Laurel Fields, perfect wife of Dr Warren Fields, living in a perfect house in a beautiful town, is pregnant. But is the baby her husband's - or her lover's? One morning she returns home and finds Warren waiting for her. When she looks down from his unshaven face, she recognises the piece of paper lying on the coffee table - a letter from her lover Danny that she'd hidden inside a book. Then she sees the gun in her husband's hand. It's going to be a long day: for the Fields family, for Danny, for the police. Because this is not the only secret in town.
I’ve seen a wide range of reviews for this book, and I think I understand why. I had no respect for any of the main characters. Laurel and Danny are cheating on their respective spouses, and Warren is not only holding his family hostage, he’s been cheating the government through his business. There were frustrations, like why didn’t Laurel fight harder? Why did they insist on keeping the affair a secret, even after discovery? That’s probably the point I found most ridiculous... that as Warren found out secret after secret, Laurel still admitted nothing — much to her detriment, and the detriment of her children.
But despite all this, I found myself actually leaning forward in my seat as I listened, completely caught up in the suspense. Turns out, I don’t have to like the characters to like the story! I was engaged and anxious throughout the whole thing, because you know there will be no happy ending for everyone... and perhaps for no one. So, if you don’t care about the morals of your protagonists, I recommend this as a good read. Otherwise... you should probably skip it.
