The Perfect Husband by Iain Maitland

Release: 19th October 2022
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Inkubator Books
Source: Zooloos Book Tours
Find it at: Goodreads, Amazon

He was gentle, kind, loving. Until he moved in.

A small-town barbeque in summer’s dying days. There, gentle, bookish Laura meets a man who makes her laugh, hangs on her every word.

He’s the one. Isn’t he?

But once Laura falls pregnant, Robert’s mask slips. She can never quite keep him happy. He is cold and judgemental with a temper that can flare up at any moment. He goes out for hours and won’t tell her where he’s been, he even locks her own door against her.

Laura realises she has married a total stranger, a man governed by dark impulses and darker secrets who seems determined to gain control of every part of her life. Who is this man she’s living with and what terrible things has he done?

As Laura slowly discovers the truth about Robert, she begins to realise that she and her unborn child are in terrible danger. And finally she understands she will have to answer one terrifying question – how far is she willing to go to protect her baby?

About the Author:

Iain Maitland is the author of three previous psych thrillers, The Scribbler (2020), Mr Todd’s Reckoning (2019) and Sweet William (2017), all published by Contraband, an imprint of Saraband.

Mr Todd’s Reckoning is coming to the big screen in 2023, courtesy of Infinity Hill, the team behind the award-winning BBC TV series Staged, starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen.

Iain is also the author of two memoirs, Dear Michael, Love Dad (Hodder, 2016), a book of letters written to his eldest son who experienced depression and anorexia, and (co-authored with Michael) Out Of The Madhouse (Jessica Kingsley, 2018).

He is also an Ambassador for Stem4, the teenage mental health charity. He talks regularly about mental health issues in schools and colleges and workplaces.

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The Perfect Husband Review:

“The Perfect Husband” glued me because of the main character, and I wanted to find out what happened to her.

Laura, Laura, Laura. Where do I begin with her? She had me going through various emotions, and I admire the author for writing her this way. She is not cunning, manipulative, or even astute and makes decisions and mistakes that an average person would make in that scenario. Initially, I felt sorry for her and all the trouble that Robert had put her through. But, in the second half, I sometimes rolled my eyes, trying to figure out how deluded she behaved with her bad decisions, especially when Andrew entered the picture. The author wrote the characters realistically, and it was fun to see how they reacted to the situations. Robert is a devious villain who you despise for how he treats Laura. Alex also creeped me out, especially with his weird dance and how he unnerves Laura.

However, the only criticism I had was on the pacing. While I enjoyed the plot, the story staggered at times, where we get the same paragraphs of Laura fearing for her actions and what would happen to her. There are also quite a few ‘what-if’ scenarios that play out, which I felt unnecessary, and it would have been nice if the author had added more twists to the tale.

Nevertheless, the story is engaging, and while you might not like Laura at times, you want to keep reading to find out just how far she will make it and if she will succeed in the end or not. The climax was not one which I wanted, but it felt like a proper ending.

Overall, “The Perfect Husband” is a suburban thriller that will hook you for its surprising plot and Laura.