Description
SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY RON HOWARD
Please make a list of every possession you consider essential to your life.
The request seems odd, even intrusive—and for the two women who answer, the consequences are devastating.
EMMA
Reeling from a traumatic break-in, Emma wants a new place to live. But none of the apartments she sees are affordable or feel safe. Until One Folgate Street. The house is an architectural masterpiece: a minimalist design of pale stone, plate glass, and soaring ceilings. But there are rules. The enigmatic architect who designed the house retains full control: no books, no throw pillows, no photos or clutter or personal effects of any kind. The space is intended to transform its occupant—and it does.
JANE
After a personal tragedy, Jane needs a fresh start. When she finds One Folgate Street she is instantly drawn to the space—and to its aloof but seductive creator. Moving in, Jane soon learns about the untimely death of the home’s previous tenant, a woman similar to Jane in age and appearance. As Jane tries to untangle truth from lies, she unwittingly follows the same patterns, makes the same choices, crosses paths with the same people, and experiences the same terror, as the girl before.
Praise for The Girl Before
“Dazzling, startling, and above all cunning—a pitch-perfect novel of psychological suspense.”—Lee Child
“The Girl Before generates a fast pace. . . . [J. P.] Delaney intersperses ethics questions on stand-alone pages throughout the book. . . . The single most ingenious touch is that we’re not provided either woman’s answers.”—The New York Times
“J. P. Delaney builds the suspense.”—Vanity Fair
“Immediate guarantee: You will not be able to put this book down. . . . Fans of Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train will realize that there’s not only more where that came from, but it’s also more thrilling.”—American Booksellers Association
Author Jessica Mendes –
Loved the tale of the two women’s perspective. Didn’t love the ending as much as I had hoped but definitely a great read!
Jess Williams –
It was okay. It kept me interested, and I was motivated to discover how it ended; a classic ‘whodunit’ kind of theme. The ending was really quite disappointing, and without spoiling anything, I think it’s quite a poor writing idea to have things sprung on the reader about the main characters, when you’re reading from the first person and are participating in their thoughts. As a random example, when a theme through the book is ‘I want to become a lawyer’, and the character laments about how hard it is to become a lawyer, and thinks about what their life would be like as a lawyer, and takes steps towards becoming a lawyer, and then at the end of the book you discover that the main character ACTUALLY wanted to be a truck driver all along, but just didn’t let on, you are left feeling like the author was running out of ideas towards the end and just started making stuff up. It also had some weird 50 Shades type theme to it – these women just fall in love with this man who is painted only as a controlling, manipulative, emotionless man who enjoys a sexual conquest. I feel like three stars is quite generous, actually, now I’ve finished the review.
Amazon Customer –
Great read! Loved the suspense, the twists, the turns and the creepiness of this book… The author has a great imagination and I really liked the idea of this book- it’a a bit different and brilliantly written. It did however remind me a bit of 50 shades of grey & I think it was a slight copy of it in areas… You’ll get what I mean when you read it. Overall though, I really liked this and I’m looking forward to the next book!!
Monique H –
I fully respect the premise of the story. It was slightly engaging the prose lost me when one of the protagonists Jane was engaging with a doctor & the following was say “At a time I’d scare resources, it’s more important that than ever to fight your corner’ Jane interrupt’s “You know as well as I do that scans and extra doctors will save more lives than some new cancer drug*” – as a cancer sufferer (with two small children) it seems my life is less worthy of attempting to preserve than one that is not yet born. I found the book really disappointing.
Debra –
I loved the idea of this story – it had a “ghost in the machine” quality to it, and the architect behind the house was one fascinating character. I enjoyed this book, particularly the first half. The ending was slightly convoluted, some details unnecessary, but it was surprising. Overall, a satisfying read.