The Marriage Trap by Sheryl Browne
Genre: Psychological thriller, domestic thriller
Read: 28th July 2019
Purchase: Amazon
(release date: 30th July 2019)
★★★ 3.5 stars
Oh boy! This book did my head in!
No, correction...Jason and Karla did my head in!
But Sheryl Browne was on top form in this twisty, twisted domestic thriller that was even more dysfunctional than the last book I read. Where do I even begin to start?
Jason and Karla were a loving couple who have been happily married for twelve years, with two children, Holly and Josh. An aspiring actress when they met, Karla and Jason married soon after she fell pregnant. Now, Jason had his own eCommerce business that was rapidly failing unless he could find an investor to inject some huge funds to save it from ruin. And this is where it began its downward spiral. Karla's father is a self-made wealthy businessman (with more money than sense) and on top of that, is incredibly obnoxious.
Karla had been practically nagging Jason at every opportunity to ask her wealthy father for a loan, but he had refused every time. He couldn't stand the man and didn't relish being indebted to him for the rest of his life. After all, he'd already bought the house they were living in. But it got to the point that Jason could see no other way...and he relented.
The whole convoluted mess then began when her father, in turn, revealed a secret so vile enough to churn any stomach at the mere possibility. It is so dark and so shocking, it never even entered my mind. Jason was left reeling at the revelation, repulsed that her father would stoop so low...but with no choice but to do as Robert wanted. Leave Karla.
But Jason cannot reveal the truth to his wife, knowing that it would surely destroy her. So he says nothing...except to tell her it was over. Remaining in the marital home, he slept in the spare bed and kept things together for the children, while Karla systematically lost the plot.
Then one night by pure chance, Jason struck up a conversation online with Jessie, a nurse in Ireland...and they soon became friends. Jason found himself confiding in Jessie about the situation with Karla without revealing the terrible secret his father-in-law had imparted on him. Their conversations soon morphed into phone conversations, as they exchanged mobile numbers. I thought Jason was treading on dangerous ground here. But little did I know where it would lead...and the twist that it would deliver.
Added to what was already a convoluted mess, Karla continued to battle with the memory of her twin sister's death, wreaking havoc on her sanity. She hated her father, aware that he was at the centre of her pain and that his lecherous womanising contributed to her self-destruction. Now Jason had withdrawn from her and prompted by seeds of doubt planted by her father, Karla discovered her loving husband had been "playing away". So she, in her own twisted form of retaliation, set out to destroy herself in a way I simply failed to understand, given that she had been - up till that point - a loving and devoted mother. I could not understand Karla's unraveling - why she began destroying herself and what she thought it would achieve.
The tale just keeps on unraveling as Karla continues to spiral into a black hole and Jason still keeps quiet. Her mother, Diana, knew the truth but failed to say anything. The family is so dysfunctional with so many secrets and lies I'm surprised they haven't imploded before now. No one in this whole sorry tale, except the children, was particularly likable. Everyone was hell bent on destroying themselves and each other that they never gave a single thought to the children. Although Jason was the only one who did his best to keep it together for Holly and Josh, who clearly didn't understand what was going on with their parents, particularly their mother.
I really didn't see where else this story could possibly go given the destruction everyone was meting out on one another. I already had a suspicion regarding Karla and her father, which proved to be correct, and funnily enough cancelled out the awful secret that kept Jason and Karla apart in the first place! But none of this would amount to anything since no one was talking to each other, except to hurl insults and accusations. It wasn't until Karla had the truth thrust in her face by way of the paper that she decided to confront her parents. Oh, what a tangled web these people weaved...
THE MARRIAGE TRAP is a powerful and emotive read but a very destructive tale of secrets filled with such pain and anguish that I just wanted to knock their heads together. You will find yourself going through a range of emotions just reading it! Part of me wanted to keep reading and the other part wanted to hurry and get it over with because these people were doing my head in!
I will add that THE MARRIAGE TRAP was a slow burn to begin with, as it needed to be to build up to the point where Jason and Karla ultimately found themselves...but hang in there for the fireworks because what a show!
A dark and disturbing plot that is so twisted, THE MARRIAGE TRAP is not for everybody. But don't let that deter you from the author's other brilliant works. In this book, Sheryl Browne pushed the boundaries and tested the limits at writing something so different and much bolder than ever before. It was so dark that its twists were even more delicious.
Again, not a book for everybody. But should you dare to take a chance, check it out. I do recommend it for fans who like the darker and more twisted side of psychological domestic thrillers.
I give it 3.5 stars mainly because the characters all did my head in! lol
I would like to thank #SherylBrowne, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheMarriageTrap in exchange for an honest review.
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