The party should have been perfect: six couples from the same baby group, six newborns, a luxurious house. But not everything has gone to plan, and while some are here to celebrate, others have sorrows to drown. When someone falls from the balcony of the house, the secrets and conflicts within the group begin to spill out. DS Alison Hegarty, herself struggling with infertility, is called in to investigate. She’s convinced the fall was not an accident, and finds the new parents have a lot to hide. Wealthy Ed and Monica show off their newborn while their teenage daughter is kept under virtual house arrest. Hazel and Cathy conceived their longed-for baby via an anonymous sperm donor—or so Hazel thinks. Anita and Jeremy planned to adopt from America, but there’s no sign of the child. Kelly, whose violent boyfriend disrupted previous group sessions, came to the party even though she lost her baby. And then there’s Jax, who’s been experiencing strange incidents for months—almost like someone’s out to get her. Is it just a difficult pregnancy? Or could it be payback for something she did in the past? It’s a nightmare of a case, and as events get even darker it begins to look impossible. Only one thing is clear: they all have something to hide. And for one of them, it’s murder.
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0Thriller
I have said this time and time again this year that I am in such a slump and all these books are getting neglected because of it. This was given to me by the publisher via Netgalley and my apologize go out to them for my delay. Claire McGowan writes a thrilling thriller that is worth your time and energy. Six diverse couples living in a suburban area of London are looking forward to parenthood and sign up for a group for expectant parents. The couples don’t have much in common, but agree to a reunion at the home of one of the couples a few weeks after the group’s meetings have ended. The reunion has several awkward and tense moments and then tragedy strikes - someone at the barbecue has fallen to their death from an upstairs balcony. It appears to be an accident but one detective can tell the survivors from the party are hiding something and thinks she is looking at a case of murder.
This book has two main narrators. Jax Culville, one of the expectant mothers from the prenatal group, narrates much of the story. Jax is in her late thirties and is insecure about her relationship with her much younger boyfriend, as well as over past indiscretions. I do not agree with everything Jax does, but I liked her from the beginning. I sympathize with her because she wants to do the best she can and feels she is constantly coming up short. The other main narrator is DS Alison Hegarty who is investigating the death at the party. I like Alison, too. She is determined to find out the truth even though questioning all the new moms is difficult for her since she has been trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant. She has a new work partner as well that she isn’t sure about. I was slow to warm up to her partner, but by the end I really liked her and liked how they managed to wrap up the case and make a good team. I do hope that this is a series that fallows D.S Alison and we get more development.
“The Push” is one part procedural and one part domestic drama. What I loved is that I could sit down and finish this in one long sitting it was that good. I also enjoyed the fact that we were not given the name of the person who died at the party until the very end. I kind of figured it out who it was just by speeding through pages but the pacing and the guessing was very well done. If you are looking for a new author and love a good thriller this is the book for you. It is also a part of kindle unlimited if you have that as well check it out. Four star read I will be reading more of this in the future.
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