey, who is an acquaintance, is clueless.
I get all busy trying to understand how their sicko mind works, and in this case I loved all the ingenious justifications that she came up with for the POW, right in the kisser! I get all busy trying to understand how their sicko mind works, and in this case I loved all the ingenious justifications that she came up with for the horror she wreaked. The chapters alternate between Agatha and her prey of sorts, Meg.
I feel privileged that the characters are letting me in on their well-guarded secrets. Naturally I was more enamored with Agatha because she was so smart and unpredictable. And then I would feel all weird that my fascination with her made her chapters more fun to read. Meg was sort of bland and predictable, so I was slightly less thrilled to get to her chapters. I did like her, though, and she was super well-drawn.
And she has her own secret and the anguish that comes with it. Also, she does a really cool and unexpected thing at the end which will keep her secret hidden forever. All is not as it appears. A book usually gets an extra star if the twist is a doozy, and that's the case here. What's funny about a twist is that there's this disbelief as you're reading along. Wait just a minute. Did I read this right? So I reread. When I realize that yep, I did read it right, I can barely sit still.
I marvel at the ingenuity of the writer for coming up with the twist, and I marvel at its timing and its delivery. Long live the skillful twist. It just makes everything fun. There are no profound ideas to mull over, no ah-ha moments of the literary kind. But there are plenty of ah-ha moments of the plot kind, which left me in awe. I didn't miss the literary because I was so wrapped up in the story.
I was eternally surprised at what complicated and clever thing the psycho would come up with next. This just increases the tension. How far will someone go to feed their delusions? How does a family cope with loss, and how can they stay hopeful?
These are questions that I hardly had time to worry about. An excellent storyteller who really knows how to ratchet up the tension. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy. View all 54 comments. Jun 16, Linda rated it really liked it Shelves: psychological-thriller , mystery-thrillers , net-galley. Pregnancy brings with it tons of uncertainty, highs and lows, and the burden of knowing that you're not always in control.
Not even the little details that you've planned and certainly not the big details that you've anguished over. Just ask Meghan and Agatha. Both women are expecting Days are filled with the tapping sound of the unknown and the soul-searching deep desire for perfecti "You can't always get what you want Days are filled with the tapping sound of the unknown and the soul-searching deep desire for perfection.
Elusive perfection But one day their paths cross as Meghan rushes into the grocery store where Agatha works. Oh, they have so much in common.
Parallel universes in the making. Two women with expanding waist sizes and bulging shadows reflecting on sidewalks. And there seems to be excessive cravings going on here. Yes, you'll be sure to notice. Meghan and her husband Jack have two young children, Lucy and Lachlan. There's plenty of secrets hiding in the cabinets of this household. Neither Meghan nor Jack have been quite honest with one another.
Their lives seem to give off a veneer much like the furniture in every room. But that's all about to change. Agatha carries the burden of unfulfilled relationships. She's trying to make a new life with her boyfriend, Hayden, who is a sailor in the Royal Navy. Somehow she keeps waiting for her ship to come in. And there's some monumental waves brewing on the horizon.
This was my first book by Michael Robotham. Robotham really knows how to churn up the anxiety and turn up the volume on the eerie factor full blast.
But what drives this story in a turbo blast is the constant risk taking by one of the characters. You know that the bottom is going to drop out eventually, but you don't exactly know when.
The ending may falter a bit, but the ride is fast and furious. A perfect summer read. Gonna check out more Robotham reads for sure. So well written, the layers kept coming off The story is told from alternating perspectives I just love to get in the heads of these characters Megan and Agatha befriend each other finding commonality in the fact that they are both pregnant and due just about the same time I love when an author can make even the most despicable of characters sympathetic I definitely recommend this to anybody who is a fan of a good psychological thriller View all 39 comments.
Oh Mr Robotham, you had me worried at the beginning of this novel. Michael Robotham writing from the viewpoints of two pregnant women? I thought you had changed genres to write a suburban family drama maybe in the style of Liane Moriarty? But of course I was wrong and the novel very soon evolved into a twisted story of longing and obsession. The two women, Meghan, mother of two and popular mommy blogger married to a TV spor Oh Mr Robotham, you had me worried at the beginning of this novel.
The two women, Meghan, mother of two and popular mommy blogger married to a TV sports broadcaster and Agatha, who works in Meghan's local supermarket and is pregnant after a fling with a sailor, are both expecting their babies around the same time. They bond over this and get to know each other. Both of them are keeping secrets and telling lies to themselves and their partners and as the births of their babies approach, their worlds collide and threaten to destroy them and their families.
An excellent psychological thriller, written in the alternating voices of the two women, which works really well in giving us insights into their characters and feelings and deceptions. Mr Robotham, you are a first class story teller and writer and in future I will never doubt your ability to spin a good yarn on anything that you choose to write about.
With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher Little, Brown Book Group for a copy of the book to read and review View all 18 comments. Oh the voice of the creature inside Two women with child View all 41 comments. May 26, Holly B rated it it was amazing Shelves: couldn-t-put-down , net-galley , read-in , psychological-thriller. This is a super suspenseful psychological thriller set in London.
Two women are pregnant. Two women who have lives that couldn't be more opposite. Pregnant Meghan has perfect hair, perfect teeth, and the perfect marriage! Pregnant Agatha ,on the other hand, has no husband , no children and stocks shelves in a grocery store while dreaming of a life like that of Meghan.
Agatha has no wealth or beauty. The truth is so much easier to remember, but too late for that. One day Meghan's husband Jack ,who is out of town, calls and asks her to retrieve a business card from one of his pockets. While searching through pockets, she comes across a folded sheet of paper. It has a mobile phone number and someone has pressed a lipstick kiss next to it.
Agatha wants so very much to be like Meghan. She tells herself "This is a one time operation. I cannot turn back now. Michael Robotham has written one of the most unforgettable novels I've ever read! My thoughts are about what drives us? Is it ambition? Yes, our past matters. He sees right through her…and senses her fear. Someone is watching her. And waiting for the right moment to strike.
This time Connor vows to be ready. Some secrets are meant to stay that way. My life is full of secrets. Some I keep from my mom and dad. Some I keep from my best friend. Others I keep from everyone. But every waking moment is a reminder of one or another of my secrets. It's all I can do to get up, go to work, care for my patients, and try to manag the best I can. No one tells you that hiding the truth will eat you up from the inside out almost as bad as a horrible cancer.
Don't worry about me, I cope. Sometimes I shop. Okay, I shop a lot. Sometimes I get comfort of another kind. From men. Mostly strangers in bars. Only a couple of times a year, though when things get really hard. But I made a big mistake. Too much rum at a luau and next thing I knew, I was waking up next to my co-worker, the very uptight New England to California transplant, Dr. Lucas Tucker. Suddenly going to work is just another place where I have to keep more secrets.
Unfortunately, Lucas isn't built like me. He wants to know me and all my secrets. He says he'll love me no matter what. I want to believe that. But if he finds out what I've done, he'll think I betrayed him and I'll have lost the one person who accepts me as I am.
The life she wanted wasn't hers. A book you won't be able to put down, although you may occasionally want to hide your eyes. Darkly disturbing, it will stay with you long after it ends. Subscribe to Michael's Newsletter. All rights reserved. The Secrets She Keeps. Please log in or sign up now. Books Video icon An illustration of two cells of a film strip. Video Audio icon An illustration of an audio speaker. Audio Software icon An illustration of a 3.
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