The Woman Inside by E.G. Scott

BOOK REVIEW: The Woman Inside by E.G. Scott

Release Date: January 22, 2019

Genre: Suspense, Thriller

335 Pages

Published by Dutton

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ My Goodreads Rating

BOOK BLURB:
Rebecca and Paul have been married for nearly twenty years.  A marriage rooted as much in love as shared trauma from dark pasts, their pain drew them together with an irresistible magnetism.  But now, Paul and Rebecca are drowning as the trauma and secrets that ignited their love begin to consume them.  Paul's professional life has taken a major hit, leaving him feeling inadequate, something he remedies by having an affair with an attractive neighbor.  But things get messy, and fast.  Rebecca, on the other hand, appears to be killing at work.  That is, until her boss lets her go as her growing dependency on the opiates she sells for a living becomes a liability to the company.  In a panic, Rebecca turns to their joint life savings only to discover the account has been completely wiped out. She begins investigating Paul and discovers his plan to build a new life without her.  As she spirals deeper into the throes of addiction, she devises a devious plot of her own.

What follows is an unpredictable game of cat-and-mouse as the lies and tension between Paul and Rebecca mount.  Is anyone telling the truth?  Can their marriage be saved?  And, just who is the woman inside?


ABOUT E.G. SCOTT:
E.G. Scott is a is a pseudonym for two writers, who have been friends for over twenty-years, and have been writing plays, screenplays, and short stories separately since they were kids. They've collaborated on multiple projects from the beginning of their friendship, but The Woman Inside is their first published work together. This book came out of their shared love of thrillers and noir and wanting to collaborate on a novel for a long time. They are currently working on their next thriller.

MY THOUGHTS:
I don't usually reach for thrillers, but The Woman Inside surprised me.  I could not put this book down.  High on the suspense meter.  A true page-turner.

The story takes place in Long Island, NY.

Paul and Rebecca, the main characters, are very far from being a "perfect couple".  As a matter of fact, it's kind of hard to believe they've been married almost 20 years (although I could say the same for some real life couples)...
Paul is a player, used to get what he wants, but when his business takes a turn for the worst, he can't cope with being unemployed.
Rebecca has the perfect job at a pharmaceutical company. Perfect for her, who is addicted to the drugs she sells.  Not so perfect when she finally loses her job.
That's when everything starts getting out of control.  Told in "before" and "after" timelines, we are able to slowly see the road these characters took to become who they are: unreliable, cheating, addicted selves.

There are so many unpredictable twists, so many secrets,  that, at some point I was really lost in their web of deceit.

But there are 2 extra characters that I need to mention, because they made me laugh, which added some very needed balance after some of the thrilling scenes: Wolcott and Silvestri, the 2 cops investigating the neighbor's disappearance.  These 2 characters played out so well in this story and made it more realistic.

From the get-go you know there's going to be a murder, but you don't know who will murder who.  It's how we get there that makes this story so addictive to read.  Oh, and the final twist was SO rewarding!

The Woman Inside was already picked up for a major TV series, and I can't wait to watch how the book-to-TV adaptation will play out!

Overall, this is a remarkable book.
My recommendation?
Read it before the TV show comes out!


Note:
I received a copy of the book from Kathleen Carter Communications in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are my own.