Obsession by Amanda Robson

Publisher's Blurb
One evening, a wife asks her husband a question: who else would you go for, if you could?
It is a simple question – a little game – that will destroy her life.
Carly and Rob are a perfect couple. They share happy lives with their children and their close friends Craig and Jenni. They’re lucky. But beneath the surface, no relationship is simple: can another woman’s husband and another man’s wife ever just be good friends?
Little by little, Carly’s question sends her life spiralling out of control, as she begins to doubt everything she thought was true. Who can she trust? The man she has promised to stick by forever, or the best friend she has known for years? And is Carly being entirely honest with either of them?
Obsession is a dark, twisting thriller about how quickly our lives can fall apart when we act on our desires.
Perfect for fans of B A Paris and Paula Hawkins.

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Review:
This book had come under my attention through Social Media - the striking cover lured me in, as did the book title. The blurb promised even more - So I was delighted to get my hands on a review copy.

I started reading this book on a bumpy flight to Glasgow - and very soon found it to be one of the most unputdownable reads of the year. 
Raw, dark, twisty and unpredictable it followed the stories of two couples whose lives are thrown off track by one simple question.
"If you could have anyone else, who would it be?"

Men and women of the world - do yourselves a favour. Never answer this question if asked by your partner. Or if you do, pick a celeb you wouldn't have a hope in hell's chance of getting with,
No good can come of any other answer - as Amanda Robson's skilled debut shows.

We're used now to having books show unreliable narrators - in Obsessed there are four unreliable voices and the reader's loyalties, beliefs and sympathies will change many times during the course of the read. 
Is there one person to blame for the chain of events that follows this seemingly innocent question or is everyone a little guilty? Once the can of worms is opened in this book, it is impossible to close it again.

In turns the characters switch from being likeable to thoroughly unpleasant and back again - and it's not until the final, devastating twist that the full truth emerges starkly, leaving the reader reeling.

For a debut this is remarkably accomplished. There is a gritty honesty about Robson's writing that makes the book an uncomfortable but all encompassing read.

It's one of those great books that, when you turn the last page, you just have to let the events you have just lived through vicariously  rest for a bit as you come to terms with what you've read.

Highly recommended.

Obsession is available now and is published by Avon.
I received a copy of this book for review via Netgalley.
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