Book Review | Believe Me #20BooksofSummer

Another book that wasn’t on my original challenge list but when it arrived in my postbox I knew I would be reading it as soon as I could.

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Claire Wright likes to play other people.

A British drama student, in New York without a green card, Claire takes the only job she can get: working for a firm of divorce lawyers, posing as an easy pick-up in hotel bars to entrap straying husbands.

When one of her targets becomes the subject of a murder investigation, the police ask Claire to use her acting skills to help lure their suspect into a confession. But right from the start, she has doubts about the part she’s being asked to play. Is Patrick Fogler really a killer . . . Or the only decent husband she’s ever met? And is there more to this set-up than she’s being told?

And that’s when Claire realises she’s playing the deadliest role of her life . . .

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After reading The Girl Before last year I have been anticipating what JP Delaney would come up with next, would this one be just as good or would I be disappointed? It’s safe to say that Believe Me will make it onto my top 10 favourite reads this year and in my opinion is even better than The Girl Before.

The plot is magnificent, of course I’m not going to say anything at all because it’ll spoil it, however, it has got so many layers that sync together brilliantly. It wasn’t what I was expecting at all and it was refreshing.

There were so many twists, I think going into a psychological thriller you are always waiting for the shocking twists and trying to predict where they will fall, but this book managed to fool me at every turn. I wasn’t expecting half of the things that happened and even when I thought there couldn’t be anything else to set me off reeling it would something else would come up to blow my mind.

I will admit there were a few things that I felt could have been left out toward the end, mainly to do with Claire’s character, they felt superfluous and wouldn’t really have been needed. However, they didn’t hinder my enjoyment at all, I didn’t really think about it until after I’d finished reading at the time I was too desperate to see how things would pan out.

I think one thing I enjoy most about JP Delaney’s writing is that it is so effortless and immersive, in Believe Me it occasionally switches to a script format. It is a nice touch and works to provide an impression of disassociation that lends itself well to the story.

Claire is a fascinating character, the perfect narrator for this type of story, she’s not the type that is entirely likeable but she’s enigmatic and that makes her the kind of character that I can invest in. There were a few points that she maybe grated on me a little but overall I enjoyed reading about her, feeling like I was along for the ride.

Believe Me is an amazing and addictive read that I’m still thinking about days later since it’s a psychological thriller I know that there will be a lot of polarizing opinions but I highly recommend it anyway. I can’t wait to see what JP Delaney comes up with next.

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