Title: Beautiful Ugly
Author: Alice Feeney
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Release Date: January 14, 2025
The million-copy bestselling Queen of Twists Alice Feeney returns with a gripping and deliciously dark thriller about marriage. . .. . . and revenge.
Author Grady Green is having the worst best day of his life.
Grady calls his wife to share some exciting news as she is driving home. He hears Abby slam on the brakes, get out of the car, then nothing. When he eventually finds her car by the cliff edge the headlights are on, the driver door is open, her phone is still there. . . but his wife has disappeared.
A year later, Grady is still overcome with grief and desperate to know what happened to Abby. He can’t sleep, and he can’t write, so he travels to a tiny Scottish island to try to get his life back on track. Then he sees the impossible – a woman who looks exactly like his missing wife.
Wives think their husbands will change but they don’t.
Husbands think their wives won’t change but they do.
Grady Green experiences the best day of his life, followed by the worst.
Grady was waiting for his publishing team in the US to inform him about the performance of his new book. After receiving the best news, his wife, Abby, who is running late, calls him on the phone. She is ecstatic about his success and can't wait to get home to celebrate. Then, while on the phone, Grady hears Abby say she's going to stop the car because a woman is lying in the middle of the road. He tells her not to do it, but she doesn't listen. Abby never returns to the call, and by the time Grady arrives, his wife is gone.
A year later, Grady is a mess. His grief is overwhelming; he hasn't been able to write, his money is gone, and he's drinking too much. He dreads his meeting with his agent, sure that she's going to drop him as a client. To his surprise, she offers him a lifeline: she has a place on a remote island in Scotland and offers it to Grady. A change of scenery could be good for him, and hopefully, he'll be able to write again.
Not long after arriving at the Isle of Amberley, Grady starts seeing his wife, but there's no way it could be Abby. Something feels wrong, and he begins to question whether he's hallucinating, unsure of what's real and what's not.
I must say that the narrators, Richard Armitage and Tuppence Middleton, did a phenomenal job with this atmospheric story. I was transported to the island with these characters, feeling a sense of dread and lurking darkness.
Although I enjoyed the first two-thirds of the book, I found the last part lacking. Nonetheless, overall, it was quite good.
Cliffhanger: No
Rating: 3.5/5 Fangs
A complimentary copy was provided by Macmillan Audio via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
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