A thrilling, addictive novel about marriage, betrayal, and the secrets that push us to the edge…

Picture a lovely cottage on a cliff, with sloping lawns, walking paths, and beautiful flowers. It’s Gabe and Pippa Gerard’s dream home in a sleepy coastal town. But their perfect house hides something sinister. The tall cliffs have become a popular spot for people to end their lives. Over the past several months, Gabe comes to their rescue, literally talking them off the ledge.

Until one day, he doesn’t. When Pippa discovers Gabe knew the victim, the questions spiral. . . .Did the victim jump? Was she pushed? And would Gabe, the love of Pippa’s life, her soulmate . . . lie? As the perfect façade of their marriage begins to crack, the deepest and darkest secrets begin to unravel. Because sometimes, the most convincing lies are the ones we tell ourselves.

I pre-ordered this book based solely on the description. It sounded juicy and dangerous and I was all in. It took several weeks before I could finally read the book and while I enjoyed it; I wasn’t as blown away by it as others seem to have been. It’s not that the book was bad – it was really well-written and had some nice twists to it. It just wasn’t as tense as I wanted it to be. I went in hoping for a white knuckle thriller, but it’s actually more of a slow burning mystery.

The book begins with Pippa and Gabe and their two daughters having dinner when Pippa notices a woman standing outside their house near the cliff. This is a common occurrence – several people have committed suicide here and since moving into their home a few months ago, Gabe has talked several people off the literal edge. He’s been so good at it the local paper did a cover story on him for the heroic deeds.

On this particular evening, Gabe goes out to speak with the woman, but she ends up going over the cliff. Gabe claims she had stated her husband was having an affair and she couldn’t handle it and he was unable to convince her to not jump. Pippa was watching from the window and notices that some of what Gabe told the police didn’t match what she saw. The positioning of Gabe’s hands made it appear to Pippa that he may have shoved her rather than tried to grab her – but that can’t be. Gabe’s a great guy. Everyone loves him. He couldn’t hurt a fly – could he?

As the book progresses, we find out who the woman is and the connection she had to Gabe and Pippa. The book alternates from Pippa and the woman’s points of view, which was interesting because while Pippa is alive and well, the other woman is not and we’re hearing her side of things from beyond the grave, which was kind of weird for me.

There were several points while reading that I definitely thought Gabe was guilty, but then something would happen to make me think otherwise – or that maybe he did it to protect his family, but from what?
Now you all know I love an unreliable narrator, and in this book neither Gabe nor Pippa were reliable – both had fucked up in their lives and had things to hide, and if Gabe really killed this woman, it could be a major thorn in both their sides.

As I mentioned earlier, there were some nice twists along the way, but none that shocked or surprised me. There was no gasping on my end, and nothing that made me want to profess my love for the book across Portland. I liked it well enough, but it didn’t blow me away. I’d recommend it to who prefers their thrillers more low-key than full-on gasp inducing.