The Forever Home

By: Sue Watson

Narrated by: Tamsin Kennard

You thought you’d always be safe there…you were wrong.

Carly had thought they’d always live there. The beautiful Cornish cliffside house they’d taken on as a wreck, that Mark had obsessively redesigned and renovated - a project that had made him famous. It was where they’d raised their children, where they’d sat cozily on the sofa, watching storms raging over the sea below. It was where they’d promised to keep each other’s secrets....

Until now. Because Mark has fallen in love. With someone he definitely shouldn’t have. Someone who isn’t Carly. And suddenly their family home doesn’t feel like so much of a safe haven.

Carly thinks forever should mean forever, though: It’s her home, and she’ll stay there. Even the dark family secrets it contains feel like they belong to her. But someone disagrees. And, as threats start to arrive at her front door, it becomes clear, someone will stop at nothing. Because someone wants to demolish every last thing that makes Carly feel safe. Forever.

A utterly psychological thriller about what lies are hidden in the most beautiful homes. Perfect for fans of Date Night, Gone Girl, and The Woman in the Window.

©2021 Sue Watson (P)2021 Bookouture, an imprint of Storyfire Ltd.

Great book

This is one that you have to keep listening to. Great if your doing projects and need something very engaging!

Irritating weak clueless woman

Seriously??? Weak silly woman with a superior air, did she not learning anything?? Embarrassing author would not present a better person. She comes off as a fish wife

❤️

Great book I love any book by Sue Watson. I love her mysteries and how they twist, and you never know the ending to the last one to the next.

Not very shocking

Ⓐⓤⓓⓘⓞⓑⓞⓞⓚ Ⓡⓔⓥⓘⓔⓦ

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙵𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝙷𝚘𝚖𝚎
𝙱𝚢: @suewatsonbooks
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense
𝙿𝚞𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚛: @bookouture @hachetteuk
𝚁𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝙾𝚗: June 4th 2021
@goodreads 𝚂𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚎: 4.04
𝙼𝚢 𝚂𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚎: 🏠🏠🏠 / 𝟻 𝙷𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚜

𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒅 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆…𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈.

It was where they’d promised to keep each other’s secrets…Mark & Carly were a Celeb Couple. They have everything. Until the night of their 25th Wedding Anniversary. Where Mark confessions he's been having an affair with her best friend's daughter Erin. Mark has been a womanizer for years; this is the last straw and Carly tells him to leave.

Months later they now are going through a messy divorce, arguing about money, the house; their once forever home is now a bargaining chip between those once kept secrets from many years ago. But threats start to arrive in gruesome packages warning Carly to leave her home. Who is it and why is Marks new girlfriend receiving them too? Whoever it is Carly will not let them win, this is her house and she will stop at nothing to keep what she is owed.

The Forever Home is a story filled with few twists, loads of lies and lots of drama. This suspenseful read will have you on the edge of your seat wondering who and what is going on. However, it doesn't last. The cast of characters is quite short so there is room for you to pretty much guess who or what is going on but then the book will surprise you in the end because in fact it wasn't at all what you thought.

But honestly, I felt with all the woo and ahh moments I wasn't fully satisfied at the end of the story. I do not wish to give anything away. I'd recommend reading it but I would also say don't expect the ending to be a powerful shock. Did I figure things out? No. But once explained I had more of and emotion like "meh" okay on to the next book. But this is just my opinion.

Not surprising, yet surprising

Good listen. I got so mad during this listen that I started yelling in my car. Mark was a first grade narcissist a-hole. I guess I got so mad because men like him truly exist. At one point I was like “let him tell the cops her secret and let him prove it!” It’s easy to tell an abused woman to leave but being the abused woman it is not always that easy. A narcissist will convince a woman she can’t live without him and that she will never do better. Being on the outside looking in you wonder why she just doesn’t leave but when a man tells a woman something over and over especially a young naive girl they start to believe it. A man like Mark will find something to hold over a woman’s head and keep throwing it in her face. I like how it ended.

Good story, divine narration, mediocre main character

I have always enjoyed Sue Watson's books, this is the 4th I've listened to on Audible. The narrator, Tamsin Kennard, as always, was sublime and just listening to her was worth the credit.

The best part about the book was the setting of their "Forever Home" and the pace of which the story unfolded was quite a surprise (as it didn't start with a whodunnit murder like most of her usual thrillers). I also enjoyed the complicated inter relationships as everyone has their own secrets and the end tied everything up very well.




Minor Spoiler ahead:

That being said, I don't understand why Sue Watson's main heroine characters are always so weak and at times, daft.

I don't understand why Carly trusted Mark when she had 25 years of knowing what sort of person he was, letting him drained their joint account, allowing him to stiff her on her divorce settlements (and not using her solicitors to make any arrangements black and white), then gave him half of her house just because he whined... the secret Mark had over her was impossible to prove considering that they had already done an autopsy. While you feel really sorry for her, it was quite difficult to root for her consistent poor judgments and whinings.

As most of Sue Watson books (at least the ones I have read) non of the characters are very likeable and this particular book is very unrealistic especially when it comes to divorce settlements.

Definitely Not A Psychological Thriller

The Forever Home is what I would classify as 'an easy read.' It's a pleasant enough story and it's well read. However, this is not a psychological thriller that will keep you guessing. The cover makes it seem like the people in the home will be somehow in danger.

In reality, The Forever Home is a simple cliche about a marriage that is dead, a cheating husband, and his stupid new floosy who is the same age as the couples' twenty-something daughters. The wife wants to keep her home, the ex spends all of her money, and she is tired of it.

I always enjoy Sue Watson's books for the most part but when I reached the end of 'The Forever Home' I heard myself say 'That's it??'

This book is just okay. I would wait until there is a sale to order it, and listen on a rainy day.

-Wendi

Characteristic “Sue Watson Heroine” But a Little Less Credulous

I find all of a Sue Watson’s books quite enjoyable- the domesticities that people point out as being ‘slow’ are quite what I’m looking for. I want a close, domestic tale with a twist and I certainly do not want to hang out in a detectives head. Comparing this to actual thrillers isn’t fair because it isn’t really a thriller. The only issue I tend to have with Sue Watson is that her heroines have to constantly ask themselves if they’re “just not being fair and maybe [so and so] isn’t *actually* as bad as they seem?? But they always obviously are so it can’t get tiresome. Carly is much less ready to assume that Everyone is Good but still has to ignore obvious signs in order to continue believing that ‘maybe THIS PERSON is actually ok and It is me who is the problem!’ And it can get tiresome. But overall I did find this one very fun to listen to. You gotta like the domestic stuff though, otherwise it’s time to switch to detective trilogies.

Love!

I have attempted to listen to several books lately but none of them caught my attention like this one. Loved it from start to finish. Great story. Kept me guessing. Perfect narration. Don’t hesitate with this one.

Really Good Great Twists

I really enjoyed how this story revealed its layers and the author provided great character development through that process. There were precious clues planted along the way for the who done it but there’s enough going on to keep you guessing until the end. And the ending is really good.

Narration was great!