The Golden Couple - Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen

Thriller

Rating: 8/10

If you are a regular on my site, by now you know that I don’t…and will never…regurgitate the book flap coverage or divulge paragraphs worth of plot.  This is not just a choice but also a necessity when it comes to books in this particular genre.  So, what can I say?

Imagine confronting all your demons, shaking the monkey on the back off for good and solving all the issues that may be plaguing your marriage in ten therapy sessions? You’d be crazy not to jump on board, right?

Well maybe if the therapist, who had been stripped of her credentials, had shared with you the title she gives each session you would have run, not walked, away.  Starting with confession and cycling through disruption, escalation, revelation, devastation, confrontation, exposure, the test, reconciliation and concluding with promises, I say thanks, but no thanks.

Our therapist, Avery, has a lot of rules for her patients to follow and absolutely no boundaries whatsoever for herself.  She surveils them, shows up unannounced, inserts herself in their other relationships and even instigates arguments between them. Throwing them off balance just as they might be making strides in reconnecting.

Based on that brief description you might expect that she is an immensely unlikeable character, when in fact she is awesome.  I mean a therapist that will say to a patient, that doesn’t interest me, about their response to a tough question is rare to say the least.

This was a great read that breaks out of the straight up domestic thriller trope with the addition of the unconventional therapy angle.  I’m not saying I didn’t figure it out, but getting there was a sheer delight!

Book Pairing(s): Goodnight Beautiful by Aimee Molly, An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen, The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides