What They Don’t Know: New suspense by Susan Furlong
Review + Book & Author Info + Giveaway!
What They Don’t Know
A picture-perfect suburban life fractures . . . and a darker reality bubbles beneath the surface.
Mona Ellison’s life is as perfect as the porcelain dolls lined up on her shelves. She has a successful husband, a loving son, a beautiful home, and a supportive group of girlfriends ever ready for their weekly wine night.
But when Mona’s son gets entangled with the wrong crowd and runs away from home, her blissful suburban world begins to unravel. She tells her friends that boys will be boys, that he’ll be back as soon as his money runs dry . . . but deep down she knows there’s something else going on.
Then the police show up at Mona’s door. A young girl has turned up dead in their quiet town, and her missing son is the prime suspect.
Determined to reunite with her son and prove his innocence, Mona follows an increasingly cryptic trail of clues on social media, uncovering a sinister side of suburbia and unveiling lies and betrayal from those she trusted most. And as Mona spirals further from her once cozy reality, a devastating revelation shatters everything she thought she knew. Now the only thing she’s sure of is that she can’t trust anyone . . . not even herself.
With unrelenting psychological suspense and a wicked twist, What They Don’t Know marries small-town thriller and domestic mystery—suburban paranoia at its best.
Genre: Suspense
Published by: Seventh Street Books
Publication Date: May 17th, 2022
Number of Pages: 286
ISBN: 1645060403 (ISBN13: 9781645060406)
To purchase What They Don’t Know, click on any of the following links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
My Thoughts on What They Don’t Know
Susan Furlong ticks every box a reader of domestic suspense expects: an empathetic—if unreliable—narrator, unexpected plot twists, and a dark atmosphere complete with creepy dolls.
Mona Ellison and her husband are moving away from the old Victorian they’ve owned for years, to allow Ben, a psychologist, to live closer to his work.
But the Ellison’s son Gus, no longer the perfect little boy he once was, runs away from home before they even finish packing. Convinced he will return when his money runs out, Mona tries to keep up appearances, as all good suburban wives and mothers do. And appearances matter in this suburban enclave.
Mona also has to leave behind the women in her neighborhood — her tight-knit, if imperfect, inner circle. “We all had things we’d buried lately, things we’d rather remain in denial about. Selma didn’t let herself spy on Victoria; Alice pretended she’d moved on from her husband’s infidelity; Tara acted as if she’d actually chosen to be single at fifty, and I’d denied Gus’s behavior problems, making excuses and bailing him out of trouble, over and over.”
But it’s hard to remain in denial, especially when murder is afoot and the police come knocking.
Furlong does an extraordinary job of creating complex, flawed, and fascinating characters. Each of the women in Mona’s circle are unique, not an easy task with a group of four friends and a protagonist of similar ages and backgrounds.
Further, who is a friend and who is a foe jumbles together as Mona’s own hold on reality turns questionable. What is Ben doing behind Mona’s back? Is Gus trying to reach out in his own, 21st century way?
If you love a good page-turner, look no further. What They Don’t Know will keep you guessing until the final unexpected twist.
Perfect for fans of Tara Laskowski and Jess Lourey.
Excerpt from What They Don’t Know
It was the last Tuesday of the month, our normal book club night, and we were gathered at my house—Selma, Alice, Tara, and me—settled in the living room, Moroccan rug plush beneath us, immersed in the decor’s eclectic mix of whimsy and Old-World aesthetic. This would be our last book club meeting, but it was more than that, really. It was a pulled thread in the carefully woven tapestry of our friendships that had begun in college and endured careers, weddings, our first-borns, and remained constant through affairs, divorces, and much worse …
***
Excerpt from What They Don’t Know by Susan Furlong. Copyright 2022 by Susan Furlong. Reproduced with permission from Susan Furlong. All rights reserved.
Susan Furlong — Author of What They Don’t Know
Susan Furlong is the author of eleven novels including SHATTERED JUSTICE, a New York Times Best Crime Novel of the Year. She also contributes, under a pen name, to the New York Times bestselling Novel Idea series.
Her most recent novel, WHAT THEY DON’T KNOW, has been praised by reviewers as an engrossing and delightfully creepy read. She resides in Illinois with her husband and children.
To learn more about Susan, click on any of the following links: www.SusanFurlong.com, Goodreads, BookBub – @SusanFurlongAuthor, Instagram – @susanfurlong, Twitter – @Furlong_Sue & Facebook – @SusanFurlongAuthor
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“complete with creepy dolls.” LOL – YES!!!! I absolutely LOVED this book!
Thanks for the great review!
This book was fantastic. After putting it down, I completed reading it and thought about it a lot. It’s a suspenseful narrative about a lady who is unravelling while living with her narcissistic spouse. Finally, I pondered who in the narrative was truly insane. It’s a good read.
This is a must-read for thriller enthusiasts seeking a thrilling rollercoaster ride of mystery and intrigue