This was the August read for the Fable “Thriller lovers book club” and was one of the books I really wanted to read.

It’s called “don’t let him in” by Lisa Jewell and I have to say, I’m very disappointed.

I was only 80 pages in when I knew how this story was unfolding which was pretty anticlimactic. It’s also a book that is kind of hard to review without spoiling… So I’ll just say this, if you want to read this book maybe don’t read this review yet. Or if you’re not sure if you want to, just read the review and decide if it’s worth it.

We follow the Swann family who have just suffered a terrible loss. The husband / father Paddy Swann was pushed in front of an oncoming tube and lost his live. Paddy was a well known chef and restaurant owner. He also was very charismatic, liked to drink and always had to gave things his way. While his family is grieving, a card arrives from someone claiming to have been a friend of Paddy’s in the ’90s and was terribly shocked by the news.. A couple of weeks later, a zippo arrived with a note from the same guy saying Paddy left it way back when they still worked together.

Another storyline is of a man called Jonathan, a married man who has been having an affair with a woman he thinks he’s in love with. Going away for days on end and not answering his phone or messages, always having the vaguess of explanations, his wife Tara has had enough. Jonathan seems to sense it and switched to the caring and loving husband once more. But when she finally kicks him to the curb, he has nowhere to go. He hasn’t played Martha enough yet to ask if they should move in.. No money in the bank, which makes him go to his ex, Amanda; who thought he’d died 20 years prior leaving her and her son’s and a massive dept behind. But having a soft spot for him, she let’s Damian into her live again.

Ash, Paddy’s daughter has a hard time after the one year anniversary of her father’s death and the fact that Nick, a silver fox of a man and her mother Nina seem to be having a lot of fun. But something about Nick seems of. He looks and acts to good to be true, has an answer for everything and it just doesn’t feel right.

Martha thrives in her flower shop that’s become quite popular. If only her husband Al could be more present. His work schedule is insane. Gone at a minutes notice and that while they have a two year old to look after. Whenever he gets back he switches to the doting husband but it’s radio silence when he’s away. Sometimes it’s just a day, a weekend up to a week. It’s getting insane and not everything seems to add up.

Who is this guy?

Very predictable from the start, the characters are thought out but some of them lack something… I wanted to finish this book since it was a book club pick, if it wasn’t this would’ve been my frist DNF. 

It was only a ⭐⭐.5 star read for me.