Closer by Kim Slater

Ending a marriage, especially when you have a 10-year-old daughter, is difficult. It's hard to see your former spouse moving on, and moving IN with a new woman who has a daughter the same age. And even more so when your man's new love is YOUR BOSS. Emma is finding the separation difficult, even though she wanted it, but she is becoming increasingly concerned for the safety and welfare of her daughter, Maisie. Soon-to-be ex husband Shaun and Joanne are playing happy family with Piper now. So what does that mean for Maisie? Emma is absorbed in her job and making her own adjustments but eventually she does notice the changes in Maisie. But what can she DO to get Shaun to see what is obvious to her. Joanne and Piper are not good for Maisie. How will this end? NO SPOILERS.

Psychological thrillers tend to focus on a lot of internal angst, and this novel is no different. The characters often seem oblivious and either take action that most people would never attempt or they ignore huge red flags that scream out for immediate intervention. I can't say that I could relate to any of the characters or their behavior within the pages of this story, but I had enough questions about how everything was going to be resolved that I kept reading. There were several characters who I actually despised (can we say Emma's mom talking about her to Shaun behind her back?) and of course the villains because we were suspicious about them from the start anyway given the setup. There were some surprises and a twist but you know it's coming even if you don't know specifically what it is. I like to play a game with myself to see how far off I am as I sort of lay it all out mentally before I start a book. Even in its attempt to be shocking, the conclusion came as no surprise after all said and done. Sure it's set up to be ambiguous and some may feel let down without a concrete finale.

I think this book was meant to focus on mother-daughter relationships and a few other issues that I won't list out here in case some would consider naming them to be spoilers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this e-book ARC to read and review. I've read most of the books by this author and will continue to look for her new titles.

This is a standalone and is not part of any series.