Someone is delivering flowers to a family in mourning at the start of Lisa Jewell's engrossing psychological thriller, Don't Let Him In. The delivery person seems to be an inconsequential character--so why is the chapter told from his point of view?
Because he's not who he says he is. With anyone. The man is alternately known as Alistair and Nick and Damian and Justin and Jonathan as he juggles multiple lovers and wives, some of whom he has children with. Each alias comes with a different job: life coach, wine bar owner, hospitality trainer. After his days-long disappearances, he comes home and feigns work exhaustion to avoid probing questions. The women accept his stories because he's "the perfect husband" when he's around--until he tires of them and leaves, for good, with all their money. When Tara, the woman "Alistair" married, decides she won't take it anymore, she discovers her husband is far from perfect. He might even be a psychopath.
Aside from chapters told in first person by the man, Jewell (Watching You; Then She Was Gone) also writes from the points of view of two women: Martha, the man's current wife; and Ash, a young woman who suspects her recently widowed mother's new boyfriend is bad news. While the women are vulnerable to flattering male company and trust too easily, Jewell also depicts them as strong and capable. Readers will root for them to excise the darkness that has infiltrated their lives, and pages will fly by as thriller fans race to see if an unctuous, toxic man gets his comeuppance. --Elyse Dinh-McCrillis, reviewer and freelance editor at The Edit Ninja