My Husband's Son

by D.L. Fisher

When an eighteen-year-old claiming to be her husband’s son shows up at her front door out of the blue, Carrie Winter is floored. It's completely unexpected. Then, you can't expect someone you didn't know existed. She’s shocked to find out that her husband has been hiding this major secret from her. Carrie thought she knew the man she married but now, she’s not so sure…

TJ seems pleasant enough. He cooks for her and engages in polite conversation. However, strange things start to happen upon his arrival. A teenage girl is found murdered and another has gone missing. And then, while trying to piece together TJ’s history that both her stepson and husband seem to be hiding, Carrie discovers the death of TJ’s mother may not have been an accident after all.

The more Carrie investigates the deaths and missing girls, the more secrets she finds out about her seemingly perfect development. What does she really know about the neighborhood she lives in and the people she lives with? And, is letting TJ into her home the biggest mistake she’ll ever make?

Genres: Audiobook, Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Crime

356 pages, Paperback

First published May 7, 2024

Reviews

[Nina (ninjasbooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I should have known there was a sequel to this, that might have made it a more enjoyable read, but I didn’t. It was still a good read though, the characters were interesting although a bit black and white (you are either loved or hated

[aeryn rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

2⭐️

This literally felt like any other thriller out there and I honestly found this to be a bit stupid. My favorite thing about this was that it was only a few hours to finish. I wanted to give up like 2 hours in, but I felt the plot was okay enough to finish.

Let's start with the idiotic, stupid characters. The FMC, my god, she was just so damn dumb and irritating. I understand the most thriller characters aren't supposed to be all that, but in this one she was arguably so annoying. Why is it that in thrillers the FMC's put themselves into danger and all the common sense leaves their heads? IT'S SO ANNOYING. Why can't thrillers just have smarter characters, or at least some with an ounce of matter to their brain? The other characters were fine, just your typical bland, generic suspects that don't actually do anything.

Side note: The FMC in this book was also straight up RUDE. She had such a bitchy personality and her "sly" insults were just so unnecessary. She was so unlikable even from the very beginning.

The plot of this book was alright, but honestly it just wasn't unique. Nothing about this book is unique or especially interesting. Was it quick and harmless? Yeah, but there wasn't much substance. I felt like this entire book was just going in circles. It was a good book to put on while coloring and tuning out the world, I just wish it was more interesting and just more engaging. Instead, it just felt like an unsalted cracker, dry and bland. The plot twist at the end wasn't even that good either. Ugh I just wanted MORE! More substance, more twists, more surprises.

Overall, this book just blends in with all the other stereotypical thrillers and it's not even on the better side. The characters weren't that good and the plot was meh. Not the worst thriller ever, but definitely not the greatest. This was okay for what it was, but this just wasn't for me. It was basic and bland, but I will say, it wasn't entirely too boring; I was busy ripping my hair out from how irritating the FMC was. 🙂

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𝓟𝓻𝓮-𝓡𝓮𝓪𝓭: 🔪💙

I don't really listen to thrillers much anymore, but I'm on an audiobook kick and nothing can stop me 😈

[Melina Cleveland · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to this because it was free. It was free for a reason.

[Tonya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I’ve read by this author, but it definitely will not be the last. I was gripped from start to finish. The plot is perfectly paced, unpredictable, and has unexpected twists throughout. A surprise stepson, an unsolved murder, and missing girls bring chaos to this normally quiet neighborhood. Who is innocent and who is guilty in this twisted tale of secrets and deception? “ Gated communities like ours don't keep people out— they keep secrets in, where they can fester and spread.” The final twist was jaw-dropping.! Thank you NetGalley and Joffe Books for my copy.

[WHL (Bill) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn’t do it. This one was a DNF for me.
This was my first time reading D.L. Fisher, and unfortunately it didn’t land. The plot was weak, the main character was irritating, and the constant inner dialogue made it hard to stay engaged. On top of that, the story leaned heavily on clichés, and the overall premise just felt unbelievable.
I saw plenty of five-star reviews claiming a mind-bending ending, but I wasn’t willing to push past the halfway mark to get there. A strong ending doesn’t excuse a slog to reach it.
Honestly, the best thing about The Stepson was that it was free with my Audible membership.

[*ੈ❀joanna (BUSY AT WORK) ₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁·ꕤ · Rating 2 out of 5]

haven’t had time to read bcs work has been exhausting, so decided to listen to an audiobook instead. found this book on audible premium catalogue. picked randomly and so i ended up with this book. started out weird, lack of description and all. i finished the book and i still don’t know what the characters look like, their height, their skin, eyes, or even the color of their hair…

it was kinda fun to listen, but the plot was predictable. not interesting enough. the fmc is stupid, the story line is outright stupid. literally everyone is super naive. so many characters mentioned and they don’t even show up. and omg the fmc is just… so stupid. and the ending sucked. and i don’t even know why the title of this book is “the stepson” when he is not even the main character ???

[Yara’s Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

★★★★☆

The Stepson is a gripping domestic thriller with plenty of twists and a fast pace that kept me hooked from the start. Carrie thinks she has the perfect life, until a stranger shows up at her door claiming to be her husband’s son. From there, things spiral fast, especially when local teenage girls begin to go missing and TJ becomes the prime suspect.

I really enjoyed the building tension and Carrie’s increasing doubt about everyone around her, including herself. The story blends drama, mystery, and just the right amount of suspense. Some parts felt a little over the top, but it made the ride even more entertaining.

A twisty, binge-worthy read that’s perfect for fans of psychological thrillers with a suburban edge.

Thank you to NetGalley, Joffe Books, and D.L. Fisher for the ARC!

[anovelaccount (Kayla) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yikes. I don’t think I’ve ever rated more than one or two books with one star, but this book was bad. I am honestly completely shocked and surprised to see a high rating. Did we honestly read the same book?!

So, yes, I probably should have dnfed, but I assumed it would be a quick read and truly never thought it would be a one star read for me.

But here’s the thing: the writing here is really, really bad. I promise I’m not trying to be unnecessarily mean, but it genuinely sounds like a middle schooler wrote this book. The expressions and phrases used…yikes. This was definitely my number one issue with the books, but also…

‼️Spoilers below‼️

I guessed every single plot twist. 🤷🏻‍♀️ It honestly was incredibly predictable, especially because the title itself gives things away! It’s supposed to be this last minute crazy revelation in the epilogue, but I kept waiting for THE STEPSON to somehow be important to the plot.

Also, this was a huge issue for me in another VERY popular thriller that I won’t name for spoilers’ sake, but along with the overly insane juvenile writing style, you also have poor plot writing by forcing your FMC to not reveal who she saw for a lot of this book, even though it’s written from her perspective, and we the readers are with her when she makes her grand realization. It’s holding something above the readers so you can have a plot twist later. The problem is, that’s NOT how people think! It boils down to lazy and poor writing.

I’ll stop there. I’m not trying to crucify the author or people who liked the book; CLEARLY this one wasn’t for me. I’m just confused why people liked this. 😂

[Hannah Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Absolutely insufferable.

[Lauren Self (lauren.shelby.reads) · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good! DL Fisher does not get enough hype. Read her books!!!

Carrie has it all.. big fancy mansion, handsome successful husband, the works. So when the doorbell rings on her wedding anniversary she’s completely blindsided by this young man saying her husband is his father.
Soon after, it appears there may be someone dangerous in their neighborhood, and she can’t help but wonder if it’s her new stepson.

I love DL Fisher’s writing style. She is witty and so much fun to immerse yourself in the story. And I love a good epilogue to tie up the whole book!

Read if you love books you don’t know who to trust, Dateline episode feel, possible serial killer, and a narrator you can’t help but be on their side.

Thanks so much to the author for my advanced copy!

Pub date 5/7

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5⭐️Entertaining and full of twists. A bit predictable, but a quick read.

[Nim · Rating 1 out of 5]

On her one-year anniversary, Carrie meets the stepson her husband never told her about. As if that were not stressful enough, teenage girls start to go missing in her gated community. With a husband that is clearly not telling her everything and a stranger who is her stepson now staying in her house, Carrie doesn't know who to trust outside or inside her home.

One of my ultimate pet peeves is a first-person POV character keeping something major from the reader. It always comes off as disingenuous. This book had this happen in spades. The MC sees someone in a suspicious position and says something to the effect of 'Omg I can't believe he is here...' And then... nada. She doesn't let us know anything, but she does keep thinking about what she saw without mentioning who the shocking person was. It's artificially forced and frankly lazy. "I wonder if anyone else feels it or if it's just me. Then, no one else has seen what I've seen. No one else knows what I know." Yeah Carrie. Including the reader! Who was there with you!! This is a cheap attempt at building tension when your mystery cannot stand on its own two feet. At one point our MC is talking to the police about this person she saw and the way they both spoke around it was so unnatural that I just had to throw my hands up and not care anymore.

While I think the premise had promise, I hate to say the execution wasn't there for me. Aside from my pet peeve, everyone in this book acted so off-the-wall in an uncanny valley way. There is an epilogue that I almost missed and that had a couple twists — one of which I predicted and another I did not. The pacing is what this book had going for it. It was a fast-paced read and I was able to finish it in one day.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this free arc in exchange for my honest review.

[Dirty D · Rating 5 out of 5]

She thought she had it all, the designer clothes, the handsome rich husband, the fancy mansion in a gated community… what she wasn’t expecting was a full-grown stepson to ring the doorbell. One she never even knew existed! Suddenly her secure little world if flipped upside down. Her handsome rich husband is keeping secrets and this gated community isn’t so safe when the neighbors teenage daughters start turning up murdered!

What secrets are these posh neighbors next door really hiding behind their closed doors? Is the darling little Stepson a serial killer or is it just an unfortunate coincidence?

I love me a good thriller and this was a new to me author. I wasn’t sure where this was going to take me at first, but let me tell you, it was one heck of a ride! I will be looking for more of Fisher’s books in the future!

*Thank you NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest unbiased review*

[eli · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh it fell quite flat to be honest, just a huge disappointment.

[Lisa Fremont · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was just a giant unnecessary red herring, and the main protagonist was such a dimwitted moron with questionable character. If the plot wasn't at least somewhat interesting, this would've gotten a solid 1 star.

[Ewa Karolina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was this written as a bet

[Alice Gamble · Rating 2 out of 5]

the epilogue saved it but still dull

[Lacy Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The epilogue?!?! 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

[Angel **Book Junkie** · Rating 2 out of 5]

The audiobook? Fantastic. Truly the saving grace here. The narrator deserves a raise, a trophy, and maybe a vacation. The story itself is thrilling, the atmosphere is eerie, and the characters are absolutely unhinged in the most entertaining way.

And then there’s Carrie.

From the very beginning, I didn’t buy a single thing she was selling. She felt superficial, unreliable, and honestly in need of a reality check. Every time the plot tried to get dark and creepy — especially with the missing girls storyline, which was genuinely chilling — Carrie would swoop in and overshadow everything with her chaos. It’s like the book had a great thriller simmering underneath, but Carrie kept knocking the pot off the stove.

By the end, I was more exhausted by her than invested in the mystery. So despite the strong narration and some truly eerie moments, this one lands at 2 stars for me.

[Bev Shoesmith · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this neither "addictive" or "thrilling", just plain boring and I was glad to get to the end.

[Caitlin Drohan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this, I really tried to be in the moment and found the twists pretty good. Easy read which was a nice change from the last few I’ve read.

[Julie Pabian · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Megan Mailer · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐ from me.

I enjoyed the premise enough to keep reading but I guessed the twists quite early on and found some of the character development and plot progression a little lazy.

Wouldn't recommend.

[Clare Crawshaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would, I didn’t predict the ending, I thought that I had , but it was a brilliant twist at the very end, looking forward to reading my other book by this author.

[Crissy Cardwell · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn’t even finish listening to this Audible book. Even if it was free.

[Kate Rohrich · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m honestly surprised I even finished this. Some of things the narrator was thinking and saying were just absolutely ridiculous, it felt like nothing happened the whole book, and the reveals were so oddly paced.

[Matthew · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cannot say one good thing about this book.

I’m not one to criticise writing usually but this was like bad creative writing, I can forgive bad writing for a good plot but this didn’t even have that.

We just follow Carrie so the rest of the characters have no depth and we get no suspense or build up just straight into murders it was like one those channel 5 afternoon American thrillers where the killer is obvious.

The fake end of it being her friends husband was written badly then I laughed as the pastries that it was the stepson all along killing for his step mums best friend.

Would not recommend this one

[Tanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Donna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh my goodness what a whiny lead woman. If she was a real person I doubt she would already be such a pampered ex foster child in 1 year. The constant moany monologue drove me nuts. I also think she must spend a fortune on phones the amount it seemed to fall out of her hands.
Saying that, I did enjoy the twist at the end and actually, if the next book follows the pattern of the epilogue I’ll be tempted to read the next book. However, I really don’t think I could put up with her.

[Diane Elizabeth Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carrie has the life she always wanted in her perfect home with her perfect husband and her best friend Marnie a few doors down. The ambience cracks wide open with the unexpected arrival of her husband's teenage son, TJ, a secret she never knew. As if that wasn't enough, the idyllic neighborhood is rocked by the disappearance of teenage girls, and suspicion falls heavily on the newcomer. Carrie's perfect world unravels, but she refuses to believe TJ is behind the disappearances, leading her to start her own investigation, putting herself in danger. This quick read offers a decent blend of domestic drama and suspense, making it an ideal page-turner for a relaxing day at the beach.
The twist was there and the ending was all tied up as neatly as the bow on Carrie's car.
Many thanks to Joffe Books for the ARC.