Surprise Party

Title: Surprise Party
Author: William Katz
First Published: January 1, 1984
Publisher: Warner Books
Pages: 256
Genre: Crime, Domestic Thriller, Horror, Suspense, Thriller
Format: Ebook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Rating:


Synopsis:

Samantha is planning a spectacular party for her husband’s birthday. It would be great, she thinks, if she could go back over Marty’s life, find the people who’ve meant the most to him, and bring them to the party.

But when she starts her search, she finds those people don’t exist. It’s a lie. Everything Marty told her is a lie. Marty is a lie.

Frightened, Samantha goes to the police. As the truth unfolds, she realizes it’s not only her marriage that can end, it’s her life. And she knows the exact date it will happen.

Buy the Book: Amazon

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Review

Surprise Party was just that – a surprise! I picked the book up on a whim when browsing through a list of books and authors that inspired the Silent Hill franchise, so I went into this book blind, and I had so much fun reading it! I picked this book up at just the right time, literally, the date of the party is December 5th.

The story is told from the dual perspectives of Samantha and her husband Marty. Samantha is a blushing new bride eagerly planning a birthday party for her husband. The party is not the surprise part of this story, as Marty knows from the start that she’s planning the event. Samantha decides to make this birthday special by honoring her husband’s exciting life – first class schools, proud military service, she starts looking into all the important events in his life to find old teachers, friends, and brothers-in-arms to surprise Marty at his birthday bash, even if it’s just a nice card. The problem is, it was all a lie.

We as the reader find out Marty’s secrets through his narration, unbeknownst to Samantha who finds herself grappling with the realization that she may not know the man that she loves. This story set-up is more domestic thriller with touches of horror, the reader can only watch helplessly as the story progresses, making the book hard to put down. While I saw the ending coming I enjoyed the careful plotting of this story. Samantha was a well conceived character, frustrating in her naivete particularly near the end, but it wraps up nicely.

Surprise Party reminded me what a pleasure it is to read books written before the widespread use of the internet and mobile phones. In a story like this one that focuses heavily on investigation it’s crazy how differently a plot like this would be written in the present day after just 39 years.

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