Every Vow You Break

by Peter Swanson

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Peter Swanson is a master at keeping readers on their toes. In true thriller form, we are quickly carried through the story — never getting a moment to catch our bearings. His latest is a whirlwind from the first “hello” of the main characters, to their journey to wedded bliss. (Ironic quotes around “bliss”). It’s a white-knuckle ride.

“Hitchcockian chills and thrills abound in Swanson's latest mystery, a twisty tale of survival and deception. " – O, the Oprah Magazine

A bride’s dream honeymoon becomes a nightmare when a man with whom she’s had a regrettable one-night stand shows up in this electrifying psychological thriller from the acclaimed author of Eight Perfect Murders.

Abigail Baskin never thought she would fall in love with a millionaire. Then she met Bruce Lamb. He’s a good guy, stable, level-headed, kind—a refreshing change from her previous relationships.

But right before the wedding, Abigail has a drunken one-night stand on her bachelorette weekend. She puts the incident—and the sexy guy who wouldn’t give her his real name—out of her mind, and now believes she wants to be with Bruce for the rest of her life. Their honeymoon on a luxurious, secluded island will be the beginning of their blissful lives together.

Then the mysterious stranger suddenly appears—and Abigail’s future life and happiness are turned upside down. He insists that their passionate night was the beginning of something much, much more. Something special. Something real—and he’s tracked her down to prove it.

Does she tell Bruce and ruin their idyllic honeymoon—and possibly their marriage? Or should she handle this psychopathic stalker on her own? To make the situation worse, strange things begin to happen. She sees a terrified woman in the shadows one night, and no one at the resort seems to believe anything is amiss… including her perfect new husband.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062980038
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	03/23/2021
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	2,989
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Peter Swanson is the author of seven novels, including The Kind Worth Killing, winner of the New England Society Book Award, and finalist for the CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger; Her Every Fear, an NPR book of the year; Before She Knew Him, and Eight Perfect Murders. His books have been translated into 30 languages, and his stories, poetry, and features have appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction, The Atlantic Monthly, Measure, The Guardian, The Strand Magazine, and Yankee Magazine. He lives on the North Shore of Massachusetts, where he is at work on his next novel.

Editorial Reviews

01/04/2021

This suspenseful thriller from Swanson (Eight Perfect Murders) explores a familiar genre theme—the consequences of entering a marriage with a guilty secret. As Abigail Baskin faces her approaching wedding to wealthy Bruce Lamb, she’s wracked with guilt over sleeping with someone else during her bachelorette party weekend. Her situation becomes even more fraught when that one-night stand, whom she only knows as Scottie, starts stalking her. After Scottie sends Abigail an email suggesting they share a deep connection and she should cancel the nuptials, she goes ahead with the wedding, but fears Scottie’s continuing obsession with her. She hopes for a respite when Bruce spirits her away for their honeymoon on a Maine island, but that’s dashed when Scottie appears there as well, setting in motion a deadly series of events that imperils her life. Credible, fully realized characters and tense situations compensate for plot twists that aren’t as memorable as in Swanson’s best work. Many readers will devour this page-turner in one sitting. Agent: Nat Sobel, Sobel & Weber. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Will give you major Fatal Attraction vibes…. A tantalizing plot, steamy scenes, and passionate relationships…

PopSugar

"Should come with a warning to prepare for a single-sitting, reading marathon as Swanson plunges us head-first into an addictive and deftly executed mystery which positively crackles with menace and suspense."

Lancashire Evening Post

Hitchcockian chills and thrills abound in Swanson's latest mystery, a twisty tale of survival and deception. " 

the Oprah Magazine O

Just when we think we have an idea of what Abigail is up against, Swanson pulls the rug away from under us. Strange events give way to sinister revelations... The last act cranks up tension to the breaking point. Sit back, suspend all disbelief, and watch those pages fly by."

Minneapolis Star Tribune

"An enjoyable thriller with a pleasingly acidic streak of social satire."

Daily Mail (UK)

"You'll struggle not to read Every Vow You Break in one sitting. Peter Swanson's subtle hints that all is not what it seems build to a thrilling and gripping crescendo... glamorous, dark and terrifying."

Irish News

Peter Swanson delivers another stellar thriller full of adrenaline inducing surprises and a plot that turns on a dime.

BookBub

The plot twists come at a furious pace. When Abigail seeks help in dealing with Scott, she gradually discovers that she has no one she can count on. Almost no one around her is who they pretend to be.

Associated Press

Fasten your seatbelt — nothing that happens in the last 250 pages of Peter Swanson’s latest is anything you’d expect. Abigail is going down the rabbit hole in an absolute gobsmackingly great mystery… Every Vow You Break is utterly enthralling.

Winnipeg Free Press

[A] pulse-pounding not-so-happily-ever-after thriller.” 

The Big Thrill

Fiendishly clever catnip for any lover of classic crime fiction.

Seattle Times on Eight Perfect Murders

"Another top-notch thriller from Swanson. I picked this up intending to take a quick look and was still pinned to my sofa two hours later . . . An addictive thriller that rather proves the adage: marry for money and you'll earn every penny."

Alice O'Keeffe

Swanson specializes in writing mesmerizing thrillers that subvert readers’ expectations. The author works his particular magic once again with Every Vow You Break… Swanson’s shape-shifting saga is reminiscent, by turns, of such foreboding films as Vertigo [and] Fatal Attraction.

Wall Street Journal

”If you’re looking for the suspense techniques of Alfred Hitchcock translated to the page, Swanson’s your man… References to Hitchcock’s Vertigo give an index to the murderous fun here.

Financial Times

Incredibly difficult to put down, Peter Swanson’s newest thriller, Every Vow You Break, is full of twists and surprises, but also constantly conveys that pit-of-your-stomach dread that suspense lovers are addicted to.” %COMM_CONTRIB%The Nerd Daily

Fiendish good fun.

Anthony Horowitz on Eight Perfect Murders

With mounting tension and fraying nerves, it careens to the final stunning conclusion. A true tour de force.

Lisa Gardner on Eight Perfect Murders

Engagingly original. . . . This [is a] multilayered mystery that brims with duplicity, betrayal and revenge—all bubbling slowly to the surface. . . . Swanson has a bent for revenge and murder. Fans won’t be disappointed.

USA Today on Eight Perfect Murders

Probably what you need right now is a good murder mystery. One that is bookish, engrossing, not overly gory and impossible to solve. Peter Swanson delivers all of this in Eight Perfect Murders… Swanson drops in lovely clues, but good luck figuring it out.

Minneapolis Star Tribune on Eight Perfect Murders

An homage to classic mystery stories that offers both the charms of a puzzle mystery and the bleak atmosphere of a noir… The flawed main characters are well developed, the New England settings are vividly drawn, and the twists keep coming in this suspenseful, ingeniously plotted tale.

St. Louis Post Dispatch on Eight Perfect Murders

Fiendish good fun.

null Anthony Horowitz on Eight Perfect Murders

Engagingly original. . . . This [is a] multilayered mystery that brims with duplicity, betrayal and revenge—all bubbling slowly to the surface. . . . Swanson has a bent for revenge and murder. Fans won’t be disappointed.

null USA Today on Eight Perfect Murders

With mounting tension and fraying nerves, it careens to the final stunning conclusion. A true tour de force.

null Lisa Gardner on Eight Perfect Murders

Fiendishly clever catnip for any lover of classic crime fiction.

null Seattle Times on Eight Perfect Murders

Probably what you need right now is a good murder mystery. One that is bookish, engrossing, not overly gory and impossible to solve. Peter Swanson delivers all of this in Eight Perfect Murders… Swanson drops in lovely clues, but good luck figuring it out.

null Minneapolis Star Tribune on Eight Perfect Murders

An homage to classic mystery stories that offers both the charms of a puzzle mystery and the bleak atmosphere of a noir… The flawed main characters are well developed, the New England settings are vividly drawn, and the twists keep coming in this suspenseful, ingeniously plotted tale.

null St. Louis Post Dispatch on Eight Perfect Murders

Chapter by chapter, the text peels back layers to reveal a pathological relationship between Kate’s cousin and a long-ago acquaintance that’s reminiscent of a folie à deux out of Patricia Highsmith... By then, readers, privy to much Kate doesn’t know, may be experiencing their own anxiety.

Wall Street Journal on Her Every Fear

[It] has ‘movie adaptation’ written all over it. It has an alluring location, a fragile yet resilient protagonist and a thoroughly Hitchcockian storyline, replete with the requisite false starts and plot twists… High tension, lightning-fast pacing and psychological drama in spades.

BookPage on Her Every Fear

The meta thriller fans of the genre have been waiting for.

Popsugar

The Girl With a Clock for a Heart is an edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller that dares you to turn the next page, but it’s much more dangerous than that. It dares you to take a hard, long look at people from your past and ask yourself who’s worth holding on to and who’s worth letting go. This novel burns faster and hotter than a lit fuse, and you’ll be feeling its heat long after the explosive ending.

Wiley Cash

Intelligent, twisty, stylish, startling… No matter how well you know someone, you can never fully know what’s in their heart and mind. Eight Perfect Murders proves the point. Which is what makes it perfectly creepy.

New York Journal of Books

From its initial nod to Strangers on a Train onwards, this is a homage to Patricia Highsmith, but in some ways it outdoes the queen of queasy in sheer nastiness. . . . [Swanson] continually juggles narrators and pulls off surprises.

Sunday Times (UK)

A devilish premise combined with jaw-dropping execution… Mystery fans will be salivating as the plot unfolds, trying to outsmart the confoundingly unreliable narrative… Swanson hits every note in this homage to the old-school crime novel, and the turnabout ending will leave readers reeling in delight.

Booklist (starred review)

This devilishly clever noir thriller [has] head-spinning surprises that make it an intoxicating read. . . . The book will inevitably earn comparisons to Gone Girl. . . . This one makes good on the promise, right down to the chilling final paragraph.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

The book has pace to burn. It feels like a throwback to Ross MacDonald’s flawed but relentless work . . . glimmers with bright and original moments.

USA Today

His central premise may be borrowed from Strangers on a Train, but Swanson takes the notion in some truly startling directions, excelling in the vividly etched characterisation of his protagonists. . . . But what makes The Kind Worth Killing so enjoyable is the beautifully constructed plotting.

Financial Times (UK)

Peter Swanson tells the engaging story of a woman battling severe anxiety who decides to radically change her life - and the horrifying results that follow - in Her Every Fear… An effective and compulsive thriller.

St. Louis Post Dispatch

An intricate tale of murder planned and plans gone hopelessly awry. . . . There are Hitchockian overtones, as well as the sort of last-page narrative tweak that would undoubtedly bring a Mona Lisa smile to Sir Alfred’s usually taciturn countenance.

BookPage

[A] neatly knotted suspense story.

New York Times Book Review

The parallel stories unwind relentlessly with audacious and spectacular twists . . . An intense mix of noir, pulp fiction, and fun . . . The most unsurprising aspect of this book? It’s already been optioned for a film.

Boston Globe

Eight Perfect Murders is an ever-unfolding puzzle… Mal frequently confides in the reader, showing that he knows more than he is letting the FBI believe. But what exactly does Mal know, and what might he be guilty of? These questions will plague readers and follow them throughout the book.

San Francisco Chronicle

Swanson’s fourth psychological thriller is a gripping exploration of delusion and deceit; sure to please readers of Laura Lippman’s stand-alones.

Booklist

The book has pace to burn. It feels like a throwback to Ross MacDonald’s flawed but relentless work . . . glimmers with bright and original moments.

USA Today

Who are literature’s most lethal women? . . . Here’s a new contender: Liana Decter, who causes endless heartbreak and occasional death in Peter Swanson’s compulsively readable [The Girl with a Clock for a Heart] . . . should be a contender for crime fiction’s best first novel of 2014.

Washington Post

What do you say when a woman who broke your heart years ago and is wanted for questioning in connection to a murder pops back into your life to ask a favor? If she’s as alluring as Liana Dector, you say, ‘Yes.’ And hope you survive . . . The Girl with a Clock for a Heart is a twisty, sexy, electric thrill ride.

Dennis Lehane

The next Gone Girl? . . . There aren’t just two unreliable narrators, there are four. There isn’t just one enormous, game-changing twist. Try three. . . . You’ll also lose count of all the sociopaths . . . they’re each deranged but oh-so-compelling.

Entertainment Weekly

02/01/2021

Marriage vows are meant to be kept, but what if you broke them right before your wedding? Isn't that what a bachelorette party is for? Abigail Baskin has found the perfect man—intelligent, affectionate, and wealthy. Millionaire Bruce Lamb didn't exactly sweep her off her feet, but Abigail is sure he's the one. At least, she's sure marrying a responsible man will be good for her. But right before the wedding, she sees her one-night stand—he's stalked her across the country. She keeps it a secret, not wanting to ruin her wedding or the honeymoon on an isolated private island Bruce has planned. But Abigail doesn't know that Bruce has secrets of his own. As the honeymoon proceeds, strange things happen. Abigail notices she and another guest are the only women on the island and fears someone is conspiring against them. Not sure whom she can trust, she wonders if she should have married Bruce. VERDICT Swanson's (Eight Perfect Murders) new novel is a good match with Lucy Foley's psychological wedding thriller, The Guest List. Readers will bask in the creepiness of being stranded on a remote island, considering how far some might go to punish those who break sacred promises.—K.L. Romo, Duncanville, TX

Library Journal

"The author peels away layers of treachery leaving the reader, and unwitting newlywed Abigail, unsure of who to trust. Swanson taps into a survival instinct particularly resonant with the female experience, and makes Every Vow You Break glamorous, dark and terrifying."

Independent (UK)

”If you’re looking for the suspense techniques of Alfred Hitchcock translated to the page, Swanson’s your man… References to Hitchcock’s Vertigo give an index to the murderous fun here.

Financial Times

Lots of thriller writers know how to set a hook, but Swanson isn't satisfied with just one; the further we go into his devilishly twisty tales, the more hooks he sets… This time we start out on what seems like familiar ground: then-bride-to-be Abigail had a booze-fueled one-night stand… and is now being stalked by the man with whom she dallied. Fatal Attraction, right? Well, maybe, but we quickly see there's more to it than that.” 

Booklist

Swanson specializes in writing mesmerizing thrillers that subvert readers’ expectations. The author works his particular magic once again with Every Vow You Break… Swanson’s shape-shifting saga is reminiscent, by turns, of such foreboding films as Vertigo [and] Fatal Attraction.

Wall Street Journal

If you love… curling up with an atmospheric murder mystery—or binging a Hitchcock marathon on TMC—Every Vow You Break delivers on all counts. But as did the master filmmaker, Swanson imbeds unpleasant truths about marriage and money, and whether or not we can truly know another person. Do all our relationships follow the same patterns, again and again? Are we merely bit players in someone else’s drama? Perhaps those are unsolvable mysteries.

Oprah Daily

Luckily for readers, [Swanson] keeps the story grounded by making Abigail an average person who refuses to be a victim. It's this simplicity that makes the character appealing and her triumphs magnificent.

Shelf Awareness

Swanson puts his own unique spin on the idea of marital bliss taking a dark and sinister turn in his newest release, which focuses not on a wedding itself, but on what comes after… [The novel] begs to be read in a couple of sittings...

Crime By the Book

If you’re familiar with Peter Swanson’s super creepy previous novel, Eight Perfect Murders, you’ll understand that the new book is neither simple nor merely a matter of stalking… This one takes more perverse plot turns than Eight Perfect Murders even contemplated. For creepiness, this is the real goods.

Toronto Star

An unabashed page-turner that I dare you not to read all in one go.

Air Mail

“Every Vow You Break takes the typical domestic thriller and puts a new spin on it — one that’s darker and more twisted than readers will suspect. However, that will just increase your desire to figure out what’s really going on… It’s sure to keep you on edge.

Culturess

Incredibly difficult to put down, Peter Swanson’s newest thriller, Every Vow You Break, is full of twists and surprises, but also constantly conveys that pit-of-your-stomach dread that suspense lovers are addicted to.

The Nerd Daily