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Girl meets boy. They fall in love. There’s just one problem…
The Ex by Nicola Moriarty is an unputdownable thriller that will have you choosing ‘one more chapter’ over sleep in a bid to find out how it ends.
Georgia Fitzpatrick is back on track after a difficult few years. She’s also on Tinder and arranges to meet someone for a drink. Her Tinder date is a no-show, but she does meet Luke at the bar: handsome, charming… the real deal. She’s swept off her feet by the travelling salesman. They quickly fall for each other. Luke is The One. After everything she’s been through, Georgia knows she deserves someone like him, to make her feel loved. Safe.
But there’s one problem… Luke still lives with his ex-girlfriend Cadence. He assures Georgia that it’s just until their lease is up, as he can’t really afford to pay for two rentals right now. It’s a temporary arrangement. But Cadence is having trouble moving on emotionally. She texts Luke all the time. Once he tells her about Georgia, Cadence starts leaving aggressive notes on Georgia’s car. Georgia believes Cadence is stalking her. Then her apartment is broken into and ransacked. Georgia starts to feel afraid – just how dangerous is Cadence?
Georgia decides to confront Cadence … and while it’s difficult to share anything about the storyline from here, without giving it away, this is when things get truly interesting.
Moriarty has set the novel around the Hills District of Sydney. It’s well-heeled suburbia, almost excruciatingly normal. But that’s the point. They are normal people… you, me, your neighbour, your friend. The location sets the tone for The Ex… These things, the things that happen in this book, aren’t meant to happen to people who live there.
Georgia, a nurse, is incredibly likeable and you want the best for her. She is surrounded by well-crafted minor characters, such as her friend Amber, and her family. The reader is as charmed by Luke as Georgia is. Although it’s clear he has baggage, you want them to work it out.
Moriarty is a masterful plotter. She has written a fast-paced thriller with a few twists and turns that you might suspect, and others that you won’t see coming at all. Even the ones you suspect are deftly done, because suspecting something in advance adds to the tension. I wanted to scream at the characters, to warn them.
From the bestselling author of The Fifth Letter, this is a twisty, pacy, gripping new novel that explores the baggage we carry from our past relationships and asks how well can you ever really know someone?
Fun, fast, and highly entertaining… It’s put me off dating for a long while.
About the author:
Nicola Moriarty lives in Sydney’s northwest with her husband and two small (but remarkably strong-willed) daughters. She is the younger sister of bestselling authors Liane Moriarty and Jaclyn Moriarty. In between various career changes, becoming a mum and studying at Macquarie University, she began to write. Now, she can’t seem to stop.
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