The Husband by Daniel Hurst
Genre: Psychological thriller
Read: 8th February 2025
Published: 20th January 2025
★★★★★ 4.5 stars (rounded up)
DESCRIPTION:
Is the man you love a killer?
I’ve been married to my kind, loving husband Lachlan for over twenty years. He’s my everything. We have two teenage children, a beautiful home and I feel so lucky to live this perfect life. Until my best friend says something that makes me doubt everything…
She whispers it’s strange Lachlan has lived nearby to two unsolved murder cases. First, the murder of the woman in the small, Scottish village where he grew up and more recently the shocking death of a woman who lived round the corner from us. The thought makes my head spin. It’s just a coincidence, surely?
But at home, I can’t help but notice that Lachlan’s becoming angry, not at all like his usual self. It makes me wonder if he’s hiding something from me. It makes me wonder if he could be guilty. I push the thought away, but no matter what, I can’t get rid of this niggle of doubt.
The only way to find out is to go to Scotland and get my husband to face his past. But when secrets start to unravel in the remote Scottish Highlands, I realize the truth is more complicated than I thought, and more than one person could be a killer.
Now my children and I are in terrible danger. And coming here might be the last mistake I ever make.
An utterly addictive psychological thriller that will have you gasping out loud from the master of multiple twists and number 1 bestselling author Daniel Hurst. If you love None Of This Is True, John Marrs, T.M Logan and Freida McFadden you’ll be gripped by The Husband.
MY THOUGHTS:
★★★★★ 4.5 stars (rounded up)
Is the man you love...a killer?
This is the Daniel Hurst I know and love! And I have read alot of his books and this one is more reminiscent of his earlier work which is what drew me to him in the first place. I was thrilled to be amidst his clever plotting and enthralling storytelling once again. The only thing it lacked was the jaw-dropping twist at the end. I mean, it did have one but it didn't wow me like some of his twists have. But that's not to say that this book was not a 5 star read up to that point...because it so was.
Lachlan is a husband and a dad, married to Jenny with two teenage children - Bonnie (17) and William (15). But he is also a lot of other things too which we, the reader, are privy to almost from the first moment. You see, Lachlan has a problem. He hates rejection. Don't we all? But we don't kill the object of our rejection, do we?
One evening, while Lachlan and William are watching football, Bonnie tells her mum that she wants to watch a new true crime documentary that everyone is talking about. Jenny is reluctant and hardly sees the fascination in death and doom, until something makes her sit up and take notice. The documentary is of the unsolved murder of a 15 year old girl, Paisley Hamilton, from twenty five years ago in a small village in Scotland. The same village from whence her husband came. Bonnie is beside herself with excitement. Her dad would have been 15 at the time of the murder - the same age as the victim - and given the size of the village, chances are he knew her. How cool is that? But Jenny is speechless. How come Lachlan has never told her about it? Surely he had to have known the girl and about the murder. But Lachlan is very secretive about his childhood and never talks about it. Jenny has to wonder why?
When Lachlan emerges from the den after the game's end, he is stopped short by the images on the TV screen his wife and daughter are watching. Images from his past. A place from his past. Immediately, Bonnie pounces on him full of questions. Isn't that the village he's from? Did he know the girl? Does he remember the murder? Why did he not tell them about it? And almost as quickly, Lachlan becomes angry, shouting at Bonnie to switch it off and that it was time for bed. Jenny is once again speechless. Her husband has never reacted like that with the children, so why did he do so now? And why does the documentary make him so angry? What does he know? What is he not telling her? Why won't he answer any questions about his past? And more to the point, what is he hiding?
Energised from watching the documentary, Bonnie suggests they take a trip to Scotland for the weekend and visit his old village which Lachlan immediately shuts down. Which makes Jenny question his motives. What exactly is he hiding? And so she makes the decision that they are going to take a long weekend and visit Carnfield and maybe, just maybe, Lachlan can lay his old ghosts to rest. Lachlan is far from enthused about the idea but his fantasising during work hours leads him to a lightbulb moment; the realisation that this long weekend to Scotland would be the perfect cover for what he longs to do - kill again.
Soon he finds himself in the place where he never thought he would return. And he doesn't like it one bit. Nothing has changed there and yet everything has. Everyone has a theory as to what happened to Paisley in the woods that day. But no one knows the truth. Except the killer. And as the net tightens for Lachlan, what is he going to do? Are Jenny and the children safe? Or is anyone who comes into contact with Lachlan at risk? And will the truth about what really happened twenty five years ago finally be revealed?
This book was brilliant! I devoured it easily in one day and was racing to the end to see how it would all pan out. The pace was fast and the tension was palpable as I swiped every page, desperate to see what would happen next. I loved the setting in a small Scottish village where it seemed there was only a pub, a grocery store and a mechanic. No other premises were really mentioned but of course there had to be cottages dotting the place for the villagers to live but those were the only three really mentioned.
The only drawback with this thrilling suspenseful tale was the ending fell a little flat for me. It lacked the killer twist Hurst is renowned for and although it did have a twist, I didn't find it as jaw-dropping as he has delivered in the past. But this is still a fantastic, brilliant, exciting read from start to finish that I simply devoured. The tension builds as you feel the noose tighten around the husband's neck as you race to the end.
Another hugely entertaining read that was thrilling and captivating from beginning to end.
I would like to thank #DnaielHurst, #Netgalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheHusband in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
He has been employed in several glamorous roles in his lifetime, including bartending, shelf stacking and procurement administration, all while based in some of the most exotic places on the planet, like Bolton, Preston and South London.
Daniel writes psychological thrillers and loves to tell tales about unusual things happening to normal people. He has written all his life, making the progression from handing scribbled stories to his parents as a boy to writing full length novels in his thirties. He lives in the North West of England and when he isn’t writing, he is usually watching a game of football in a pub where his wife can’t find him.
Since following his lifelong passion for writing in 2020, he has amassed a loyal and devoted set of readers, and regularly has several books in the top 100 of the Psychological Thriller Charts on Amazon. His title The Passenger became the #1 selling psychological thriller in the UK in October 2021. The Doctor's Wife is his first publication with Bookouture.
A prolific writer, Daniel likes to keep readers on their toes by self publishing even more books in between those released through his publisher.
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