Disclaimer: A Novel

By: Renée Knight

Narrated by: Michael Pennington, Laura Paton

Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

A brilliantly conceived, deeply unsettling psychological thriller - already an international sensation - about a woman haunted by secrets, the consuming desire for revenge, and the terrible price we pay when we try to hide the truth.

Finding a mysterious novel at her bedside plunges documentary filmmaker Catherine Ravenscroft into a living nightmare. Though ostensibly fiction, The Perfect Stranger recreates in vivid, unmistakable detail the terrible day she became hostage to a dark secret, a secret that only one other person knew - and that person is dead.

Now that the past is catching up with her, Catherine's world is falling apart. Her only hope is to confront what really happened on that awful day - even if the shocking truth might destroy her.

©2015 Renee Knight (P)2015 HarperCollins Publishers

The book moved fast!

The story line moved quickly, but kept me curious how the events were going to unfold. A mother's love is not to be doubted in this one.

If you like girl on the train you'll like this one even more

Full of twists and surprises.
Well told and very entertaining.
I think it's better than girl on A train.

Heart wrenching

I loved this book. It was at times difficult for me, as a mother of sons, to read but so very glad I finished it.

Do we ever really know our children?

Entertaining

Great book on tape. Engrossing and beautifully and convincingly read. Compelling plot. I disagree with a reviewer who said characters were hard to relate to. I found Catherine to be very sympathetic.

not the next Gone Girl

I read this after seeing Janet Maslin's gushing reviews ("the Gone Girl of the season"). I can't believe we read the same book. One of the characters has a secret in her past, and the first half of the book arranges the pieces for the big reveal. Unlike the corresponding setup in Gone Girl, this is plodding and humorless. The book hinges on a totally implausible sustained failure of communication between two of the characters. Then the whole plot fizzles out without anything happening.

I think my negative reaction to the book is probably due more to the expectations I had after reading the NY Times review than to the book itself. Unfortunately, there's nowhere I can go to leave a review of Maslin's review.

Not much there there

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Needs a more compelling plot.

Would you be willing to try another book from Renée Knight? Why or why not?

No. The plot has not too much suspense--it reveals itself at every step, I only continued with it to find out if the author had come up with an unexpected twist. But she did not.

Have you listened to any of Michael Pennington and Laura Paton ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

Was Disclaimer: A Novel worth the listening time?

Not really. Started out good, but did not live up to its potential.

Any additional comments?

no.

When the past haunts you

“When the past comes back to haunt you”—is the theme of this story.

“Disclaimer” is a book about revenge and regret, but most importantly, deceit. Renee Knight’s debut psychological thriller is intriguing.

Imagine realizing the fiction book you’ve discovered on your nightstand entitled, “The Perfect Stranger” is actually an in-depth story about you! Specifically, a secret you’ve hidden for 20 years. Catherine Ravenscroft, a documentary filmmaker experiences this very thing.

The language was precise and very clever. All the fat was trimmed off the words, leaving only the meat of the story to devour. It’s an intriguing concept to have a story within a story. A book within a book.

It’s even more captivating that this book is narrated by two people from two different perspectives. How are they connected?

Catherine Ravenscroft and Steven Briggstock, are the two main characters in this book. Read by Laura Paton (in 3rd person POV) and Michael Pennington (in 1st person POV as Steven Briggstock).

The character of Steven becomes increasingly more disturbing and unsettling as he reveals himself as the spiteful retired English teacher who stalks Catherine and others and who has been accused of inappropriate interactions with male students.

The characters in this book are layered and complex and at times I found myself sympathizing with all of them, a testament to Renee’s clever writing.

There are moments, however, where the reader must use their suspension of disbelief because events would simply never unfold as described, in reality.

There’s two ways to understand the ending. Most reviews didn’t seem to suspect that Catherine, the main character, was lying. Without this particular revelation, I would have assumed—I almost did, that the ending was a gimmick just to satisfy the reader…to make us believe that this book just needed an extra oompfh. An “ah-ha”! But I did a double take.

Catherine was the most clever of them all. Think about it. Those who read/listened to the book/audiobook and are deep thinkers will recognize this as the psychological part, at its core.

That when something so regretful happens, a person may be compelled to reimagine and convince themself that the events that took place may not have happened at all.

Which begs the question, “What do you do when the past comes back to haunt you?”

The answer is, you provide a disclaimer.

This book was a masterpiece.

Great Mystery

This book really catches you and makes you keep reading. It has an awesome twist and I highly recommend this read!!

Sooo good

Great story with a lot of texture and tension. Loved the language and word choice, especially from the old man. Did NOT see that ending coming at all.

Enthralling

Grabs your interest from the beginning. The twists and turns keep you guessing as the plot unfolds. Loved it.