By: Michael Robotham
ASIN: B0796RHC7K
Publisher: Sphere
Publication Date: 06/26/2018
Format: Kindle
My Rating: 5 Stars +++
Top Books of 2018 Childhood sweethearts William and Mary have been married for sixty years. William is a celebrated surgeon, Mary a devoted wife. Both have a strong sense of right and wrong. This is what their son, Joe O'Loughlin, has always believed. But when Joe is summoned to the hospital with news that his father has been brutally attacked, his world is turned upside down. Who is the strange woman crying at William's bedside, covered in his blood - a friend, a mistress, a fantasist or a killer? Against the advice of the police, Joe launches his own investigation. As he learns more, he discovers sides to his father he never knew - and is forcibly reminded that the truth comes at a price.
A mesmerizing psychological thriller from one of the greatest crime writers of today, Michael Robotham, the international bestselling author of THE SECRETS SHE KEEPS.
My Review
10 Stars! Bestselling International author Michael Robotham returns following The Secrets She Keeps, Close Your Eyes, and Life or Death with THE OTHER WIFE – a Tour de Force thriller – His best Yet! His most personal story.
How well do you know your own family?
Soundcloud. A nice Interview with Michael Robotham.
Hosts: John Purcell and Sarah McDuling below.
I agree. You Nailed it!
Since the author introduced us to Professor Joe O’Loughlin, a clinical psychologist, (Suspect) readers anxiously await the next installment. Thirteen books later and the Professor (a man with a brilliant mind and a crumbling body) is still with us. (thank you).
He is still battling Mr. Parkinson (for thirteen years); however, the man sure can get himself into some tight places and dangerous ones (all this stress cannot be good for his medical condition). Here’s hoping in the fictional world that he will receive a magical "cure." We would like him around for a while longer. (please).
“Mr. Parkinson is a cruel puppeteer, tugging at invisible strings, making me dance to music that only he can hear.”
It has been sixteen months since Joe’s wife, Julianne died. A surgical complication. He is still grieving.
“The seasons since then have been like states of grieving. Summer passed in denial and isolation, autumn brought anger, winter blame, and by spring my depression has driven me to seek help.”
For the sake of Joe’s two daughters, Charlie and Emma he moves forward. Family comes first with him. They had moved back to London after selling the cottage in Somerset, and now the three of them live in a top-floor flat.
Emma (age 12) is experiencing problems and has not dealt with her grief. Charlie is in her second year at Oxford studying behavioral psychology.
Joe is still going to a therapist Dr. Victoria Napastek. She always wants him to verbalize his fears, but he lives through them each day.
He receives an alarming message from the hospital about his father, William O’Loughlin. He has been admitted with severe head injuries. Brain surgery. He is in a medically induced coma. ICU. He turned eighty this past year, and Joe cannot comprehend his dad as a patient.
For more than fifty years he was a medical giant – a professor of surgery and public health. Advisor, lecturer, author, commentator, and philanthropist. Their family’s charitable trust – the O’Loughlin Foundation gives millions in research grants each year.
When Joe arrives at the hospital, he expects to his mother. However, it is another woman. This woman claims to be his wife. His other wife. Olivia Blackmore (former tennis star).
This woman is in her forties. How can this be possible? She says they are married. Is she after his money? However, he is married to his mother —has been for more than sixty years. Does his mother know his dad is leading a double life?
Joe thinks she is delusional. A liar. There was an accident. Who pushed his dad down the steps and attacked him? After further investigation, there are also older bruises. Joe calls in the family. He demands answers. Repeatedly blows to the head. Blunt force trauma.
He and his dad had never been close. He respected him, but he feels like he never lived up. Does his mother know about this woman? He had never had reason to question his father’s integrity or doubt his love for his other. He does not want to believe he is a liar, a coward, and a betrayer. It cannot be true.
However, this is much more complex than an affair. Someone tried to murder his father. Olivia, her troubled son, his friend, or does it have to do with the family trust or something more sinister? What is Olivia hiding? She is vulnerable, beautiful, and dangerous. Why was his mom in London?
Joe is obsessed with getting to the bottom of this mystery and with the help of his pal Vincent Ruiz (former retired Scotland Yard detective) which is now a corporate fraud investigator (love him). Whatever Joe’s dad is guilty of, he has to believe he did not deserve this.
DI Stuart Macdermid becomes involved, and he does not like Joe’s interference. However, Joe seems to like DS Hawthorn (Kate). Will she be a new love interest? What about her past? Will she compromise her position and all she has worked to help Joe?
They have to follow the money.
What do the family attorneys and friends have to do with his dad? Are they aware he has two lives? Who will gain by murdering his dad? Then he discovers there are missing monies and discrepancies from the foundation after a recent audit. Why is his mother taking his dad’s side? How could he do this to her? Furthermore, why did she tolerate his behavior? Everyone is a suspect.
There is yet another twist. His dad has been sending checks to a Bethany D’Marco. Joe is shocked there is more in his dad’s past than he ever imagined. Medical malpractice? A misdeed. A coverup? Who is this man?
A week ago his father was a great provider and part of a medical dynasty. Now he is a bigamist and an adulterer who may never recover his faculties. None of the shocking events fit with the man Joe knows as his father.
“I wish I didn’t care, but I do. I’ve seen a ghost, and that ghost is my father; an oversized man with a heart of stone who once occupied a pedestal, but whose legacy is as fouled and be-shitted as a London statue.”
“Children begin by loving their parents; as they grow older they judge them; sometimes they forgive them.” – Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Wow! Brilliant. I love this series and in particular, enjoy the author’s writing (huge fan). Psychologically rich. One of my favorite authors – with each book I say “my favorite.” From the standalone and the series. What makes his work so unique is the sophisticated character development. There is always a story, flawed characters with strong family ties and emotions.
Plus, the killer plot, twists, intense suspense. Multi-layered and complex, this is no ordinary domestic suspense novel. When you think you have figured out the killer, there is another twist. Everyone is a suspect, but the need for revenge goes deep. Unputdownable!
This series is prime for the small or big screen. Movie-Worthy. Joe reminds me of Michael Connelly's Bosch. Always pulled between their cases and their personal family lives. Tormented.
From fathers-sons, fathers-daughters, family, grief, forgiveness, secrets, betrayal, deception, cover-ups, tragedy, relationships, revenge, greed, and acceptance. THE OTHER WIFE has it all. Everything you could want in a crime thriller. My Top Books of 2018 and my favorite thriller of the year, thus far.
Highly recommend. If you have not read the other books in the series, each one can be read as a standalone; however, if you are like me, once you read one of his books, you will find yourself buying the entire backlist.
Was delighted to discover the digital copy was offered for purchase to the US in June, so as not to have to wait until October. However, I have pre-ordered the hardcover for my collection. A top author! Cannot wait to see what’s next.
JDCMustReadBooks
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Praise for Michael Robotham
'Will have you turning the pages compulsively' —The Times
'Robotham doesn't just make me scared for his characters, he makes my heart ache for them' —Linwood Barclay
'Superbly exciting ... a terrific read' —Guardian
'A nerve-shredding thriller with the heart and soul so often missing from lesser crime and suspense novels. I couldn't stop reading, yet I didn't want Audie's story to end. Robotham is an absolute master' Stephen King on Life or Death
About the Author
Gold Dagger winning and Edgar short-listed author Michael Robotham was born in Australia in November 1960 and grew up in small country towns that had more dogs than people and more flies than dogs. He escaped in 1979 and became a cadet journalist on an afternoon newspaper in Sydney.
For the next fourteen years he wrote for newspapers and magazines in Australia, Britain and America. As a senior feature writer for the UK’s Mail on Sunday he was among the first people to view the letters and diaries of Czar Nicholas II and his wife Empress Alexandra, unearthed in the Moscow State Archives in 1991. He also gained access to Stalin’s Hitler files, which had been missing for nearly fifty years until a cleaner stumbled upon a cardboard box that had been misplaced and misfiled.
In 1993 he quit journalism to become a ghostwriter, collaborating with politicians, pop stars, psychologists, adventurers and showbusiness personalities to write their autobiographies. Twelve of these non-fiction titles were bestsellers with combined sales of more than 2 million copies.
His partially completed first novel, a psychological thriller called THE SUSPECT, caused a bidding war at the London Book Fair in 2002. Soon afterwards it was chosen by the world’s largest consortium of book clubs as only the fifth “International Book of the Month”, making it the top recommendation to 28 million book club members in fifteen countries.
Michael’s novels have since been translated into 23 languages and have won or been shortlisted for numerous awards including:
The Crime Writer's Association Gold Dagger (won) LIFE OR DEATH 2015 (shortlisted) SAY YOU'RE SORRY 2013.
The Crime Writer's Association Steel Dagger (shortlisted) THE NIGHT FERRY and SHATTER.
The Ned Kelly Award for Best Novel (won 2005 and 2008) LOST and SHATTER. The Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best Novel (shortlisted) 2016 LIFE OR DEATH
Michael lives on Sydney's northern beaches, where he thinks dark thoughts in his 'cabana of cruelty' - a name bestowed by his three daughters, who happily poke fun at the man who has fed, clothed and catered to their every expensive whim. Where is the justice? Read More
