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Book Summary and Reviews of The Girl Before by JP Delaney

The Girl Before by JP Delaney

The Girl Before

by JP Delaney

  • Critics' Consensus (1):
  • Readers' Rating (22):
  • Published:
  • Jan 2017, 352 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

In the tradition of The Girl on the Train, The Silent Wife, and Gone Girl comes an enthralling psychological thriller that spins one woman's seemingly good fortune, and another woman's mysterious fate, through a kaleidoscope of duplicity, death, and deception.

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.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. The tables turn, and turn again, and the ending is guaranteed to both astonish and satisfy the reader." - Booklist

"Writing with precision and grace, Delaney strips away the characters' secrets until the raw truth of each is revealed." - Publishers Weekly "With hopelessly fake characters and far too many red herrings and reversals, 1 Folgate St. is a house with no load-bearing walls, collapsing under the weight of its own materials." - Kirkus

"Dazzling, startling, and above all cunning - a pitch-perfect novel of psychological suspense." - Lee Child

"Riveting! One of the most compelling page-turners I've read in years. Twisty, turny, and with an ending not to be missed!" - Lisa Gardner

"I was instantly gripped and held captivated by the pace and elegant writing. I devoured it." - Peter James

"The Girl Before is a cat-and-mouse game that toys with our expectations and twists our sympathies. At times almost unbearably suspenseful, it keeps us guessing from the first page to the very last. Don't miss it." - Joseph Finder

This information about The Girl Before was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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More Information

The Girl Before is the first psychological thriller from JP Delaney, a pseudonym for a writer who has previously written best-selling fiction under other names. It is being published in the US in January 2017, with subsequent editions in over 30 countries. A film version is being brought to the screen by Academy Award-winning director Ron Howard.

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