My Brother’s New Wife by Matt McGregor

This story is all about revenge. What revenge? You’ll have to read it. It’s a short novel and it’s free. Not available for sale. You must go to Mr. McGregor’s website and download the book. It’s worth the time and effort.

Complex, twisted, and unusual describe this book for me. It’s told in the first person. But from two main characters. Jennifer – a high school senior. And Sally, her mother. Paul, Jennifer’s father, has one chapter. And Olivia has the last chapter. Who is Olivia? Read the book.

I think Mr. McGregor didn’t re-read his prologue after finishing the book though. There is one gaff, I believe. See if you can find it.

Everyone wants to kill everyone. Okay, maybe not that extreme, but close. Simon and his new wife, Amanda, move in with Sally and Paul. From the start the reader can sense something is off with Amanda. She is manipulative and not who she says she is. I had thought I’d guessed her origin about a third into it. I was close, but not quite. There were two options and I chose the wrong one.

The ending is thrilling but not satisfying. One of the characters that doesn’t die actually deserves to. It’s interesting that Mr. McGregor did not have his story reach justice. But going back and re-reading the prologue explains why this ending.

The only other issue with the story is that it’s open-ended. And I don’t see a sequel on the author’s list of publications. Maybe it will come out sometime.

There is some profanity, some on page sex and innuendo. The violence is not over the top. I’ll rank this one eighth so far. It’s a good introduction to Mr. McGregor’s writing. This is the second of his I’ve read and reviewed and both were thrilling reads.

1. The Last Exchange by Charles Martin
2. Weapons of Remorse by Chevron Ross
3. Relentless by Ed Gorman
4. Framed by James Scott Bell
5. After Her Deceit by Steve Rush
6. Water Grave by Mitchell S. Karnes
7. The Book of Answers by Darrow Woods
8. My Brother’s New Wife by Matt McGregor
9. Deadly Silence by Erik Carter
10. Neon Prey by John Sandford
11. Perfect Daughter by Ion Esimai