Rating: 
Summary: The new jewel in the romantic suspense/thriller crown
Review: She married him believing that he was a knight in shining armor, the prince who would rescue her form her abusive father. She had a child with him, but after two years of living with him, she realzied that he was a monster wearing human form. Jim Beckett is a psychopathic serial killer, who relished murdering women. She gathered enough evidence to send him away for life, but he eluded the police for six months until he was caught trying to kill the woman who betrayed him. Tess survived his attack, but though he was imprisoned, she knew he would eventually escape in order to complete his quest of killing her. A few years later, Jim escapes the maximum state prison. When Tess learns that he is on the loose, she places her daughter in a safe house and hires ex-marine J.D. Dillon to toughen her up for the coming battle to the death. During basic training, this mismatched pair falls in love with each other, a foolhardy act since they are both living on borrowed time. The villain in THE PERFECT HUSBAND steals the show as he is not only ever person's bogeyman, but raises the reader's level of paranoia. Long after reading this brilliant romantic psychological suspense, readers will stare at friends, lovers, and strangers wondering if that individual might be a monster in human garb. Lisa Gardner's first book is a fabulous read that should appeal to fans of Tami Hoag and Nora Roberts. Harriet Klaisner
Rating: 
Summary: The Perfect Husband? More like "The Dysfunctional Family"
Review: I read the reviews after this book was recommended to me and I expected an unstoppable read. It did start out very well making me think of Dean Koontz' - "Intensity", but as the story progressed the main character - Tess/Angela/Theresa became a sub-plot and the story behind Marion (raped by her father), her brother J.T. (ex-marine, alcoholic, married his father's girlfriend and adopted his half-brother) and their brutish/insestuous father (who was dying of cancer) became the focus the rest of the story until the end when -- (Well, I won't give that away) All in all it was a good story, but remove a lot of the story conserning Marion/J.T. (except a sufficient amount so that they are not flat characters) and focus on the real story (Tess and her psychotic husband Jim) and you'll loose well over 100 pages. I purchased it used and I enjoyed the afternoon hanging out on my deck in the sun, but I would not recommend purchasing this at a hardbound price.
Rating:
Summary: I HAD TO HOLD MY BREATH A FEW TIMES
Review: OKAY, FIRST OFF I HAVE TO ADMIT THIS WAS A VERY GOOD BOOK. THE ONLY PARTS THAT I WAS NOT INTERESTED IN WERE THE SEX SCENES. I DONT UNDERSTAND HOW YOU CAN LOVE SOMEONE BECAUSE THEY ARE F-ING YOU. I DONT THINK THERE WAS ANY CHEMISTRY BETWEEN THE TWO MAIN CHARACTERS AND THEY SHOULDNT HAVE GOTTEN TOGETHER IN THE END.
I THINK WHAT HAPPENED TO MARION WAS A CHEAP WAY OUT. SHE WAS A STRONG PERSON TO BE KILLED OFF SO QUICKLY(SORRY TO SPOIL). I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS BOOK THOUGH. YOU WILL DEFINITLY GET GOOSE BUMPS.
TRY TO ENJOY EVEN WITH THE HARSH SEX SCENES.
Rating:
Summary: Very scary
Review: I read this book in 3 days. It is really that good. The beginning is a bit slow, but once I got into it, the suspense is really gripping, & I couldn't put it down. Def. a recommended read. This was the first book by Lisa Gardner that I've read, & it won't be my last!!
Rating:
Summary: Not A Disappointment At All!!
Review: I am a huge Lisa Gardner fan. I have read all of her books. This one takes was the best in my opinion. This is a keeper for me!
Rating:
Summary: Scaaarreeeeeee!
Review: This is the scariest fiction I've ever read!!!!! I've read it at least 5 times now and I've loaned it out 4 times and no one ever returns it! (I don't loan it out anymore.)I've read "The Other Daughter" and " The Third Victim" which were both very good, but did not come up to the standard of "The Perfect Husband". I am getting ready to read (belatedly) "The Next Accident" and I'm hoping it will be as scary as her first. She has a wicked talent and I think it's probably hard to top something as scary as the first book she wrote, but I hope she'll keep trying!
Rating:
Summary: Oh my Gosh!!
Review: I absolutely LOVED this book! I read it in a few days and then had to lend it out. I even got my husband to read it. I now have all of Lisa's books, and she has become my favorite author.
Rating: 
Summary: Escape from Perfection
Review: There is nothing perfect about any of the characters in this book. Theresa Matthews, pretty high school cheerleader in a small town, had to endure her demanding and violent father. J.T. Dillion and his younger sister Marion had to deal with the harsh discipline and incestuous acts of a career military father. A key component of the book is the continuing impact of their childhood traumas. Can one ever really escape such detrimental pasts?
Theresa could have never anticipated that her marriage to a handsome local cop, Jim Beckett, would turn into a nightmare, not to be believed. The psychological warfare perpetrated on Theresa for her alleged wifely imperfections paled compared to her realization after two years of marriage that her husband was the massively sought, local serial killer of women. Her husband nearly killed her in his capture six months later, and, despite his incarceration, she was convinced of his ability to exact revenge. Now, two years later, her name change to Tess Williams and her constant moving become a matter of life and death when her ex-husband kills several guards in escaping from a maximum-security prison.
Tess makes the gutsy decision to reject police protection, but, through the referral of the detective on the case, seeks out the help of ex-marine, tough-guy, J.T. Dillion to prepare her to resist the onslaught that she knows is coming. But J.T. is in the midst of a weeklong drinking binge, attempting to drown his sorrow over the hit-and-run death of his wife and child several years before. The arrival of Marion, now a FBI agent, results in all manner of recriminations and the fighting of demons from the past. The immediate needs of Tess become almost secondary to the bigger question of whether these three individuals can move past their harmful pasts to deal with the very real threat of the future. It is an interesting aspect of the book to observe the tentative attempts to help and heal on the part of these characters.
But the book is not all just examining personal distress. The plot moves quickly as the "perfect husband" indulges in a far more perfectly developed criminal intuition to stay ahead of the authorities and wreak havoc on their mental state and lives. The reader may wonder just a bit as to the basis of Mr. Beckett's pathology. It is not explored, although his cold-hearted compulsions seem to ring true. In addition, the relationship of J.T. and Tess may seem improbable to some, but again there seems to be a certain credibility to it. The book is definitely recommended.
Rating:
Summary: I HAD TO HOLD MY BREATH A FEW TIMES
Review: OKAY, FIRST OFF I HAVE TO ADMIT THIS WAS A VERY GOOD BOOK. THE ONLY PARTS THAT I WAS NOT INTERESTED IN WERE THE SEX SCENES. I DONT UNDERSTAND HOW YOU CAN LOVE SOMEONE BECAUSE THEY ARE F-ING YOU. I DONT THINK THERE WAS ANY CHEMISTRY BETWEEN THE TWO MAIN CHARACTERS AND THEY SHOULDNT HAVE GOTTEN TOGETHER IN THE END.
I THINK WHAT HAPPENED TO MARION WAS A CHEAP WAY OUT. SHE WAS A STRONG PERSON TO BE KILLED OFF SO QUICKLY(SORRY TO SPOIL). I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS BOOK THOUGH. YOU WILL DEFINITLY GET GOOSE BUMPS.
TRY TO ENJOY EVEN WITH THE HARSH SEX SCENES.
Rating:
Summary: 4 1/2 Stars
Review: I must say that this was a rather chilling read that grabbed me from the first page and kept me glued to the book until the final page. I realize that this was one of Ms. Gardner's first book so it was fun to see how far she's come since she started writing her chilling stories. Tess married what she thought was the man of her dreams, her "knight" that was going to take her away from her abusive father and shower her with love and affection. What she did was step out of frying pan and into the fire. Jim Beckett is not what he seems. On the outside he is a good cop, handsome, and nice. On the inside he is a monster patiently waiting until he can be unleashed. Tess soon realizes that her fairy tale marriage is a nightmare. She is married to a serial killer and she finally takes control of her life and turns him in. As he is being taken away he promises that he will come back and killer her. Two years later Tess is living her life with her four year old daughter and then her husband escapes from jail and forces her to make the hard decision of leaving her daughter at a safe house alone and going to Arizona in order to higher a mercenary so he can teach her how to take care of herself. J.T. has his own ghost that he is trying to live with and not very well. The last thing he needs is to see a fragile woman standing in front of him asking for his help. Despite trying to send her away he agrees to help her and by doing so not only finds the women that will heal his heart but also give this women the one thing that no one ever has and that is faith in herself. Together they hunt down a killer in order for Tess to get her life back on track. She will do anything even if it means killing the monster herself. This was a fast paced read with more then enough suspense to keep you turning the pages. Ms. Gardner has the unique abilty to craft a well organized story and realistic characters. This is a chilling story about one of the scariest villian I've ever read.
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