The Vow by Debbie Howells

I received this book for free from NetGalley to facilitate my review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Vow by Debbie Howells
Published by HarperCollins UK on 10/15/2020
Genres: Fiction / Crime, Fiction / Family Life / Marriage & Divorce, Fiction / Mystery & Detective / General, Fiction / Psychological, Fiction / Small Town & Rural, Fiction / Thrillers / Domestic, Fiction / Thrillers / Suspense
Pages: 368
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: NetGalley
Amazon
Goodreads

**Pre-order The Secret now – the new edge-of-your-seat thriller from Debbie Howells, coming soon!**

Everything was perfect. And then her fiancé disappeared...

‘Dazzling’ DAILY MAIL
‘A terrific new talent’ PETER JAMES

Two weeks before her wedding, a stranger stops Amy in the street and warns her she’s in danger. Then that night, Matt, her fiancé, doesn’t come home. Desperate, Amy calls the police – but when Matt fails to emerge, she’s forced to call off her wedding day.

Then another man is reported missing, by a woman called Fiona – a man meeting Matt’s description, who was about to leave his fiancée for her. He was supposed to be moving in with her – but instead, he’s vanished.

Amy refuses to believe Fiona’s lover can be her Matt – but photos prove otherwise, and it soon becomes clear that Matt has been leading a double life. As the police dig deeper, two conflicting, yet equally plausible stories emerge from two women who allegedly have never met.

The wedding day never happened. But the funeral might.

Real readers are hooked by No.1 eBook bestseller The Vow...

‘A breathtaking, suspenseful thriller with more plot twists and turns than you can imagine’ *****

‘Couldn’t stop reading ... Superb story and twisty ending’ *****

‘OMG what a brilliant book, full of twists and turns’ *****

‘Mesmerising from the start’ *****

‘Lies, deceptions and red herrings galore’ *****

‘Truly a roller coaster of a read’ *****

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After a few false starts, I finally got around to actually reading The Vow by Debbie Howells. When I say I devoured the book, I’m not kidding. I actually stayed up until almost 5:30AM to finish the book. That’s how engrossed in the story I was.

I won’t lie, the book starts out a little bit on the slow side. The “action” starts right away – the groom-to-be disappears, but after that it just takes a bit for the book to get going. You just have to hang on to get there because once you do… BOOM. It’s way faster paced and it’s way more intriguing.

You’ll get several points of view in this book – Amy, the bride-to-be, Jess – Amy’s daughter, Fiona – a character you’ll meet later, and then there are the flashbacks to 1996 – where you’re never quite sure who is doing the talking, but you know something’s going on – and it’s not good.

Out of all the characters I think I like Jess the best. While her point of view chapters don’t come as often as Amy’s or Fiona’s, she seems to be the only person who isn’t hiding something and who doesn’t have a past she wants to forget. Amy and Fiona share a past and they do want to forget it – even if they can’t.

The plot twists in this book are amazing. While you might see some of them coming, because they’re telegraphed and easy to spot, those twists serve to make the ones you don’t see coming that much better. For me, the best part was the reveal as to who was actually behind the groom-to-be’s disappearance. To say I never saw it coming was an understatement. I’d never in a million years have guessed that – although you do get some setup to it so it isn’t just turn the page and BANG – a shocking reveal. But it’s set up in a way that makes you question if the characters are correct or not.

This was a wonderful book and I highly recommend it to people who are willing to go with a slow burn mystery to get to a finish that will make you say “never thought of that”.