Behind Her Eyes

by Sarah Pinborough Narrated by Anna Bentinck, Bea Holland, Huw Parmenter, Josie Dunn

Overview

SOON TO BE A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES

The instant New York Times and #1 international bestseller. “You should read Behind Her Eyes...It's bloody brilliant.” -Stephen King

"An eerie thriller...Pinborough keeps us guessing about just who's manipulating whom - until the ending reveals that we've been wholly complicit in this terrifying mind game.” -The New York Times Book Review

Why is everyone talking about the ending of Sarah Pinborough's Behind Her Eyes?

Louise is a single mom, a secretary, stuck in a modern-day rut. On a rare night out, she meets a man in a bar and sparks fly. Though he leaves after they kiss, she's thrilled she finally connected with someone.

When Louise arrives at work on Monday, she meets her new boss, David. The man from the bar. The very married man from the bar...who says the kiss was a terrible mistake, but who still can't keep his eyes off Louise.

And then Louise bumps into Adele, who's new to town and in need of a friend. But she also just happens to be married to David. And if you think you know where this story is going, think again, because Behind Her Eyes is like no other book you've read before.

David and Adele look like the picture-perfect husband and wife. But then why is David so controlling? And why is Adele so scared of him?

As Louise is drawn into David and Adele's orbit, she uncovers more puzzling questions than answers. The only thing that is crystal clear is that something in this marriage is very, very wrong. But Louise can't guess how wrong-and how far a person might go to protect their marriage's secrets.

In Behind Her Eyes, Sarah Pinborough has written a novel that takes the modern day love triangle and not only turns it on its head, but completely reinvents it in a way that will leave readers reeling.

Editorial Reviews

The New York Times Book Review - Marilyn Stasio

By injecting a spritz of supernatural fizz into Behind Her Eyes, Sarah Pinborough shrewdly transforms a romantic suspense novel into an eerie thriller calculated to creep you out…In brief chapters with alternating narrators, Pinborough keeps us guessing about just who's manipulating whom—until the ending reveals that we've been wholly complicit in this terrifying mind game.

Publishers Weekly

11/28/2016
British author Pinborough (Murder) effectively shifts perspectives between two complex characters in this twisty psychological thriller set in North London. Louise Barnsley is chagrined to learn that the hunky man who kissed her in a bar turns out to be her new, married boss, therapist David Martin. Louise and David agree that the flirtation would be just a onetime thing, but their interactions become more complicated when David’s gorgeous wife, Adele, bumps into Louise and cultivates her friendship. Sections set in different time frames provide an ominous backdrop for the triangle, with references to dirt under fingernails and things having been done “that could not be undone.” Despite her deepening bond with Adele, Louise is unable to successfully repress her attraction to David, even as he shows sides of his personality that disturb her. Pinborough will keep even veteran genre readers guessing about which members of the trio, if any, are providing trustworthy accounts of their pasts and presents. Agent: Veronique Baxter, David Higham Associates (U.K.). (Jan.)

From the Publisher

"Behind Her Eyes is a cunning puzzle-box of a novel, a masterfully engineered thriller that brings to mind Hitchcock at his most uncanny, and Rendell at her most relentless. Lean and mean, dark and disturbing, this is the kind of novel that takes over your life. Sarah Pinborough slays."

—Joe Hill, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Fireman

“Behind Her Eyes is a dark, electrifying page-turner with a corker of an ending. Sarah Pinborough is about to become your new obsession.”

—Harlan Coben, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Fool Me Once

“You should read Behind Her Eyes…It’s bloody brilliant.”

—Stephen King, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“Pinborough shrewdly transforms a romantic suspense novel into an eerie thriller calculated to creep you out…Pinborough keeps us guessing about just who’s manipulating whom – until the ending reveals that we’ve been wholly complicit in this terrifying mind game.”

—The New York Times Book Review

“The season’s twistiest thriller…Like all powerful over-the-counter drugs, Behind Her Eyes deserves its own warning label... mindblowing, genre-bending, breakthrough psychological thriller…avoid any contact with the growing buzz concerning the novel’s ingenious, to-die-for twist.”

—BookPage

"A masterpiece of suspense...A rare joy...Creates a sense of disorientation and dread that is highly satisfying. But it is with the plot, so tight and yet also intricate, that Pinborough shines. No detail or character is extraneous."

—Booklist (starred review)

“The strongest, most unsettling thriller of the year, with a final twist destined to provoke arguments for years to come. Read it now before someone spoils the ending for you.”

—John Connolly, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Charlie Parker novels

“Behind Her Eyes is as twisty as a steep mountain road, and just as nerve-wracking. The shocks just keep coming around those blind curves.”

—Charlaine Harris, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Sookie Stackhouse series

“One of them is hiding a secret, revealed near the end of the book, which will leave you (and another of the characters) gasping…your patience and indulgence will be rewarded in spades when you get to the ending(s), which will have you simultaneously swallowing your tongue and screaming. Seriously. You’ll be stuck in that nanosecond between seeing a car’s bumper slide up to you and the moment of impact for a long time to come after reading it.”

—BookReporter

“First you’ll want to know the ending. Then you’ll HAVE to know the ending. And when you close the book with paper cuts from turning pages so fast you'll want everyone you know to read it too so you can talk about it. You know the rules to Fight Club. Well the rules to Behind Her Eyes are simple. Get a copy by any means you can. And do not tell ANYONE how it ends.”

—Simon Toyne, author of The Searcher

“A modern love triangle with so many mind-screws you start questioning if maybe this particular triangle has more than three points. It's funny, it's cold, it's modern. A master-class in juggling moods and the two sides to every story. And, wow, that ending. Pinborough's latest had me questioning everything. And the answers that eventually came frightened me more than the unknown preceding them. I loved Behind Her Eyes. It's a modern love triangle thriller and it would make one helluva movie.”

—Josh Malerman, bestselling author of Bird Box

“Twisty psychological thriller…Pinborough will keep even veteran genre readers guessing.”

—Publishers Weekly

“A deliciously dark love story that will keep you guessing. Shocking, gleeful, and thrilling, welcome to the world of Sarah Pinborough.”

—Sarah Langan, three-time Bran Stoker Award winning novelist

"If Behind Her Eyes isn't the thriller of the year, there is no justice. Hugely entertaining, utterly compelling and the ending will leave you reeling."

—Sarah Lotz, author of The Three

“Walking the tightrope between psychological and supernatural thriller with effortless ease and delicacy, Behind Her Eyes has everything a thriller needs: fully realized characters, peerless writing, a tank of a plot that sustains the suspense right to the end, and a whammy of a finale that hits you like a cartoon piano falling onto a rabbit’s head. It takes a lot to catch me out, but this one did. It’ll get you, too...”

—Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat

“The second twist turns the creepy factor up to 11 and is a total wrong-footer. #WTFthatending indeed – the sort that makes you go back to the beginning to check if it all pans out. And it does.”

—The Guardian

“Builds and builds to an ending so satisfying, I wanted to light a cigarette afterwards (and I gave up smoking two years ago). When the twist did come, it was so twisty, so creepy, that I wanted to recoil even as I feverishly turned the page...In a really crowded thriller market, with new trends almost upon us, Behind Her Eyes leaves its competition trailing in the dust." —RedOnline

Library Journal - Audio

01/01/2017
Pinborough's debut novel will almost inevitably be compared to recent popular mysteries, but this intriguingly opaque work with a satisfyingly shocking ending easily stands on its own. Louise, a single mom and part-time secretary, meets and kisses a man at a London bar, only to discover the next day that he's David, her new boss and a married man. Adele, his beautiful wife, is so friendly toward Louise when they bump into each other on the street that their friendship is almost inevitable. Louise initially tries to keep her distance from both of them but finds the persistence of such attractive and posh people flattering. She is disturbed and perplexed by Adele and David's marriage, but the nature of her relationships with the spouses limits what she can do or say to gain clarity. As the novel progresses, it becomes clear that David's and Adele's history, divulged through flashbacks, is the key to understanding everything that is happening in their present. The journey toward these revelations is an engrossing one, and narrators Anna Bentinck, Josie Dunn, Bea Holland, and Huw Parmenter do an excellent job of bringing the characters to life. VERDICT Recommended for all general fiction collections.—Nicole Williams, Englewood, NJ

Library Journal

08/01/2016
Positioned as a blockbuster and given a shout-out on Day of Dialog's Editors' Picks panel, this new work features psychologist David and wife Adele. They seem like the perfect couple, but David's new secretary thinks that something is creepily off. Pinborough's The Language of Dying won the British Fantasy Award for Best Novella.

JANUARY 2017 - AudioFile

The four narrators tell the story of Louise, a divorced mom and part-time secretary who finally connects with someone—who turns out to be her new married boss. This twist is just the first in surprise revelations, one after another. The narrators use consistent pacing and build on the puzzling questions and tense atmosphere surrounding the marriage of Louise's boss, David, and his wife, Adele. All four narrators smoothly transition between the complex characters and the dark side of this contemporary love triangle. As Louise's sense of disorientation and dread build, listeners will be hooked on both plot and performance. S.C.A. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940171837396
Publisher:	Macmillan Audio
Publication date:	01/31/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	379,194

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