The Perfect Husband takes “page-turner” to a whole new level. I finished it around midnight, at which point I locked every door in the house (including the closets) and may or may not have considered sleeping with a flashlight and baseball bat. I plead the Fifth.
So how did I get here? Well, I was innocently scrolling ThriftBooks (as I am known to do), when I saw the tagline: "What would you do if the man of your dreams hid the soul of a killer?" Oh, yeah. Sign me up. I hit Buy Now so fast, I didn’t even check if I’d read it before. Turns out I had, back in 2022, but enough time had passed that I didn’t remember the details. And let’s be honest, the devil is in the details.
The prologue got me immediately. Jim Beckett, our “perfect husband”, had stalker vibes from the start, grooming Theresa when she was just 17. It was creepy in that “run!” kind of way, and it set the tone for a story with more twists than an overcaffeinated yoga instructor.
Jim Beckett was nightmare fuel. No conscience, no soul, just pure calculated evil. He was a cop, a killer, a manipulator, and a true, pure, 100%, no-holds-barred psychopath. When his end came, it felt like justice. Honestly, our heroine showed more restraint than I would’ve. If I knew how to handle a gun, I’d have emptied it into him, reloaded, and done it again.
The heroine of the story is Tess, and she's exactly the kind of person I root for. Delicate but tough, she is someone who has endured hell and still has the fire to fight. Her strength isn’t flashy; it’s that quiet kind that builds in layers until you realize she’s been carrying the whole weight of survival on her back. But to survive, she needs training.
Hello, JT Wilder. Reclusive, gruff, ex-Special Forces (probably broods in his sleep). He didn’t need to “grow on me” because I liked him instantly. He’s the kind of man who might grumble and scowl, but you know he’ll do the right thing if it’s in his power. He's a great big brother. And Gardner gets bonus points for a sister who’s just as complex and loyal. Speaking of…
Marion deserves a mention. JT’s sister, an FBI agent with a tragic past, was clearly surviving by pouring everything into her work. When it mattered, she stepped up for both JT and Tess, even though it came at great personal cost.
This book was edge-of-your-seat, don't close your eyes, lock all your doors including your closets, and pull the covers over your head while praying type of psychological thriller. I sacrificed sleep to finish it, but I did skip the sex scenes. Not because I’m a prude, but because they didn’t add much. The chemistry between Tess and JT was already obvious; no need to spell it out with anatomical detail. (Also, if you can’t read between the lines, what are you doing with this book?)
This book was rich in tropes. For my book journal, I had to choose just one and I went with Trauma as Motivation. Every character in this story was propelled by trauma: Tess was running from it, JT was numbing his, Marion was managing hers through work. They all needed therapy. Like…a team of therapists.
Other tropes that fit:
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Strong Lone Wolf with a Past (hi, JT)
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Loyal Inner Circle (JT and Marion came through big)
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Everyone Has Secrets (don’t they always?)
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Race Against Time (Jim was always just a half-step step behind)
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Isolated Setting (middle-of-nowhere Arizona)
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Justice Outside the System (because the system failed spectacularly)
Deadpan humor in the middle of trauma training? I laughed out loud.
This was a reread, but it still got my heart pounding. Lisa Gardner knows how to ratchet up suspense until your jaw aches from clenching it. If you like thrillers where damaged people find the courage to fight back, this one delivers. Just...maybe don’t read it alone at night. Or near closets.
