Believe Me: The twisty and addictive thriller from bestselling author of The Girl Before

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In some parts, the novel is written like a play which was very unique and original, fitting perfectly with Claire's role as an actor. They make a completely new identity for Claire and she quite literally has been given the role of a lifetime. It’s what the infusion of this uncertainty added to depth to the character that I found absolutely delightful. I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again - thriller/suspense novels generally suffer in this area. A lack of credibility in the storyline makes it beyond frustrating and instead into a waste of 10 hours!

When I say this book was wackadoodle, what I mean is that there aren't any words in the english language that can do justice to just how over the top this tale was. A fat teenager to the core, I always felt ungainly and out of place in social situations and I really didn't want people looking at me. So, the plot: Claire Wright is a 25-year-old British actress studying at the prestigious Actors Studio in New York that specialises in method acting: ‘Acting isn’t pretending. It was 100% worth the wait, and it seems the forces that be knew exactly when I would need to pick this one up.In this twisty psychological thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Before, an actress plays both sides of a murder investigation. When Delaney went to republish it following his recent success with The Girl Before (which you should really go read), he felt that there were flaws in the original work. This device fits the character of Claire perfectly, as the whole world really is a stage for her, with every throwaway line or ravaged emotion filed away as material for her acting armoury. That’s what you’d think if you saw me here, perched at the bar of this corporate-­cool New York hotel, trying to make my Virgin Mary last all evening. However, this short summary hooked me and made me excited to read this book, mostly because I liked the idea of a decoy temptress.

The pacing initially seemed decent, as we are presented with a murder straight away and are introduced to Claire's line of work pretty early on, however, the pacing quickly slows down and the first part takes on a very slow, lethargic kind of quality, with an extremely large amount of foundation work. If you're unworried by this then you will find that the plot is very twisty, but superbly constructed. But then I guess that’s testament to the part Claire plays that she even convinced the reader that it’s real. Like a cat and mouse book where one often questions just who the good guy is and who is the bad guy. It started so well, Claire, a wannabe actress studying at the impressive Actors' Studio in NYC, is working as a honeytrap to elicit some income.If, on the other hand, the author takes his or her time, and allows this shift to happen little by little over the course of, say, a hundred or so pages, it can be not only believable, but profoundly satisfying. I’ve seen shy introverts become kings and queens, the ugly become beautiful and the beautiful repulsive. So she d disguise herself has a hooker when she really is doing to catching the guys cheating on there husband. But in college, despite the fact that I did not major in theatre, by some happenstance, I had occasion to take a very large number of acting classes. And then, as she learns throughout the book, it can be difficult to tell when you are acting and you have become the character.

But she managed to kill whatever momentum she was gaining by having an affair with her married co-star. What Claire never expected after the job was over was to find herself in the middle of a murder investigation.With its sweeping narrative and unforgettable main character, it earns a solid 5 out of 5 cocktails.

There was a solution, although it didn't provide a regular income: she became a decoy for a firm of divorce lawyers.

After moving in, she discovers that a previous tenant, Emma, met a mysterious death there - and starts to wonder if her own story will be a re-run of the girl before. Claire’s desperate to be an actor and is in New York taking classes, sometimes being asked to go out onto the streets for some acting exercises. It was almost like the author wanted to foreshadow some of the upcoming events but I thought this was done in a really creative way. It is VERY different to The Girl Before, and I’m now in awe of this incredible author who has now written two utterly enthralling and exciting reads!