Sunday, October 5, 2014

Unravelling Oliver by Liz Nugent

4 Star

Oliver Ryan is a handsome and charismatic success story. He lives in the suburbs with his wife, Alice, who illustrates his award-winning children's books and gives him her unstinting devotion. Their life together is one of enviable privilege and ease - enviable until, one evening after supper, Oliver attacks Alice and beats her into a coma.

In the aftermath, as everyone tries to make sense of his astonishing act of savagery, Oliver tells his story. So do those whose paths he has crossed over five decades. What unfolds is a story of shame, envy, breath-taking deception and masterful manipulation.

Only Oliver knows the lengths to which he has had to go to get the life to which he felt entitled. But even he is in for a shock when the past catches up with him.

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Sabrina-Kate - 4 Star

I do enjoy a good suspense novel and Unravelling Oliver kept me guessing so enjoyed it for that fact alone! What I did not enjoy was having a sad subject matter to read about, but...it was realistic. The fact that the author was able to portray the fact that we don’t always know what the causes of terrible acts can be and that we do not know people’s history were important factors that just made this story work. We all judge people but this book made me contemplate the fact that you can never know everything about a person.

I liked the fact that Nugent was able to describe the violence without including unnecessary or overwhelming details yet it was still very clear what occurred. There was just enough detail to make it real but it did not become so horrific to read that I found it too difficult to continue. The story had me hooked from the beginning with a very strong start that made my heart pound. I was hoping that the ending would be just as good and I was not disappointed.  The story flowed well and was short but very well written so that I felt that nothing was left out despite the fact that you were given a lot of things to think about and make your own decisions on.

I suspect that a lot of thought was taken while Nugent wrote Unravelling Oliver as every detail seemed to have its place and to contribute to the overall impact and denouement. This was an excellently clever read full of intrigue that I would recommend to anyone who loves a good thriller.


Thank you to Penguin UK for our review copy. All opinions are our own.

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