HIS & HERS by Alice Feeney
Flatiron; 7/28/20
CBTB Rating: 5/5
The Verdict: intricate, twisty psychological suspense
Leave it to Alice Feeney to write Summer 2020’s twistiest psychological thriller yet. Feeney, author of CBTB-favorites Sometimes I Lie and I Know Who You Are, is back this year with her next (and arguably best) suspense novel, HIS & HERS. In what has become her trademark, Feeney’s newest release begins with a simple premise—in this case, a journalist reporting on a murder case that has sparked a media frenzy and a detective investigating that same case—and morphs and twists into one of the most intricate, cleverly-constructed psychological suspense novels I’ve had the pleasure of reading so far this year. In Feeney’s expert hands, nothing is as it initially seems—and that has never been more true than it is in her newest release. HIS & HERS is a psychologically-astute, genuinely-shocking thriller: a book that explores themes of family secrets, toxic teenage relationships, and the insidious ways loyalty and love can be used to justify horrific acts. Pick this book up for its instantly-intriguing plot, stay for its never-saw-that-coming final revelation—and all the many twists this journey will take on the way to its ultimate destination. HIS & HERS is a Summer 2020 must-read.
Plot Details:
There are two sides to every story: yours and mine, ours and theirs, His & Hers. Which means someone is always lying.
When a woman is murdered in Blackdown, a quintessentially British village, newsreader Anna Andrews is reluctant to cover the case. Detective Jack Harper is suspicious of her involvement, until he becomes a suspect in his own murder investigation.
Someone isn’t telling the truth, and some secrets are worth killing to keep.
After years (and years) of reading crime fiction, I like to consider myself a relatively keen-eyed crime fiction reader… yet any confidence I had in my own deductive skills was swiftly thrown out the door when I dove into the genuinely unpredictable HIS & HERS. HIS & HERS is a masterful example of the “twisty psychological thriller” executed to the full potential of its promise. Much like Feeney’s previous thrillers, HIS & HERS begins with a premise that feels tailor-made to lull readers into a false sense of security—and then pull the rug right out from under them. Narrated alternately by two protagonists whose dubious connections to a murder victim make them instantly-unreliable guides through our story, HIS & HERS gives readers a passenger’s seat on a twisty journey to find the truth about a local woman’s death. Anna Andrews never wanted to return to the small town of Blackdown, but with her job in upheaval thanks to the return of a work nemesis, she has no choice but to take an assignment to cover a story unfolding there. In the sleepy village of Blackdown, a woman’s body has been found - a case that shakes the quiet town to its core. Anna returns reluctantly, determined to get in, do her job, and get out. Jack Harper hasn’t left the town of Blackdown in years, saddled as he is with family commitments and personal baggage. He longs for a bit of excitement… but investigating this murder, a case which is quickly becoming increasingly high-profile and high-stakes, isn’t quite what he imagined. And when Jack sees that Anna is back, his world is turned upside down. Jack and Anna have a history with one another, and they also have connections to the deceased—connections which, should they be revealed, are sure to cast suspicion on them both. Narrated in turn by Anna, Jack, and an anonymous (and very sinister) third voice, HIS & HERS follows the ever-more-twisty road that leads from the scene of the crime to the truth about what happened there.
There is a line early on in HIS & HERS which, to my mind, perfectly encapsulates the core of this twisty thriller. In one of her earliest chapters, Anna reflects: “Sometimes I think I am the unreliable narrator of my own life. Sometimes I think we all are.” HIS & HERS is a story about that unreliability, and about the ever-shifting target of “truth” when we are all at the mercy of people filtering facts through personal motivations. And boy, do Anna and Jack bend the truth to suit their needs. Feeney’s clever plot construction leaves readers utterly at the whims of her narrators; there’s no omniscient third party present to separate truth from lie, and readers will have to pay very close attention indeed to puzzle out when our protagonists are being accurate—and when they are more concerned with preserving themselves than anything else. Neither Anna nor Jack is instantly likeable, and many of the revelations made about these individuals won’t do much to stir any additional sympathy for them in the hearts of their readers… and I suspect that’s exactly the way Feeney wants it. Anna and Jack are, at the end of the day, terribly human. They lie, they grapple for control, they go to great lengths to preserve their self-image, and they hide secrets—from one another, from the reader, and even from themselves. And it’s in the unveiling of their flaws, their secrets, and the trauma they have survived that readers will ultimately discover the solution to our story’s central mystery. In a genre obsessed with pulling off the perfect misdirection, HIS & HERS actually succeeds.
As always, I’ll be honest: at first glance, I wasn’t sure just how compelling the mystery at the heart of HIS & HERS really would be for me. Haven’t I read a story about a woman found murdered in a small town before? Yes, I have, but I haven’t read one by Alice Feeney—and it’s Feeney’s dark imagination and willingness to go there, into the darkest recesses of her characters lives, that makes all the difference here. What begins as a simple murder mystery quickly shifts into a truly insidious story of trauma endured in childhood and the dark ties that can bind victims to perpetrators, and innocent children to their bullies. Feeney’s astute understanding of human nature shines in our story’s periodic flashbacks, a tool through which she builds out a compelling—and heartbreaking—portrait of the toxicity and manipulations that can define teenage friendships and romantic relationships alike. And the more readers learn about the backstories of the characters they are meeting in adulthood, the more they will come to sympathize with them… even with those who seemed deeply unlikeable at first. HIS & HERS is a story that takes its time to reveal the true extent of its darkness, but when readers catch a glimpse of it, they will be truly shocked at the sinister secrets at this book’s core. A word of warning here: this book does delve into very dark themes and topics, including sexual assault, and instances of harm coming to animals.
HIS & HERS is a superb psychological thriller, another stellar outing from an author who has quickly become one of my go-to writers of sharp, twisty suspense. Following the deliciously unreliable characters of Anna and Jack, this mystery moves from one shocking revelation to the next, never losing its steam—or its clever everyone’s-a-suspect intrigue. And on the subject of suspects, let’s not forget our story’s mysterious, anonymous third voice: I’m pretty sure I suspected absolutely every single character in this book of being that voice… everyone, that is, aside from who it actually turns out to be. Short, impactful chapters and mini-twists sprinkled throughout give HIS & HERS its driving pacing, while effective character development contributes strong human interest and plenty of interpersonal intrigue to this shocking psychological thriller. In HIS & HERS, everyone is a suspect, and everything should be questioned—and all your guesses are probably wrong.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. All opinions my own.
Book Details:
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Flatiron Books (July 28, 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1250266076
ISBN-13: 978-1250266071
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