TW: Domestic violence, miscarriage
“Seven days. Seven questions. Forever changed. That’s the pitch. She straightens the tablecloth. We’ll see.”
A domestic suspense wrapped up in a psychological thriller all set in a remote setting in upstate New York. The perfect beginning!
Daisy and Craig are a married couple about to celebrate their second wedding anniversary. Neither one is entirely likeable, especially Craig, but Daisy is determined to take drastic action to try and save their marriage. They have both become complacent in their relationship and it is just not enough.
Once I started this intriguing thriller, I could not put it down. Daisy has surprised Craig with the Eden Test, which is not only a marriage retreat but a series of seven questions that each couple must answer over the course of the retreat to see if their troubled marriage has a chance to survive. The author cleverly drops clues along the way to set the tone of dread and suspense. There is little-to-no cell phone service in isolated Plain, New York, and the locals do not seem very welcoming at all. How will their week at the bucolic retreat end?
Both Daisy and Craig have complicated pasts and are hiding secrets from each other. Just when I though the story was going a certain way, I was wrong! There are lots of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden metaphors along with many red herrings. This is a slow-burn thrill ride that concludes with a very explosive ending that I did not see coming.
I recommend this book to anyone who loves dark, fast-paced psychological thrillers.
(I received a complimentary copy of this book from Flatiron Books via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.)
About the Book:
From Edgar Award-finalist Adam Sternbergh, an electrifying domestic suspense novel for fans of The Perfect Marriage and Rock Paper Scissors, about a couple who are forced to the ultimate extremes to save their marriage—and themselves.
Seven Days. Seven Questions. Forever Changed.
Daisy and Craig’s marriage is in serious trouble. That’s why Daisy has signed up for The Eden Test, a week-long getaway for couples in need of a fresh start. Yet even as she’s struggling to salvage her marriage, it seems Craig has plans to leave her for another woman. In fact, his bags are already packed—long before he arrives to meet Daisy in this remote cabin in the woods of upstate New York.
At first, their week away is marked by solitude, connection, and natural beauty—and only a few hostile locals. But what Craig doesn’t know is that Daisy, a slyly talented actress, has her own secrets, including a burner phone she’s been using for mysterious texts. Not to mention the Eden Test itself, which poses a searing new question to the couple every day, each more explosive than the last. Their marriage was never perfect, but now the lies and revelations are piling up, as the week becomes much more than they bargained for…How far are they willing to go?
Adam Sternbergh brings his wit, originality, and a Hitchcockian sense of dread to this chilling, surprising, and wholly entertaining portrait of a marriage on the brink.
