Before She Knew Him (Swanson) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
[A] neatly knotted suspense story.
New York Times Book Review


Swanson unfolds this creepy story with the assurance and economy of a master. Surprises follow one another with inevitability, until the final electrifying jolt.
Wall Street Journal


In trademark style, Swanson’s ingenious plotting throws up tantalising clues and then slowly unravels them through a series of shocking revelations, leaving readers confused, bemused and racing to the last page. Compelling, creepy, and psychologically astute, this is stylish thriller writing at its very best.
Guardian (UK)


This acutely perceptive writer has become a master of psychological chills and thrills, transforming what appears to be "cosy domestic" into something infinitely more dangerous and deadly.… A sizzling slice of his unique brand of domestic noir.… Tingling with tension [and] brimming with menace.
Guardian (UK)


Swanson] knows how to ration his twists and where in the narrative to place them, devoting just the right amount of time to exploring the ramifications of each new development before spinning the story off in an ominous new direction… De Palma, or Hitchcock… would kill for the film rights.
National (UK)


★ [An] exceptional psychological thriller…. Surprising twists help keep the suspense high to the end.
Publishers Weekly


What would happen if a serial killer met the perfect confidant, someone who would never be believed if they revealed his secrets? Nothing good…. Swanson has crafted another bar-raising psychological thriller with this tense, unexpected spin on serial killers and those obsessed with them.
Booklist


[T]wisty, fast-paced…. Swanson is at his best in exploring the kinship… between artist and killer, one of the themes of Swanson's great model and forebear, Patricia Highsmith. Swanson isn't quite up to Highsmith's lofty mark, …but for the most part, this novel delivers.
Kirkus Reviews


There’s a neat twist at the end, but the real surprise is the way characters are allowed to grieve their losses, a luxury not always allowed in stories of this type. For a fast-paced thriller, Before She Knew Him achieves an impressive significance in its pauses.
BookPage