As Long As We Both Shall Live by JoAnn Chaney (Review by Julie Ramhold)

At first glance, this book looks like any other cliched story about an angry husband ridding himself of a wife he doesn’t want to bother divorcing. But this book is so much more. It has more than a few twists, and while I suspected a couple, I couldn’t rationalize how they’d work. So when they came together, it was surprising and brilliant and incredibly entertaining.

The book is divided into sections that are headed by music lyrics. These can provide a bit of a clue for what will follow, but not anywhere enough to be a spoiler. I loved those moments of pop culture before diving into yet another part of the story. There are several points of view, but they’re all done very well. The characters are all well fleshed out with clear, distinguishable voices. Having so many points of view ensures you get every side to the story and many different perspectives, which ends up being a good thing. It wasn’t as straightforward as I thought it was going to be, but it was an engrossing read.

JoAnn Chaney does an excellent job of slowly feeding the reader bits of the story, and has mastered the pacing of it. I always wanted to know more, but I didn’t feel like I was being deprived. This book is hands down a classic example of a page-turner, and even if you can figure out where it’s going, you’re going to want to know how it all comes together. Chaney will make you question what you know, and the conclusions you come to. She’ll then upend everything you think you know, only to have you arrive at the same conclusion you were at before. It’s one of the most twisted books I’ve read in awhile (in more ways than one) but it’s so well done and will stick with you long after you’ve finished the last page. The biggest thing to remember about this book is that nothing is as it seems.

Would I recommend it? Hands down, yes, to every thriller and mystery lover out there.