Book Review: Every Vow You Break | Peter Swanson

Peter Swanson can honestly do no wrong in my eyes. Every book of his feels at once fresh and unique, but also stylistically somehow still him. I know not every ready will respond to every book, but I can honestly say I’ve loved them all. From the vintage noir-esque Eight Perfect Murders to the deviously twisted The Kind Worth Killing to the dark character-driven Her Every Fear, I can say that at this point I would read anything Peter Swanson came out with.

Every Vow You Break is another stylistic departure for Swanson and delivers the sort of literary joy ride that requires the reader to check their disbelief at the door and hold on tight for the show. If you need everything to be 100% plausible, this might not be the book for you (also you might be happier swimming in the “mystery” end of the thriller swimming pool). But if you’re someone who can go into a book and enjoy each twist and turn and wrench it throws your way, do not skip this!

About the Book

A bride’s dream honeymoon becomes a nightmare when a man with whom she’s had a regrettable one-night stand shows up in this psychological thriller from the author of Eight Perfect Murders. Abigail Baskin never thought she’d fall in love with a millionaire. Then she met Bruce Lamb. But right before the wedding, Abigail has a drunken one-night stand on her bachelorette weekend. She puts the incident—and the sexy guy who wouldn’t give her his real name—out of her mind, and now believes she wants to be with Bruce for the rest of her life.

Then the mysterious stranger suddenly appears—and Abigail’s future life and happiness are turned upside down. He insists that their passionate night was the beginning of something special and he’s tracked her down to prove it.

Does she tell Bruce and ruin their idyllic honeymoon—and possibly their marriage? Or should she handle this psychopathic stalker on her own? To make the situation worse, strange things begin to happen. She sees a terrified woman in the night shadows, and no one at the resort seems to believe anything is amiss… including her perfect new husband.

Reflection

I’ve been loving thrillers lately that take place around a wedding and honeymoon. It’s such an interesting period of time to explore, bringing two people together and then testing their limits right as they are on the precipice of committing to a life together.

The pacing of this book worked well for the story. It starts relatively slow (but with an intriguing opener)–Abigail receives an email from someone she had a one-night-stand with on her bachelorette weekend. Someone that she doesn’t know and who shouldn’t know who she is–they kept it anonymous for a reason. How did he find her? From here we have to go back a bit and see how we got here. As Abigail recounts her conversation with the stranger, we learn all about her history with men, relationships, sex, her parents, and her upbringing. I really enjoyed Abigail’s backstory. It was different–she’s not our normal heroine from a thriller. Not by a longshot!

And then we learn about how she met her fiancé Bruce. Abigail never envisioned herself marrying someone so wealthy. But slowly, Bruce won her over with his kindness and persistence. Abigail can’t believe she almost ruined it all with a one-night-stand. And now she’s trying to figure out how this stranger found her right before her wedding. As the wedding night arrives, Abigail begins to get further hints that the stranger might not have simply emailed her, she thinks he may be stalking her.

From here the pace picks up quite a bit, through the wedding and to their honeymoon, where the stranger just happens to arrive a day or so after Abigail. Is he following her? What will happen if Bruce finds out? And what are his motives for coming here?

I wish I could say more about the book but I truly think it is best if you experience it yourself. Let’s just say Abigail’s honeymoon is not one I hope to experience myself! From the time they arrive at their destination, the pace of the book gets faster and faster and the story takes turn after turn that had me completely hooked until the final page. This is a wild-ride and by the time it was over I couldn’t believe where I ended versus where I thought the book was going!