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My kids usually take all of the Audible credits, but this month I snagged one for myself. I’ve enjoyed Peter Swanson books in the past, so I downloaded Before She Knew Him.

This was the first time I’d experienced a Peter Swanson book on audiobook, and it slowed the suspense. The narrator for most of the book was completely calm and almost boring. I considered bumping the speed up to 1.25 or even 1.5 just to make the story move a little faster. It took me a few weeks to read this one.

The author didn’t hold back on the gore in this novel. There’s a substantial amount of blood, graphic descriptions of crime scenes, and several suggestions of sexual violence.

I expected more twists in this novel than I got. The big one was a surprise, and it made me want to go back and figure out where I’d missed the clues! Other than the one big reveal, though, the story is more cerebral than suspenseful. It wasn’t a thriller as much as a Desperate Housewives kind of plot, and that story has been overdone.

While this wasn’t as good as some of Swanson’s other books, it was a clever plot that made me read to the end.