The Secret

By: K. L. Slater

Narrated by: Lucy Price-Lewis

Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's Summary

You think you can trust the ones you love most. But what if one secret could make you question everything? 

Every day, a woman like Louise passes you in the street: elegant, confident, determined. But underneath, she’s struggling. 

She doesn’t know her sister, Alice, has been scared of leaving the house since their mother died. She doesn’t know when Alice babysits her little boy, Archie, he sometimes sees things he shouldn’t. She doesn’t know Archie has a secret. 

A secret that could send cracks through the heart of Louise’s carefully constructed life....

©2018 K. L. Slater (P)2018 Audible, Ltd

Disappointed

I usually like this author but this one was a dud.I don’t understand reviewers who say it was a nail biter. If you like suspense pass on this one.

88 people found this helpful

Boring

I hate to say it but I was so disappointed in this book. This is one of my favorite authors. But this book was slow and even the “big reveal” didn’t make up for it.

66 people found this helpful

Meh.. Okay Story, Predictable and Somewhat Juvenil

I like KL Slater and I love a good British narrated psychological thriller. 'The Secret' is about a woman who has lost her husband and her mother, and the only people she has in life are her nephew and her sister, Her sister treats the woman poorly, and she finds herself often watching her nephew. But something weird is going on.

Nephew is keeping secrets and Sister's mood swings are horrible.

The ending is fairly predictable. Slater tries a 'double twist' with this one that works somewhat.

There is no real 'wow' factor to 'The Secret.' It's worth the listen if you can get it on sale.

-Wendi

49 people found this helpful

Slow

It really got on my nerves how it flip flopped back and forth in time.

28 people found this helpful

Naw

I usually like this author but I didn’t care for this book, I couldn’t get into like I had with the others and the end was mediocre.

35 people found this helpful

Enjoyed but…

The ending just kind of happened. No real climax. It was almost as if the author just decided it was time and a book.It was a bit disappointing.

22 people found this helpful

Like not love

It was a little hard to get into at first but once it got good I couldn’t stop listening. Didn’t imagine that twist at the end!!!

9 people found this helpful

slow, all over the place

Book was slow and jumped back and forth... it got a little better toward the end.

2 people found this helpful

a bit different

the story was a bit different from the other stories this author has written, but it shows what a great grasp the author has on human behavior.

5 people found this helpful

Enjoyed this story very much

Love the fact that the word beautiful wasn't mentioned once. It was good story. Finally a character that suffers pain. I am going to listen to it again after some time has passed. I loved it that much.

4 people found this helpful

Another one off the Slater production line...

The first KL Slater book I read was Blink which I really enjoyed. Since then she has turned out a series of these increasingly slow paced dramas with big twists towards the end. Lucy Price Lewis has provided consistently strong narration.

The writing is good quality and fairly engaging but this one in particular is really so much more a family drama than anything I would think of as a thriller. It did try to jump into that territory right at the end but it all just feels like afterthought rather than logical progression.

If you have enjoyed this author's recent books then don't let me put you off this one. For me now I think there are much better constructed and definitely more thrilling thrillers to be found elsewhere.

33 people found this helpful

Not very thrilling

It felt like too much character development and not enough story. The ended was predictable and a bit of an anti climac

4 people found this helpful

Not the best K.L. Slater I have read.

I am a great fan of K.L. Slater books. I found The Secret has an interesting and intriguing storyline. I did enjoy the book however I would have liked it more if all the significant characters had been woven into the story from the beginning. For them to also have been given a bit of characterisation allowing the reader to get to know them.
Lucy Price-Lewis narration is superb.

2 people found this helpful

Good solid read

Another good book by KL Slater! A good story although doesn't have the gasp out loud twists that some of her other work does (although it does have twists). Easy to listen to as the narrator is clear and has a good speaking voice. Overall a good book but I'd recommend "Blink" (by the same author) over this one.

3 people found this helpful

Meanders

I found this book quite boring in parts but I carried on with it because there were unanswered questions as it went on. It did strengthen up towards the end and was quite gripping it was a chic-lit read,which is not really my thing, but it pass the the time of day.

Unbelievable

Many twists. Too many unbelievable close coincidences spoilt the story particularly towards the end. Well read. Worth a listen but far from the best from this author.

Gripping

I think the blurb to this book is a tiny bit misleading because it makes it sound as though the main character in the book is Louise, when in actual fact the majority of the book comes from the point of view of Alice. We actually hear the voice of three different narrators at times, Alice, Louise and, very briefly at the beginning and the end, Archie. But whose voice can you actually trust?

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this audiobook, and the further I got in to it, the more it gripped me. This was another one where, by the end, I actually just sat down and listened to the last 45 minutes because I just needed to find out where it was going, even though I did not have any of the chores to do that I am normally doing when I listen to audiobooks.

This book took me all around the houses trying to guess what was going on, who I could trust and who was an unreliable narrator and I had not got close to guessing what was actually going on when it was revealed. There was even a twist upon the twist that totally took me by surprise and it was so cleverly done, I had no idea it was coming. Gripping stuff.

There were a couple of times when I was inwardly shouting at the characters for some of their behaviour. ‘That’s not how sisters are!’ I found myself yelling internally, speaking from the experience of being the eldest of four girls myself and having five daughters/step-daughters, but then I had to remind myself that not all families are as well-adjusted and as close as mine and decided to suspend my disbelief that this is how siblings relate to one another to enjoy the story. I truly hope the author was pushing the boundaries of fiction to draw these relationships!

The narrator was a huge part of what made this book a successful listen for me, her voice work brought the characters to life and really held my attention. This was a gripping and surprising thriller, enhanced by wonderful narration and it held me in its thrall until the very end. Well worth an Audible credit.

Stick with it

I enjoyed listening to this book but I found it quite tedious at times. Stick with it, it gets better

I would give the author another try before ruling out completely

Probably could be made into a good film

Despite the very good narration, the style of this book left a lot to be desired. Flicking back and forth to different times that go to "explain" the current situation of the characters can only work if written extremely well. In this case it didn't work and was just annoying. The story was quite good, however, and would definitely have benefited from a re-write. If made into a film or even a series, good actors could possibly bring the rather wooden and stereotypical characters as described in the book, to life. Disappointing.

Well read

End loaded. Everything unfurls and is explained in the final 4 or 5 short chapters. And it feels like it takes a long time getting there. A little disappointing.