The Perfect Husband: A Novel
by Lisa Gardner
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Book Summary Information
Author: Lisa GardnerEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2012-05-29
ISBN: 0553593498
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Bantam
Book Reviews of The Perfect Husband: A Novel
Book Review: Thankfully, Gardner gets a lot better. This early effort isn't very good.
Summary: 2 Stars
The primary purpose of this review is to tell fans of Lisa Gardner to not go back and read THE PERFECT HUSBAND if you haven't already. I've read her recent work, and have really enjoyed THE NEIGHBOR, HIDE, ALONE and GONE. While you can see traces of what Gardner will become, nothing really goes right in THE PERFECT HUSBAND.
My biggest complaint is the plotting choices made by Gardner . Somewhere in this novel, there is a good story. Police officer Jim Beckett rescued young Tess from an abusive home when he proposed marriage to her. Once in the marriage, Tess discovered Jim was a monster. He beat her, controlled her and abused her. He also left the house for days at a time. It turns out Jim was a serial killer. Tess logged evidence that was used to eventually capture and convict her husband. Sounds exciting right? It is, except that is all backstory. The novel begins with Jim having escaped from prison and Tess hiring a mercenary to train her to be able to protect herself and her young daughter. A majority of the novel is spent with Tess training, flirting and sleeping with JT. We never really learn much about Jim Beckett. This is a serial killer novel without the serial killer.
The second problem I have is with the characters JT and Marion. JT is the mercenary and Marion is his sister, and they have tons of problems I won't even go into here. I just never felt they were a necessary part of the novel. Jim Beckett is the novel, not the rough childhood of JT and Marion. I also didn't find it plausible that in 30 days, JT could train Tess to stop and kill the almost Superman-like Jim Beckett.
When you discover a new author, you want to read as many books by the author as you can. I've read a lot of Gardner , and am thankful that she has gotten a lot better after this book. Agent Pierce Quincy, one of Gardner's long time characters, is introduced in this book, which may or may not change your mind.
Summary of The Perfect Husband: A Novel
What would you do if the man of your dreams hides the soul of a killer?Jim Beckett was everything she'd ever dreamed of...But two years after Tess married the decorated cop and bore his child, she helped put him behind bars for savagely murdering ten women. Even locked up in a maximum security prison, he vowed he would come after her and make her pay. Now the cunning killer has escaped?and the most dangerous game of all begins....
After a lifetime of fear, Tess will do something she's never done before. She's going to learn to protect her daughter and fight back, with the help of a burned-out ex-marine. As the largest manhunt four states have ever seen mobilizes to catch Beckett, the clock winds down to the terrifying reunion between husband and wife. And Tess knows that this time, her only choices are to kill?or be killed.
Lisa Gardner sold her first novel when she was 20 years old. In 1993 she graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in international relations. She lives in Rhode Island, where she is at work on her next novel of suspense.
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