Book Review: The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney

Book Review: The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney

Publisher:  Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine

Two different women, years apart, agree to the insane rules imposed by the architect to rent a home. The rules list is 200 items long and include “no leaving clothing on the floor” and “no books allowed”. Those two alone would have disqualified me because my life is all about the clutter and the books. These women are apparently ok with or plan to tolerate the rules.

The house is a character all its own. Gleaming and perfect and plain white walls, the place sounded a bit like an insane asylum. The house is equipped with the newest in technology as it adjusts the lights, temperature, etc. based upon your mood or actions. It seemed rather creepy to me.

The story is told from the alternating points of view of Emma, the first tenant, and Jane, the current tenant. Normally I cannot stand this way of telling a story but I stuck it out. The one real thing that annoyed me about this is that the “Emma” chapters held zero quotation marks. This made it a wee bit difficult in differentiating between dialogue and thoughts.

Emma moves into the home with her boyfriend Simon after their apartment is burglarized. The security system on the home sways her decision. She craves a safe sanctuary and the privacy the home affords. Jane is looking for a quiet place to start over after the stillbirth of her daughter. She’s looking for someplace to think and rebuild. They believe the house is perfect for their needs.

You soon learn about Emma’s breakup with Simon and her falling into a relationship with the mysterious owner of the house, Edward. Let me tell you that if he were a real person I would avoid him at all costs. He’s a creepy perfectionist with a dead wife. Jane all into a relationship as well and soon becomes obsessed with him, his dead wife, and the death of Emma. Oh, did I forget to mention she died in the home that Jane now lives in?

The Girl Before is a quick and intriguing read. I’m pleased that the author led me down the path thinking I could predict what was going on and then fooled me completely. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a mystery with a thrill and a creepy house thrown in.

I read that this book is going to be coming out as a movie directed by Ron Howard. I’m eager to see how it shapes up compared to the book.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.