The Good Husband - Abigail Osborne

Author: Abigail Osborne

Genre: Psychological thriller

Rating: 4.25 stars.

In a Nutshell: I didn’t expect to be as blown away by this book as I was! It was not perfect in its writing, but it kept me hooked from start to end. Not everyone’s cup of tea though. Check out the triggers.

Story Synopsis:

Fifty-five year old Jack Danvers has just lost Elsie, his wife of 37 years, in a tragic incident on Black Friday. His grief is too much for him to bear and he can’t figure out why God took away someone who was so good and caring. Jack’s religious fanatic of a father tells him to see it as a sign from God, that Elsie’s death was a divine direction for Jack to rid the world of greedy humans. Soon, Jack sets out on this moral crusades, setting him on a dangerous path that might up end up with unforeseen consequences.

The story is written in a limited third person perspective.

This was a very uncomfortable read. The writing makes you feel claustrophobic right from the start. The story in the first half comes from a “Now” and “Then” perspective. The “Now” reveals Jack’s grief over Elsie’s death and his father’s extreme reaction and suggestion about cleansing humanity of evil souls. The “Then” reveals Jack’s childhood and his life under a bigoted bully. The second half of the book merges the two timelines and focusses on Jack’s action plan and its aftereffects. The two timelines and the unfolding events are so intense and creepy that I was just horrified at what I was reading. Most of the characters will leave you either dismayed or disgusted.

(As a practising Christian, the whole situation became more personal and I was pained to see, yet again, how religious extremists twist biblical values with their weird and half-cooked interpretations.)

Yet I was glued to the story all the way through!

I began this book on Saturday morning, and had life not got in the way, I am sure I would have had a marathon binge and completed it in one go. The situations were so riveting that keeping the book aside was tough. The book is quite fast-paced and this also helps sustain the interest.

The title appears very simple and before I had read this, it just looked like a typical psychological/domestic thriller title. I still feel it is too simplistic, but now I also believe that it suits the book well. It satisfied all my requirements for a thriller – fast pace, shocking incidents, unpredictability, a gripping story. I don’t care for flowery writing in thrillers as they take away from the tempo. So this was just my kind of thriller.

The writing isn’t perfect. There are a couple of angles raised for which there’s no answer provided even until the end. There are some instances where the characters’ reactions feel very repetitive. This is especially applicable to Jack who seems to hover between wanting to listen to his inner conscience and wanting to accept and obey his father’s thinking. Despite these flaws, I was so caught up by the story that I was ready to let go of these fallacies. It has been a long time since I have willingly ignored writing errors because of the brilliance of the story.

There were many things I refused to accept at first. I simply couldn’t see how whatever occurred was possible, especially given that Jack wasn’t a youngster but a middle-aged man. But the final section of the book settled all my queries, and how! I never saw any of that coming! The last chapter has to be one of the most impactful I have ever read. What an outstanding decision to end with that scene!

You know how the audience can have two kinds of positive reactions after a movie/play – they immediately rise and give a standing ovation, or there is a stunned silence, which speaks much more than applause IMHO. My reaction to the end of the book was the latter. For a few minutes, I just sat gazing in the distance, going “Wow!” and unable to state/think anything else.

All in all, I relished this twisted read despite its minor writing issues. I can’t say I "enjoyed" it, but the unusual story had me in its tentacles throughout. However, I strongly feel that this book won’t work for everyone. The main plot point is quite a delicate topic, and you need to suspend disbelief for a few scenes and go with the flow. Sensitive readers might do better to stay away.

No regrets though. I am ecstatic this book came my way. I had almost given up on the psych thriller genre because of the umpteen disappointments I have had; this book gives me hope that there are still good thriller writers out there.

4.25 stars.

My thanks to Bloodhound Books for a complimentary copy of “The Good Husband”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

Triggers: child cruelty, domestic abuse, parental abuse, forceful religious indoctrination, religious bigotry, torture and murders, death, extra-marital affairs (off the page), homophobia, gender discrimination, racial discrimination, mental health.