The Perfect Friend, by J. V. Cardy

 

The Perfect Friend

Written by J. V. Cardy 

Blurb:

Lou has finally found a friend. Now she’ll do anything to keep her.

Anna is in a good place in her life – a husband she loves, a great job, a lovely home. Everything is perfect.

But then she gets a call from an old girlfriend, Lou, whom she hasn’t seen for twenty years. Lou, now seeming troubled and off kilter, wants to confess to a fatal hit-and-run from back in the day – an accident which Anna helped cover up. If Lou goes to the police, Anna’s life is over, she’ll lose everything she has worked so hard to build.

Anna can see that Lou is not in a great place, and hopes that if she can help her old friend get back on her feet, she’ll forget about confessing. So Anna invites Lou to move into her home.

Lou is delighted and sees this as a sign that Anna still loves her, that they really are best friends forever.

But Lou isn’t easy to live with. At first, she’s demanding, then openly menacing – using her desire to confess as a weapon to get what she wants.

Anna realizes she needs to get free of Lou no matter what it takes. But when she finally acts decisively, she opens the gates to hell. 

Because Lou is far more disturbed than Anna realizes, and enraged by her rejection, she plans a revenge beyond Anna’s wildest nightmares.

My Review:

I found this book easy to get into, it drew me in from the very beginning, & I liked its’ pace, throughout. 

What I particularly liked was that it mainly switched between the two main characters, - Anna, & Lou(ise), - and whilst mostly their alternate p.o.v’s were in continuation, at times there was also some overlap of the two, which I think worked really well. Also, I liked how the narrative also directly addressed the reader quite a bit; questioning and explaining some of the understanding, as to where the characters’ p.o.v and experience was coming from. 

Whilst this book did contain some quite sensitive topics, for which I will add a ‘Note of trigger’ here; contains instances of child sexual abuse, the use of drugs, domestic violence, abuse, & suicide, - which I think this is personally the most heaviest content on all of the above that I’ve read in a single book to date, - I have to say that overall, I very much enjoyed reading this, - as a work of fiction. It was written well, it was a compelling read, its ending was satisfying, & I would deffo highly recommend!

Based on a rating of 1-10, where 10 is the highest, I would give this book a rating of 9 out of 10! = Deffo a MUST-read for anyone who loves a good, gripping, page-turner, of a psychological thriller!

Available from 25th February 2024! Publisher: Inkubator Books