Key takeaways
- The twist is engineered backwards from its reveal, and it mostly holds on a reread.
- Silence as a plot device works because it forces every other character to project.
- Genre thrillers live or die on the last forty pages. This one delivers.
Choose a job you love, they say, and you will never work a day in your life.
Alex Michaelides
What works
Ruthlessly paced. Michaelides never lets a chapter end without pulling you into the next.
What doesn’t
The therapy is not credible as therapy, and one character exists purely to be misdirection.
Who it’s for
Readers who want a single-sitting thriller and will forgive a lot for a good ending.
