Date Night,

by Samantha Hayes

Publication: Bookouture (August 20, 2019)

date night About the book:

Returning early from a disastrous date night with my husband, I know something is wrong the moment the wheels crunch the gravel drive of our home. Inside, the TV is on and a half-eaten meal waits on the table. My heart stops when I find our little girl is alone in the house and our babysitter, Sasha, is missing…

Days later, when I’m arrested for Sasha’s murder and torn away from my perfect little family, I’ll wish I had told someone about the threatening note I received that morning.

I’ll hate myself for not finding out who the gift hidden inside my husband’s wardrobe was for.

I’ll scream from the rooftops that I’m innocent – but no one will listen.

I will realise I was completely wrong about everything that happened that night…

But will you believe me?

My Review

Oh my God! Don’t you love it when you read a book and the ending just completely blindsides you? This was one of those “what in the hell just happened” books for me but in the best way possible!

As you can read in the blurb, Libby and Sean (married for 6 years with a 4-year-old daughter, Alice) go out on a date night. After Libby finds a disturbing note on her windshield one morning, she starts to question her and Sean’s relationship. He takes her out for a night on the town to smooth things over. The problem? When they get home, their babysitter, Sasha, is gone and their daughter is upstairs sleeping all alone.

This novel is told from Libby’s POV alternating between before and after her arrest for Sasha’s murder. Trying my best not to include any spoilers, author Samantha Hayes instilled a huge amount of doubt in several characters throughout this one. She had me doubting numerous characters for a great deal of the book. But guess what? I was sort of right, but then I was oh, so wrong. My preferred genres are romance and women’s fiction, but I get onto these kicks where I only want to read suspense/thrillers. This one totally did it for me. This book is wonderfully sinful, but I never, ever, saw the ending coming. Isn’t that what makes the best suspense/thrillers? According to my Kindle app, I was at 97% in my reading when I figured out what was going on. Yay, Samantha Hayes! I was completely hooked, had several theories – but no, never even imagined what was coming.

Libby was the absolute worst unreliable narrator of all time. Nothing added up, especially once she started talking to the police, but yet, I was completely surprised. This was one of my most fun reads this year. There are parts that aren’t pretty and made me feel uneasy, but nevertheless, a wonderful novel.

*Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for providing this review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.