Her Every Fear

A Novel

By: Peter Swanson

Narrated by: Eva Kaminsky

Length: 10 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

The author of the wildly popular The Kind Worth Killing returns with an electrifying and downright Hitchcockian psychological thriller - as tantalizing as the cinema classics Rear Window and Wait Until Dark - involving a young woman caught in a vise of voyeurism, betrayal, manipulation, and murder.

The danger isn't all in your head.

Growing up, Kate Priddy was always a bit neurotic, experiencing momentary bouts of anxiety that exploded into full-blown panic attacks after an ex-boyfriend kidnapped her and nearly ended her life. When Corbin Dell, a distant cousin in Boston, suggests the two temporarily swap apartments, Kate, an art student in London, agrees, hoping that time away in a new place will help her overcome the recent wreckage of her life.

But soon after her arrival at Corbin's grand apartment on Beacon Hill, Kate makes a shocking discovery: his next-door neighbor, a young woman named Audrey Marshall, has been murdered. When the police question her about Corbin, a shaken Kate has few answers and many questions of her own - curiosity that intensifies when she meets Alan Cherney, a handsome, quiet tenant who lives across the courtyard, in the apartment facing Audrey's. Alan saw Corbin surreptitiously come and go from Audrey's place, yet he's denied knowing her. Then, Kate runs into a tearful man claiming to be the dead woman's old boyfriend, who insists Corbin did the deed the night that he left for London.

When she reaches out to her cousin, he proclaims his innocence and calms her nerves, until she comes across disturbing objects hidden in the apartment - and accidently learns that Corbin is not where he says he is. Could Corbin be a killer? And what about Alan? Kate finds herself drawn to this appealing man who seems so sincere, yet she isn't sure. Jet-lagged and emotionally unstable, her imagination full of dark images caused by the terror of her past, Kate can barely trust herself. So how could she take the chance on a stranger she's just met?

Yet the danger Kate imagines isn't nearly as twisted and deadly as what's about to happen. When her every fear becomes very real.

And much, much closer than she thinks.

Told from multiple points of view, Her Every Fear is a scintillating, edgy novel rich with Peter Swanson's chilling insight into the darkest corners of the human psyche and virtuosic skill for plotting that has propelled him to the highest ranks of suspense, in the tradition of such greats as Gillian Flynn, Paula Hawkins, Patricia Highsmith, and James M. Cain.

©2017 Peter Swanson (P)2017 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Like all good psychological thrillers, this one keeps listeners on edge.... Swanson's story is compelling. [Narrator Eva] Kaminsky brings it all to life - the fear and panic and the tenuous nature of trusting ourselves and others." ( AudioFile)

Very entertaining

I bought this book based on the author's previous work which I found entertaining.
This book is told from multiple perspectives which I really enjoy. This author does this very well as he doesn't just have multiple characters recount the same events/circumstances over and over again. Each perspective adds another layer of character development, intrigue, and mystery.
This isn't a great book as there are some crater-sized plot holes one has to overlook, but I think it's extremely entertaining and well written. The narration is also very well done.

3/4 of book was interesting enough

I wasn't expecting anything as good as 'The Kind Worth Killing' (One of the best books I ever listened to) but I still felt like this book didn't meet the expectations I had. The book had promise for awhile - But I feel like there is an ingredient missing. Like someone left the salt out of the stew. Writing from a vantage point of 3 or 4 characters perspective can be okay - But I think the last part of the book over did it. By the end - I literally forwarded the audio book through the last bit of regurgitation to find out what happened. I thought the ending could have been better - Darker. I have an idea how the book should have ended in my opinion - But But who am I - Right?

For what its worth, J

Bad reviews? Hmmmm

I'm confused by the negative reviews on this book. Although parts were a bit repetitive, I really enjoyed it. I'm pretty picky with what I read, and this was a great story!

Good for fans of psychological thrillers!

reminds me a bit of "the woman in the window." However it lacks the truly shocking reveals of that book. It is still a great listen and I though it was great that the main character made some mistakes but didn't act like a complete idiot like the protagonists of most of these types of books.

Not my favorite Peter Swanson book.

I can't really recommend this book. I read Peter Swanson's best book, The Kind Worth Killing, first and loved it so much I wanted to read his others. So far I enjoyed Before She knew Him and All the Beautiful Lies. The story isn't bad, but the book as a whole I couldn't wait for it to end.

Great Book!

I was very pleasantly surprised how good this book is. What an intricate plot. I hope to see this book become a movie.

Loved it

I am a big fan of thrillers, but this one was just so well written. I am recommending it to any fan of this genre. There are very few distractions in the story it is fast paced and hard to put down.

Disappointing for Mr. Swanson

"The Kind Worth Killing" had despicable but very interesting characters and a great plot. "Her Every Fear" has some really idiotic characters and the plot is just too implausible. The twists that lead to the end way too convenient. I will still read the next Swanson novel, in the hope that he rises to the success of his previous novel...but I cannot recommend this one. The narrator tends to turn the male characters into caricatures (even though, in all fairness, some of them are written that way.)

So Suspenseful

This was a very good book with a bone chilling villain! As in this author’s other books no character is either good or bad but rather has very interesting shades of gray! Well I guess I need to say some of the characters because obviously the bad guy in this book was evil through and through! Highly recommend!

picks up and a great climax

like most books this starts slow, i almost fell asleep as kate described in detail the apartment building. i started to really enjoy the book when they began switching perspectives. i liked the ending a lot.