Review of A Killer Secret

[Maggie Johnson 2]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "A Killer Secret" by Jeff Berney.]

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4 out of 5 stars

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Edie and Adrian are trapped. They’re trapped in their relationship, their jobs, and their Midwestern town. Life wasn’t always like this. They were once promising psychologists with the world at their feet. Now their lives seem mundane. Then, Edie gets a new patient who is either a liar or a sociopath. Either way, it’s clear he has secrets. But he’s only willing to share them with Edie if she shares some of her own. Some secrets are too much to share, though. And some are so dark they are worth killing for.

A Killer Secret is a dark psychological thriller by Jeff Berney. The story follows three people whose lives have become uprooted by the secrets they’re so desperate to keep.

One of the things I enjoyed most about this book was the author’s writing style. The book was filled with descriptions that made the story and its characters come to life. The characters in this book experienced a lot of trauma, and the tone of the story reflected that. The characters never came across as simply dramatic. The author told an emotionally-heavy story and was able to pass those emotions onto the reader. The plot of this story was also interesting. There were several twists that I did not expect.

The first half of the book was primarily focused on the characters, and at times it was challenging to get through. It was difficult to like the characters in this story. They had few redeeming qualities, which made it difficult to sympathize with their situation and care about what happened to them. It was clear from the beginning that Edie and Adrian were in a toxic relationship. Edie, in particular, seemed trapped. However, it wasn’t clear exactly why. Some of the details revealing how the characters wound up where they were when the story started were eventually explained. However, I think having some of this explained sooner would have helped me feel more invested in the characters and the story as a whole. Eventually, the plot of the story picked up and was engaging enough that I was able to overcome my personal dislike of the characters.

I would give this book a rating of 4 out of 5 stars. Once the plot picked up, I found it difficult to put the book down. Even though I didn’t particularly like the characters, they were well-developed and memorable. I deducted one star because the book was not professionally edited, and because of how difficult I found it to make it through the first half of the story.

I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy psychological thrillers. This book deals with topics that some readers may find triggering. There are scenes depicting rape, violence, and self-harm.

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A Killer Secret
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[Laney K]

This definitely sounds like the book for me theme wise, but the unlikable characters might be difficult to deal with.

[Amy Luman]

At first, from your description, I thought this would be a perfect book for me. However, as I read further, I found that the characters di not seem to have any redeeming qualities and I was disappointed. Also, I have read books where the beginning is difficult to get through and it’s hard so I’m not interested. Thank you for warning me.

[NetMassimo]

This psychological thriller digs into some dark sides of humanity and some that are more "mundane" such as relationships and jobs. I hope the author does proper proofreading to make it excellent. Thank you for your great review!