As Sick as Our Secrets by A. B. Whelan ★★★

Olivia Campbell is living comfortably to a wealthy man, Richard, but she’s anything but at peace. That’s because she’s slowly coming to the understanding that he just might be a serial killer.

The story is mostly told from three points of view: Olivia’s, Ashley Hayes (Olivia’s best friend) and Betty (Ashley’s friend). However, the book opens with a chilling point of view from the killer, 27 years earlier. You’ll have to read the book to find out his identity. It starts with a bang and proceeds rather quickly thereon out. However, the transitions between the three narrators were often confusing as they are all in first person. While I liked getting their individual perspectives, third person might have worked more effectively as I never really felt like I got a strong sense of who these women really were, Olivia excepted. She was a complicated woman with a tragic history that unfolds throughout the book.

While I found the story interesting, it too often required a belief suspension I couldn’t master. Some of the actions taken individually by these women were just not logical until they took action as a group. Too many lines of the story were not fully explored, leaving me wanting more of something I just couldn’t put my finger on. I’m a character driven reader and this is written more for those with a consumption for plot driven stories as it accomplished that very well. I got to the end and found I really didn’t have much of an emotional investment in any of the characters, an essential element for me.

It’s a good story that I liked well enough but just didn’t grab me in the way the author’s first book did. I highly recommend it for those that like an interesting plot that is well developed and don’t necessarily need expansive character development.

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(I received an advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review)