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The Cliffhanger
Stray too close to the edge
And someone's going to get hurt
New York-based writers Felix and Emma have it all. As the husband and wife team behind the bestselling Morgan Savage thrillers, their meteoric rise to global literary fame seemed unstoppable.
Until Felix messed up.
Now, the couple has been exiled to the south of France. Their a long, hot summer to cure their writers' block - and save their marriage. But as tensions rise beneath the sweltering sun, Felix and Emma become trapped in a deathly plot of their own making . . .
And someone's going to get hurt
New York-based writers Felix and Emma have it all. As the husband and wife team behind the bestselling Morgan Savage thrillers, their meteoric rise to global literary fame seemed unstoppable.
Until Felix messed up.
Now, the couple has been exiled to the south of France. Their a long, hot summer to cure their writers' block - and save their marriage. But as tensions rise beneath the sweltering sun, Felix and Emma become trapped in a deathly plot of their own making . . .
368 pages, Paperback
First published May 8, 2025
83 people are currently reading
2216 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
June 21, 2025
What a solid vacation thriller! Really impressed by this author. This is my first read from Emily Freud and I will definitely be checking out more of her backlist.
This thriller within a thriller is largely set in the south of France and is told from our MMCs point of view. Despite sounding like this could get complicated the layers are perfectly woven and the twists are very satisfying.
Definitely recommend 🤭
This thriller within a thriller is largely set in the south of France and is told from our MMCs point of view. Despite sounding like this could get complicated the layers are perfectly woven and the twists are very satisfying.
Definitely recommend 🤭
July 20, 2025
4 - 5 stars.
May 10, 2025
A big thank you to @instabooktours for having me on the tour and to Quercus + Emily for the copy!
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I loved it! The premise of a book within a book was unique and clever, it was multilayered and expertly crafted. It's a fairly slow burn but you feel the tension simmering from very early on and it's ADDICTING. The characters are fairly unlikeable, but they're complex and your own feelings for them are confused. Once the build up of tension reaches boiling point the ending explodes and it is incredibly satisfying. 🤌🏻
I fully recommend!
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I loved it! The premise of a book within a book was unique and clever, it was multilayered and expertly crafted. It's a fairly slow burn but you feel the tension simmering from very early on and it's ADDICTING. The characters are fairly unlikeable, but they're complex and your own feelings for them are confused. Once the build up of tension reaches boiling point the ending explodes and it is incredibly satisfying. 🤌🏻
I fully recommend!
May 1, 2025
This is a great thriller, very suspenseful and the tagline is so true, you think you know how this ends, think again. The twist shocked me.
Emily Freud was able to write a thriller where you didn't know who the protagonist or antagonist was, I found myself hating both characters and Freud delivers on this approach to writing a unique thriller style.
Emily Freud was able to write a thriller where you didn't know who the protagonist or antagonist was, I found myself hating both characters and Freud delivers on this approach to writing a unique thriller style.
June 9, 2025
Emma and Felix, who write as Morgan Savage, are in France for the summer to try and fix their marriage as they write the next book in their series. But tension simmers away due to Emma’s controlling and Felix’s drinking and past affairs… soon real life plot twists match the fictional ones and it all culminates in several large twists.
I like the idea of this, and I think the final twists helped improve this for me a bit. Unfortunately I just didn’t like any of the characters - I know this is partly to build tension and was needed for the plot, but it was hard to care about what happened to them when they were so deeply unlikeable. I’m glad so many other people have liked this book, but sadly it wasn’t for me.
I received a free ARC copy of this book via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.
I like the idea of this, and I think the final twists helped improve this for me a bit. Unfortunately I just didn’t like any of the characters - I know this is partly to build tension and was needed for the plot, but it was hard to care about what happened to them when they were so deeply unlikeable. I’m glad so many other people have liked this book, but sadly it wasn’t for me.
I received a free ARC copy of this book via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.
April 29, 2025
4.5⭐️
AD-PR PRODUCT ~ Book Tour
A spectacularly atmospheric summer thriller! 😍
As this song so appropriately says, what the hell just happened!!! What an amazing read this was. Freud slowly sucks you in, before tormenting you with a blur between fiction and reality that was executed both impressively and perfectly.
Told from Felix’s POV, I loved Freud’s ingenious choice of revealing the narrative through his eyes only. Not only did this capture my attention, it also added to the unyielding atmosphere that reverberated throughout the book.
Unlikeable characters were at the core of this read and I absolutely loved this. I didn’t know who to trust or what was happening, but I definitely had my doubts. Felix was all over the place and Emma seemed conniving, but also vulnerable.
I correctly guessed part of the plot, but Freud truly had me hanging off a cliff in suspense as I devoured each twist and turn on the pages.
The level of skill it takes to write a novel, but also feature another ‘novel’ inside really emphasises Freud’s craft! Very impressive!
This was a beautiful slow burn, which started off a little too slow for me, but soon sped up and kept me captivated throughout. The ending was so satisfying and clever!
A huge thank you @instabooktours, @emilyfreud_ and @quercusbooks for this copy of The Cliffhanger which publishes on the 8th May, and for having me on the fun book tour! ❤️
You MUST check this one out! 😍
💬: ‘Stories are the only way to truly escape.’
⚠️ Please check out the trigger warnings! ⚠️
AD-PR PRODUCT ~ Book Tour
A spectacularly atmospheric summer thriller! 😍
As this song so appropriately says, what the hell just happened!!! What an amazing read this was. Freud slowly sucks you in, before tormenting you with a blur between fiction and reality that was executed both impressively and perfectly.
Told from Felix’s POV, I loved Freud’s ingenious choice of revealing the narrative through his eyes only. Not only did this capture my attention, it also added to the unyielding atmosphere that reverberated throughout the book.
Unlikeable characters were at the core of this read and I absolutely loved this. I didn’t know who to trust or what was happening, but I definitely had my doubts. Felix was all over the place and Emma seemed conniving, but also vulnerable.
I correctly guessed part of the plot, but Freud truly had me hanging off a cliff in suspense as I devoured each twist and turn on the pages.
The level of skill it takes to write a novel, but also feature another ‘novel’ inside really emphasises Freud’s craft! Very impressive!
This was a beautiful slow burn, which started off a little too slow for me, but soon sped up and kept me captivated throughout. The ending was so satisfying and clever!
A huge thank you @instabooktours, @emilyfreud_ and @quercusbooks for this copy of The Cliffhanger which publishes on the 8th May, and for having me on the fun book tour! ❤️
You MUST check this one out! 😍
💬: ‘Stories are the only way to truly escape.’
⚠️ Please check out the trigger warnings! ⚠️
May 9, 2025
4.5
I loved this! It gave me the feeling I used to get reading thrillers growing up, the girl on the train and gone girl era. Top tier.
This is the perfect holiday/summer thriller. I just loved it, there was no point that felt slow, the book within a book never got confusing, and just added even more to the tension.
The twists? Loved. I was so scared they were going to let the book down as I enjoyed the first 2/3 so much, but they just added to it.
This is my first Emily Freud and I am definitely going to go back and read her backlist (I think there are 3).
Potential unpopular opinion: I didn’t like the cover. I feel like it doesn’t represent the summer vibes from this book, I imagine it having a bright cover with a pool or the sea or something. This is completely irrelevant to the brilliant writing, but all I’m saying is if you’re like me, don’t let it put you off. I’m so glad I read this and discovered Emily Freud.
I loved this! It gave me the feeling I used to get reading thrillers growing up, the girl on the train and gone girl era. Top tier.
This is the perfect holiday/summer thriller. I just loved it, there was no point that felt slow, the book within a book never got confusing, and just added even more to the tension.
The twists? Loved. I was so scared they were going to let the book down as I enjoyed the first 2/3 so much, but they just added to it.
This is my first Emily Freud and I am definitely going to go back and read her backlist (I think there are 3).
Potential unpopular opinion: I didn’t like the cover. I feel like it doesn’t represent the summer vibes from this book, I imagine it having a bright cover with a pool or the sea or something. This is completely irrelevant to the brilliant writing, but all I’m saying is if you’re like me, don’t let it put you off. I’m so glad I read this and discovered Emily Freud.
August 1, 2025
I gave this book 3 stars because I'm just not sure about it. I enjoyed the first half and then the second half just added SO much plot. There were just so many plots points that I found it all a bit much.
It's definitely a suspense driven thriller which I felt like it could have been leaned into more and explored more? It could have been made a lot more eery and suspensefull and would have enjoy it.
I did enjoy the fact that the author manage to create two main characters who I absolutely despised. I honestly hated the MMC and felt indifferent to the FMC.
I loved the concept of a thriller writer writing a thriller within this book. Very breaking the 4th wall feeling. I also like how they aren't fully letting us see the story within the story because it makes me feel like I might be getting a double whammy of twists. Unfortunately the book within the book just tapered off and left us feeling longing almost? Like I became invested in that story and I wanted to know more about it which I didn't get. So overall it also was an interesting concept that could have had more done with it.
I did enjoy the book enough that I read it fairly quickly and I would read more of this authors work.
It's definitely a suspense driven thriller which I felt like it could have been leaned into more and explored more? It could have been made a lot more eery and suspensefull and would have enjoy it.
I did enjoy the fact that the author manage to create two main characters who I absolutely despised. I honestly hated the MMC and felt indifferent to the FMC.
I loved the concept of a thriller writer writing a thriller within this book. Very breaking the 4th wall feeling. I also like how they aren't fully letting us see the story within the story because it makes me feel like I might be getting a double whammy of twists. Unfortunately the book within the book just tapered off and left us feeling longing almost? Like I became invested in that story and I wanted to know more about it which I didn't get. So overall it also was an interesting concept that could have had more done with it.
I did enjoy the book enough that I read it fairly quickly and I would read more of this authors work.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 16, 2025
Mind blown! This is a slow burn read, with an underlying tension all the way through, that built like a pressure cooker, until it couldn't take anymore and it literally blew the top off!
Felix and Emma are famous authors under their joint pen name Morgan Savage. But their outward success simply hides the turmoil within their relationship.
I thought Emma was controlling and didn't like her very much, but as I discovered what she had to put up with, with Felix's affairs and heavy drinking, I understood why she had become so hardened and unemotional. The story is very cleverly played out within the couple's own relationship, but also through their writing, as they share alternate chapters for their new bestseller, that seem to mirror events in their own lives and through which they make pointed digs at each other.
Just as I was starting to wonder where it was going to go, the twists started to hit and from that point, I couldn't stop reading! I felt like I was on a rollercoaster as I reaped the rewards of every detail from the build up, coming together in some super explosive final chapters!
4 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Emily Freud and Quercus for an ARC in return for an honest review.
Felix and Emma are famous authors under their joint pen name Morgan Savage. But their outward success simply hides the turmoil within their relationship.
I thought Emma was controlling and didn't like her very much, but as I discovered what she had to put up with, with Felix's affairs and heavy drinking, I understood why she had become so hardened and unemotional. The story is very cleverly played out within the couple's own relationship, but also through their writing, as they share alternate chapters for their new bestseller, that seem to mirror events in their own lives and through which they make pointed digs at each other.
Just as I was starting to wonder where it was going to go, the twists started to hit and from that point, I couldn't stop reading! I felt like I was on a rollercoaster as I reaped the rewards of every detail from the build up, coming together in some super explosive final chapters!
4 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Emily Freud and Quercus for an ARC in return for an honest review.
May 8, 2025
Best selling author Morgan Savage is a pseudonym for husband and wife Felix and Emma. They travel to France to help cure writers block but tension is rising beneath the surface.
I knew I had to read this being a book about books and authors. This ended up being a dark domestic thriller with an atmospheric setting, which was described well. I enjoyed how there was a story within a story and think this made the overall novel more intriguing. It is a bit of a slow burn, however I can see why it is written in this way as it added an extra sense of mystery and isolation. There are some good twists and turns as you get further into the story and I was interested to see where it would go. A clever, multilayered story overall and a perfect holiday read. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.
I knew I had to read this being a book about books and authors. This ended up being a dark domestic thriller with an atmospheric setting, which was described well. I enjoyed how there was a story within a story and think this made the overall novel more intriguing. It is a bit of a slow burn, however I can see why it is written in this way as it added an extra sense of mystery and isolation. There are some good twists and turns as you get further into the story and I was interested to see where it would go. A clever, multilayered story overall and a perfect holiday read. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in return for an honest review.
June 18, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Holy smokes! Talk about an addictive and wild ride. Seeing as the main characters were both thriller authors, this one sucked me right on.
However, neither of the characters were likeable so I can't say I cared what happened to them but I think that was the point. They were horrible people. I was in it to see what happened to them and figure out what was going on.
The ending was twist upon twist and had me flipping those pages. Was it OTT and far fetched? Perhaps. Did I love it anyway? Obviously.
Loved the chapters of their book as they were writing too. Never saw that twist coming though!
Holy smokes! Talk about an addictive and wild ride. Seeing as the main characters were both thriller authors, this one sucked me right on.
However, neither of the characters were likeable so I can't say I cared what happened to them but I think that was the point. They were horrible people. I was in it to see what happened to them and figure out what was going on.
The ending was twist upon twist and had me flipping those pages. Was it OTT and far fetched? Perhaps. Did I love it anyway? Obviously.
Loved the chapters of their book as they were writing too. Never saw that twist coming though!
August 8, 2025
Ghastly, don’t know why I finished it. The writing was ok, the French always drooping the h from words !!!!! It was like reading the script from Allo, Allo without the laughs.
Not for me
Not for me
April 26, 2025
4.25 ⭐️
July 27, 2025
The twist at the end was good, but I found the first 2 parts of the book were slow. When the book shifted to part 2, it felt like very little had even happened in part 1. I also didn’t like that the cliff that was introduced in the beginning as a seemingly important element didn’t really have a role.
March 30, 2025
Rating: 3.5 stars
Publication Date: 8 May 2025
A diabolical and tense psychological thriller, The Cliffhanger follows Emma and Felix, a husband-and-wife writing team (publishing under the pen name Morgan Savage), as they retreat to a villa in the south of France to fix both their next book – and their fractured relationship.
From the opening pages, something is clearly off. Intrigue and uncertainty dominate the first few chapters as the power dynamics between Emma and Felix are slowly revealed. There’s an undercurrent of resentment, control, and emotional manipulation that keeps the reader uneasy. While it’s a slow burn, the second half delivers the twists and suspense thriller fans will be hoping for.
Reminiscent of Gone Girl, this novel plays with the blurred lines between fiction and reality, writing and truth. It’s unsettling in the best way. A great choice for holiday reading – though maybe skip it if you’re staying in a remote French villa with your partner…
Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Publication Date: 8 May 2025
A diabolical and tense psychological thriller, The Cliffhanger follows Emma and Felix, a husband-and-wife writing team (publishing under the pen name Morgan Savage), as they retreat to a villa in the south of France to fix both their next book – and their fractured relationship.
From the opening pages, something is clearly off. Intrigue and uncertainty dominate the first few chapters as the power dynamics between Emma and Felix are slowly revealed. There’s an undercurrent of resentment, control, and emotional manipulation that keeps the reader uneasy. While it’s a slow burn, the second half delivers the twists and suspense thriller fans will be hoping for.
Reminiscent of Gone Girl, this novel plays with the blurred lines between fiction and reality, writing and truth. It’s unsettling in the best way. A great choice for holiday reading – though maybe skip it if you’re staying in a remote French villa with your partner…
Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
June 3, 2025
The Cliffhanger by Emily Freud is a tense psychological thriller starring a husband and wife writing duo. I really enjoyed Freud’s previous book, Her Last Summer, so I was very much looking forward to reading her newest release.
The story is a slow burn, the suspense building gradually, as you are drawn deeper and deeper into the lives of Felix and Emma. They have been sent to the South of France to write their latest Morgan Savage thriller but as the plot begins to unravel, it is far from the idyllic retreat it sounds.
There was an almighty twist in the story which I honestly didn’t see coming and couldn’t have predicted. I absolutely love it when something happens in a book to take you completely by surprise and it makes you reconsider everything you thought you knew up until that point. Freud is brilliant at shocking you by doing exactly that.
You’ll be hooked!
This is a fantastic destination thriller, so make sure it’s in your suitcase on your next holiday.
The story is a slow burn, the suspense building gradually, as you are drawn deeper and deeper into the lives of Felix and Emma. They have been sent to the South of France to write their latest Morgan Savage thriller but as the plot begins to unravel, it is far from the idyllic retreat it sounds.
There was an almighty twist in the story which I honestly didn’t see coming and couldn’t have predicted. I absolutely love it when something happens in a book to take you completely by surprise and it makes you reconsider everything you thought you knew up until that point. Freud is brilliant at shocking you by doing exactly that.
You’ll be hooked!
This is a fantastic destination thriller, so make sure it’s in your suitcase on your next holiday.
May 29, 2025
Thriller set in Southern FRANCE
Felix and Emma are a husband and wife writing duo and together they work on the Morgan Savage thriller series. The books until recently have been hugely successful, but now their star is on the wane. They are embarking on volume no. 9 but they are struggling with writers’ block, and so they banish themselves to a bastide in Southern France, with the blessing of their literary agent, Max. There, they will thrash out the bare bones of the plot. That is not all they will be thrashing, as the two have arrived at a crossroads in their relationship and interact with each other like a lightweight version of Roald Dahl’s The Twits. Neither character is likeable.
Felix is spineless with an ingrained drink problem, who was due to take over his father’s London plumbing business (regrettably I thought of Pimlico Plumbers, I now have an image of Felix’s father) but Felix is focussed on driving his writing career forward – much to his father’s disappointment (which, of course, impacts Felix psychologically, which in turn feeds his alcohol habit). Emma is superlative at passive aggressive jibes and undermining retorts.
As the days pass, we learn that Felix is not only a drunkard but has been a naughty boy, as he serially allows himself to be seduced by younger women. His latest squeeze, however, has disappeared and there are mutterings of murder, but he really cannot recollect anything about the period before their departure for France, the time when she seemingly vanished.
Chapters in novel 9 start to evolve for Emma and Felix, and at first the signs are positive that the couple is back on track. But as they disappear down various rabbit holes, the plot starts to conflate with their reality in France, which becomes alarming and confusing – as much for Max as for the reader. This aspect of the novel is, nevertheless, rather inspired, as it captures the contemporary Zeitgeist, given authors team up regularly at the moment to co-author books. There is a fluid sense of smoke and mirrors.
Emma starts sleep walking and Max is worried that she is somehow under the influence of the ghost that is supposed to haunt the house (a young woman in the past plunged to her death over the cliff). He therefore decides – with her apparent permission – to tie her to the bed (as you do) to stop her new habit of nightly wanderings.
The story carries on in similar vein until the police in France set about investigating another disappearance and come knocking on the bastide’s door.
The couple continues to exchange chapters for the new book but Emma’s writing becomes increasingly erratic both in content and spelling (hard to read for Max, harder still for the reader to engage). What is going on?
Max, with his drink problem, is the gift to the author – any odd or bizarre behaviour can be attributable to his addiction. However, it feels like such a cop out in this instance, as he stumbles from one crisis to the next. It can all feel just a bit daft. By the end, I was sick of the mention of his bottles and hangovers, as he croaked his way through his days, posing his questions, blacking out and staggering off for walks.
The novel is billed as “The searing new destination thriller with a cat-and-mouse twist..“. Indeed it has an interesting twist – or two, even – but the sense of place is minimal: there is mention of some nice houses, food and a few olive trees, but it really is not up there in terms of setting.
Not one for me, alas, darting all over the place when not embroiled in drunken exchanges and deranged musings.
Felix and Emma are a husband and wife writing duo and together they work on the Morgan Savage thriller series. The books until recently have been hugely successful, but now their star is on the wane. They are embarking on volume no. 9 but they are struggling with writers’ block, and so they banish themselves to a bastide in Southern France, with the blessing of their literary agent, Max. There, they will thrash out the bare bones of the plot. That is not all they will be thrashing, as the two have arrived at a crossroads in their relationship and interact with each other like a lightweight version of Roald Dahl’s The Twits. Neither character is likeable.
Felix is spineless with an ingrained drink problem, who was due to take over his father’s London plumbing business (regrettably I thought of Pimlico Plumbers, I now have an image of Felix’s father) but Felix is focussed on driving his writing career forward – much to his father’s disappointment (which, of course, impacts Felix psychologically, which in turn feeds his alcohol habit). Emma is superlative at passive aggressive jibes and undermining retorts.
As the days pass, we learn that Felix is not only a drunkard but has been a naughty boy, as he serially allows himself to be seduced by younger women. His latest squeeze, however, has disappeared and there are mutterings of murder, but he really cannot recollect anything about the period before their departure for France, the time when she seemingly vanished.
Chapters in novel 9 start to evolve for Emma and Felix, and at first the signs are positive that the couple is back on track. But as they disappear down various rabbit holes, the plot starts to conflate with their reality in France, which becomes alarming and confusing – as much for Max as for the reader. This aspect of the novel is, nevertheless, rather inspired, as it captures the contemporary Zeitgeist, given authors team up regularly at the moment to co-author books. There is a fluid sense of smoke and mirrors.
Emma starts sleep walking and Max is worried that she is somehow under the influence of the ghost that is supposed to haunt the house (a young woman in the past plunged to her death over the cliff). He therefore decides – with her apparent permission – to tie her to the bed (as you do) to stop her new habit of nightly wanderings.
The story carries on in similar vein until the police in France set about investigating another disappearance and come knocking on the bastide’s door.
The couple continues to exchange chapters for the new book but Emma’s writing becomes increasingly erratic both in content and spelling (hard to read for Max, harder still for the reader to engage). What is going on?
Max, with his drink problem, is the gift to the author – any odd or bizarre behaviour can be attributable to his addiction. However, it feels like such a cop out in this instance, as he stumbles from one crisis to the next. It can all feel just a bit daft. By the end, I was sick of the mention of his bottles and hangovers, as he croaked his way through his days, posing his questions, blacking out and staggering off for walks.
The novel is billed as “The searing new destination thriller with a cat-and-mouse twist..“. Indeed it has an interesting twist – or two, even – but the sense of place is minimal: there is mention of some nice houses, food and a few olive trees, but it really is not up there in terms of setting.
Not one for me, alas, darting all over the place when not embroiled in drunken exchanges and deranged musings.
May 7, 2025
What should have been a luxurious French villa writing retreat for Felix and Emma becomes a living nightmare. After feeling claustrophobic in the big city, New York, and experiencing writer's block with too many demons overshadowing them, the couple decided a summer away would encourage their writing.
They are known as the power couple who together built a successful writing career, becoming bestselling novelists under the pseudonym Morgan Savage. A true whirlwind romance that brought fame and fortune. What's not to love? But perhaps this isn't everything they thought it would be, and someone wants out. What dark secrets are lurking, ready to break everything apart?
This book has everything I love when looking for a domestic type psychological thriller.
It has the perfect balance of dark romance and psychological suspense. I enjoyed how this story continuously assesses the mature and complex romantic relationship between Felix and Emma. It slowly drip-feeds you intricate details, leaving you with burning questions and a compulsion to keep reading to find out more.
I had so many mixed feelings about the characters. It's ingeniously designed so that I at first felt empathy, then pure anger and detestation, and then it would do a 360 back to sympathy!
It's true to its name; I felt on a cliffhanger right up until the very satisfying but perplexing end. The two POVs were very entertaining.
This was a very well-written and beautifully crafted novel. It was highly intelligent how the author managed to engineer and weave in a fictitious story that the couple were working on. I was amazed at how well this brought the whole novel together but also created another dark edge to the tale. It was extremely clever and seamlessly flowed together.
This story is gripping, multi-layered, and highly manipulative. It has a whirlwind of twists dotted throughout, but the most explosive one comes towards the end.
I felt like I was on an unpredictable, white-knuckle ride that was spine-chilling yet so addictive I had to endure because I just didn't want to get off.
This is the type of page-turner that will give you paper cuts because you are simply compelled to find out more. Bravo, Emily, this is a masterpiece, and I'm now eager to try more of your work!
They are known as the power couple who together built a successful writing career, becoming bestselling novelists under the pseudonym Morgan Savage. A true whirlwind romance that brought fame and fortune. What's not to love? But perhaps this isn't everything they thought it would be, and someone wants out. What dark secrets are lurking, ready to break everything apart?
This book has everything I love when looking for a domestic type psychological thriller.
It has the perfect balance of dark romance and psychological suspense. I enjoyed how this story continuously assesses the mature and complex romantic relationship between Felix and Emma. It slowly drip-feeds you intricate details, leaving you with burning questions and a compulsion to keep reading to find out more.
I had so many mixed feelings about the characters. It's ingeniously designed so that I at first felt empathy, then pure anger and detestation, and then it would do a 360 back to sympathy!
It's true to its name; I felt on a cliffhanger right up until the very satisfying but perplexing end. The two POVs were very entertaining.
This was a very well-written and beautifully crafted novel. It was highly intelligent how the author managed to engineer and weave in a fictitious story that the couple were working on. I was amazed at how well this brought the whole novel together but also created another dark edge to the tale. It was extremely clever and seamlessly flowed together.
This story is gripping, multi-layered, and highly manipulative. It has a whirlwind of twists dotted throughout, but the most explosive one comes towards the end.
I felt like I was on an unpredictable, white-knuckle ride that was spine-chilling yet so addictive I had to endure because I just didn't want to get off.
This is the type of page-turner that will give you paper cuts because you are simply compelled to find out more. Bravo, Emily, this is a masterpiece, and I'm now eager to try more of your work!
April 28, 2025
I think the best word i could use to describe The Cliffhanger would be “simmering” As a husband and wife team, we are given front row seats to the implosion of both a physical and working relationship. The summer writing retreat quickly becomes a melting pot as old indiscretions clash with new temptations and something not quite remembered. Both Felix and Emma are grossly unlikeable characters, whilst both could be considered the wronged party in various ways, they are both incredibly toxic for each other. Their downward spiral is voyeuristically macabre to read with Felix’s drunken blackouts and Emma’s increased substance misuse casting suspicion over everything.
I really enjoyed the way that the back and forth chapter writing of their 9th novel fed into it all, the balance between writing a fiction whilst so woven into the reality of their feelings towards each other could only end up one way, or could it?
As with any thriller its hard to write a review without giving away the twist but in a way that almost feels secondary to the main story which in itself blurs brilliantly the line between truth and fiction. The slow burn lead up to the conclusion makes it feel all the more intense and almost disorienting in its faced paced complexity but it packs one almighty punch.
Thank you so much to Emily Freud, Instabooktours and Quercus books for the review copy.
This book did contain a bookish pet peeve of mine where characters with an accent have that accent woven into every word which pulls me out of my reading flow - its a me problem and not one that i would impact my rating for, but just in case others have the same peeve, its a fair warning.
I really enjoyed the way that the back and forth chapter writing of their 9th novel fed into it all, the balance between writing a fiction whilst so woven into the reality of their feelings towards each other could only end up one way, or could it?
As with any thriller its hard to write a review without giving away the twist but in a way that almost feels secondary to the main story which in itself blurs brilliantly the line between truth and fiction. The slow burn lead up to the conclusion makes it feel all the more intense and almost disorienting in its faced paced complexity but it packs one almighty punch.
Thank you so much to Emily Freud, Instabooktours and Quercus books for the review copy.
This book did contain a bookish pet peeve of mine where characters with an accent have that accent woven into every word which pulls me out of my reading flow - its a me problem and not one that i would impact my rating for, but just in case others have the same peeve, its a fair warning.
December 10, 2025
I do love Emily Freud, and this book is definitely worth reading because it’s fun and unexpected and exciting to read, but it didn’t feel like her best.
It follows a couple having huge marital issues who also co-author books together, and most of the book is from the man’s perspective, and he’s just a selfish prick of a man who turns everything around in his mind to portray himself as the victim even though he’s objectively not, like with his drunkenness and cheating. And you get the sense his wife Emma and his interest Juliette are both keeping things from him, and it was fun to try to guess what that might be, but then suddenly at the end, it turns out Emma and Juliette have been having this whole elaborate secret life under his nose, which is semi interesting, except that that life, as soon as we learn about it, is in pieces and they’re both planning to kill each other (with Juliette succeeding). It would have been more interesting if we had seen more of that life before it fell apart. I also feel like Juliette’s character didn’t hold up in this grand reveal. Nothing about her character pre-reveal implied any of that, and she wasn’t even very intriguing of a character. A reveal where she and Emma were actually falling in love the whole time or something like that would have made more sense. And the plot of the book inside the book should have had more to do with the plot of the book itself. Like other pieces of the book, it was semi interesting, but fell a bit flat.
I’d still recommend it, but it’s definitely not on the same tier as Emily Freud’s “What She Left Behind” and “Her Last Summer”.
It follows a couple having huge marital issues who also co-author books together, and most of the book is from the man’s perspective, and he’s just a selfish prick of a man who turns everything around in his mind to portray himself as the victim even though he’s objectively not, like with his drunkenness and cheating. And you get the sense his wife Emma and his interest Juliette are both keeping things from him, and it was fun to try to guess what that might be, but then suddenly at the end, it turns out Emma and Juliette have been having this whole elaborate secret life under his nose, which is semi interesting, except that that life, as soon as we learn about it, is in pieces and they’re both planning to kill each other (with Juliette succeeding). It would have been more interesting if we had seen more of that life before it fell apart. I also feel like Juliette’s character didn’t hold up in this grand reveal. Nothing about her character pre-reveal implied any of that, and she wasn’t even very intriguing of a character. A reveal where she and Emma were actually falling in love the whole time or something like that would have made more sense. And the plot of the book inside the book should have had more to do with the plot of the book itself. Like other pieces of the book, it was semi interesting, but fell a bit flat.
I’d still recommend it, but it’s definitely not on the same tier as Emily Freud’s “What She Left Behind” and “Her Last Summer”.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 10, 2025
New York-based writers Felix and Emma have it all. As the husband & wife team behind the bestselling Morgan Savage thrillers, their meteoric rise to global literary fame seemed unstoppable. Until Felix messed up & now someone’s going to get hurt. Now, the couple has been exiled to the south of France. Their sentence: a long, hot summer to cure their writers' block - and save their marriage. But as tensions rise beneath the sweltering sun, Felix and Emma become trapped in a deathly plot of their own making . . .
This is a fast-paced read & the first title I have read by this author, it won’t be my last!
I enjoyed the writing style, the way the story was told from one character POV for the majority, and a male one at that which in itself is a little unusual to the genre, but with the written elements of a first draft of a novel inserted throughout, leading the reader seamlessly into background information for the characters, detailing the past & how this has led to the current situation.
Neither of the main characters are particularly likeable but that isn’t necessary, the simmering underwritten atmosphere between the two is what connects the reader, piquing curiosity as to just what has happened between them.
The tension is built throughout, a steady pace and a balance of short and snappy chapters perfectly executed. And that twist, (or should I say twists!), I really didn’t see any of that coming, a very satisfying and clever ending, making this a book you won’t be able to put down.
This is a fast-paced read & the first title I have read by this author, it won’t be my last!
I enjoyed the writing style, the way the story was told from one character POV for the majority, and a male one at that which in itself is a little unusual to the genre, but with the written elements of a first draft of a novel inserted throughout, leading the reader seamlessly into background information for the characters, detailing the past & how this has led to the current situation.
Neither of the main characters are particularly likeable but that isn’t necessary, the simmering underwritten atmosphere between the two is what connects the reader, piquing curiosity as to just what has happened between them.
The tension is built throughout, a steady pace and a balance of short and snappy chapters perfectly executed. And that twist, (or should I say twists!), I really didn’t see any of that coming, a very satisfying and clever ending, making this a book you won’t be able to put down.
May 21, 2025
Felix and Emma are the husband and wife writing duo behind the Morgan Savage thiller series currently working on their ninth book. But can this book save their marriage or will fiction turn into fact.
Having previously read Her Last Summer which I really enjoyed I couldn’t wait to read this book. Before my reading journey I knew nothing about this book other than seeing the front cover. My first thoughts when reading this book was how messed up Felix and Emma’s marriage was. The storyline was unique, full of twists and turns and explored a very toxic marriage. This was a slow burn read but one that I couldn't stop reading. I was completely absorbed by the storyline.
Felix and Emma are spending the summer writing their ninth book in a remote house in the South of France. It's clear that something has happened for them to isolate themselves and escape from the outside world but it's not clear what. We are given little snippets of what happened but the full picture isn't revealed until later on in the story.
There’s a lot of tension between Emma and Felix. Although they are writing a book together they would prefer not to be anywhere near each other, would rather be anywhere else and with anyone else. It was very difficult to like either of the characters because they both had qualities that weren't very likeable. Emma is quite dismissive of Felix and seems to put him down a lot or has little digs at him. Felix is trying to reconnect with Emma but isn’t succeeding and he is struggling to write. They're both very standoffish and at times it felt like they loathed each other more than they loved each other.
I loved the concept of the book which was a story within a story. What I found fascinating is the way that Emma and Felix were writing their book. They didn't talk to each other, they didn't have a plan and they didn't plot the story. In fact what they did was each write a chapter and then e-mail it to the other for them to add their chapter. It reminded me a bit of a game called Consequence that I played as a child. It was interesting reading the story that Felix and Emma were writing because this was also about a struggling marriage and the characters in their story appeared to reflect themselves. It did feel like they were trying to communicate the state of their marriage and how they were feeling through the characters they had created and representing their lives in a fictional setting.
As for the ending, the only word that comes to mind is epic, truly epic!
Having previously read Her Last Summer which I really enjoyed I couldn’t wait to read this book. Before my reading journey I knew nothing about this book other than seeing the front cover. My first thoughts when reading this book was how messed up Felix and Emma’s marriage was. The storyline was unique, full of twists and turns and explored a very toxic marriage. This was a slow burn read but one that I couldn't stop reading. I was completely absorbed by the storyline.
Felix and Emma are spending the summer writing their ninth book in a remote house in the South of France. It's clear that something has happened for them to isolate themselves and escape from the outside world but it's not clear what. We are given little snippets of what happened but the full picture isn't revealed until later on in the story.
There’s a lot of tension between Emma and Felix. Although they are writing a book together they would prefer not to be anywhere near each other, would rather be anywhere else and with anyone else. It was very difficult to like either of the characters because they both had qualities that weren't very likeable. Emma is quite dismissive of Felix and seems to put him down a lot or has little digs at him. Felix is trying to reconnect with Emma but isn’t succeeding and he is struggling to write. They're both very standoffish and at times it felt like they loathed each other more than they loved each other.
I loved the concept of the book which was a story within a story. What I found fascinating is the way that Emma and Felix were writing their book. They didn't talk to each other, they didn't have a plan and they didn't plot the story. In fact what they did was each write a chapter and then e-mail it to the other for them to add their chapter. It reminded me a bit of a game called Consequence that I played as a child. It was interesting reading the story that Felix and Emma were writing because this was also about a struggling marriage and the characters in their story appeared to reflect themselves. It did feel like they were trying to communicate the state of their marriage and how they were feeling through the characters they had created and representing their lives in a fictional setting.
As for the ending, the only word that comes to mind is epic, truly epic!
May 8, 2025
“A crack had formed, and I had no idea how seismic it was to become.”
The Cliffhanger follows Felix and Emma, husband and wife team behind the bestselling Morgan Savage thrillers. With eight books written and a deadline for the ninth, the couple are exiled to France to cure their writers' block - and save their marriage. But as tensions rise, Felix and Emma become trapped in a deathly plot of their own making.
Told over three parts from Felix’s perspective, The Cliffhanger is a spectacular destination thriller so compelling and addictive that I tore through every twist and read it in one sitting. The ability to write Emma and Felix’s novel within The Cliffhanger was nothing short of genius and provided the perfect insight to the characters and their state of mind. The characters aren’t written to be likeable, but they are vulnerable and unnervingly complex.
The Cliffhanger’s plot is very much a cat and mouse chase, embedded with atmospheric and sharp writing that I can only describe as watching a timer on a bomb count down. True to its title, this book keeps you teetering on a cliff edge with its slow burning tension, building to a climax that is both deeply satisfying and explosive.
Thank you so much to Emily Freud and Quercus for sending me this advanced copy of The Cliffhanger to read and review. My opinions are my own.
The Cliffhanger follows Felix and Emma, husband and wife team behind the bestselling Morgan Savage thrillers. With eight books written and a deadline for the ninth, the couple are exiled to France to cure their writers' block - and save their marriage. But as tensions rise, Felix and Emma become trapped in a deathly plot of their own making.
Told over three parts from Felix’s perspective, The Cliffhanger is a spectacular destination thriller so compelling and addictive that I tore through every twist and read it in one sitting. The ability to write Emma and Felix’s novel within The Cliffhanger was nothing short of genius and provided the perfect insight to the characters and their state of mind. The characters aren’t written to be likeable, but they are vulnerable and unnervingly complex.
The Cliffhanger’s plot is very much a cat and mouse chase, embedded with atmospheric and sharp writing that I can only describe as watching a timer on a bomb count down. True to its title, this book keeps you teetering on a cliff edge with its slow burning tension, building to a climax that is both deeply satisfying and explosive.
Thank you so much to Emily Freud and Quercus for sending me this advanced copy of The Cliffhanger to read and review. My opinions are my own.
April 27, 2025
This was an immediate request when it popped up on NetGalley, and I went in totally blind and devoured it in one sitting. Her Last Summer was one of the best thrillers I’ve had the pleasure of reading so I will always want to read what Emily Freud writes. The Cliffhanger did not disappoint!
I think I used the phrase “this thriller is thriller-ing” in my initial review of HLS but it applies as much today as it did then. I read my fair share of thrillers and often I can spot the twists a mile off, and while I clocked a few The Cliffhanger kept me engaged and surprised right until I hit the Acknowledgments so bravo Emily, you’re an auto read writer for me - you write it, I’ll read it no questions asked!
Thank you so much to Quercus, Emily Freud and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this before it’s released on 8th May 2025! It’s going to be a thriller of the summer, I just know it!
I think I used the phrase “this thriller is thriller-ing” in my initial review of HLS but it applies as much today as it did then. I read my fair share of thrillers and often I can spot the twists a mile off, and while I clocked a few The Cliffhanger kept me engaged and surprised right until I hit the Acknowledgments so bravo Emily, you’re an auto read writer for me - you write it, I’ll read it no questions asked!
Thank you so much to Quercus, Emily Freud and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this before it’s released on 8th May 2025! It’s going to be a thriller of the summer, I just know it!
May 3, 2025
Book Tour | The Cliffhanger - Emily Freud
☆☆☆☆.5/5
Wow 😯 What did I just read. This book was a rollercoaster of a ride and I love how Emily writes her books. You think you’ve solved it and then bang 💥 another twist that throws you.
It was a slow thriller with a lot of tension and suspense. It gripped me from the first page.
I felt Emma was very controlling, she was quite impatient at times and it made me angry 😤🙃 However, when you find out more about Felix and Emma’s relationship you understand her short fuse. It felt at times that it was a competition between them both when writing and not as if they wanted to write together.
It started slow but it built until the end. The differing POV’s gave the reader a deeper insight to the characters thoughts and feelings and what was going on behind the scenes… but did you really know it all?
It was an easy read and as I say it was suspenseful but slow. The twists at turns caught me off guard at times. I really enjoyed it though.
Thanks to @instabooktours for having me on tour with you as always. To @emilyfreud_ another great write from you. I can’t wait for more!
☆☆☆☆.5/5
Wow 😯 What did I just read. This book was a rollercoaster of a ride and I love how Emily writes her books. You think you’ve solved it and then bang 💥 another twist that throws you.
It was a slow thriller with a lot of tension and suspense. It gripped me from the first page.
I felt Emma was very controlling, she was quite impatient at times and it made me angry 😤🙃 However, when you find out more about Felix and Emma’s relationship you understand her short fuse. It felt at times that it was a competition between them both when writing and not as if they wanted to write together.
It started slow but it built until the end. The differing POV’s gave the reader a deeper insight to the characters thoughts and feelings and what was going on behind the scenes… but did you really know it all?
It was an easy read and as I say it was suspenseful but slow. The twists at turns caught me off guard at times. I really enjoyed it though.
Thanks to @instabooktours for having me on tour with you as always. To @emilyfreud_ another great write from you. I can’t wait for more!
May 5, 2025
The Cliffhanger is another fab read from Emily Freud, I couldnt put it down! Set in the South of France, where married couple Felix and Emma have come to try and hammer out their next best-seller, there are twists and turns galore. The couple are the authors of a best-selling crime series and have everything riding on this next instalment, which they take it in turns to write. Emma is a workhorse, delivering her chapters efficiently and methodically, but the words aren't flowing for Felix and he is turning to booze more and more as a way to get him through. He keeps blacking out, with no recollection of what happened the night before or what he might have done - but he's his own worst enemy, relapsing every night and then regretting it the next day.
The story was a real headspinner, just when I thought it was going to go one way, everything turned on its head and another story emerged. The setting was lush and hypnotic, the heat of France pouring through the pages and the remote setting adding to the isolated, almost manic atmosphere. I can imagine this book on many sunloungers and poolsides this summer
The story was a real headspinner, just when I thought it was going to go one way, everything turned on its head and another story emerged. The setting was lush and hypnotic, the heat of France pouring through the pages and the remote setting adding to the isolated, almost manic atmosphere. I can imagine this book on many sunloungers and poolsides this summer
November 22, 2025
I've been left reeling from the completely unputdownable conclusion to this book. I never saw any of the ultimate twists coming, but I knew I wouldn't be able to stop reading until I had finished the book.
Although whether reading in bed at 3am is going to affect my sleep is another matter.
I was intrigued from the start of this book, but although I didn't think I was hooked that early on, I did keep reaching for my kindle to read more.
I'm not normally a fan of a book within a book but this one worked really well, I just couldn't work out the clues to where the parallels may be.
I wouldn't say that that Emma and Felix are particularly likeable, but they were certainly intriguing and flawed and all the more fascinating for it.
The setting was atmospheric, rather creepy but in the south of France.
This was a sublime piece of writing, that I'm delight I was able to devour in under a day.
I think this may cement Emily Freud as an auto read author for me. Just brilliant.
Thank you to Quercus and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
Although whether reading in bed at 3am is going to affect my sleep is another matter.
I was intrigued from the start of this book, but although I didn't think I was hooked that early on, I did keep reaching for my kindle to read more.
I'm not normally a fan of a book within a book but this one worked really well, I just couldn't work out the clues to where the parallels may be.
I wouldn't say that that Emma and Felix are particularly likeable, but they were certainly intriguing and flawed and all the more fascinating for it.
The setting was atmospheric, rather creepy but in the south of France.
This was a sublime piece of writing, that I'm delight I was able to devour in under a day.
I think this may cement Emily Freud as an auto read author for me. Just brilliant.
Thank you to Quercus and Netgalley for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
March 25, 2025
Intrigue and uncertainty dominate in the first few chapters of this read. Emma and Felix are husband and wife, writing partners under the pen name Morgan Savage and they’ve retreated to a villa in France to get their next book done. There’s something going on between them, but it’s unclear what, a darkness lingers. There’s an animosity and a power dynamic between them which makes the reader uneasy. It’s a slow burn but the action and twists come through in the second half.
I had my suspicions about a certain character but overall really didn’t see the second half of this coming! This left me with a few questions. The ending was unexpected and I enjoyed the reveal of a villain. The tense and heavy atmosphere was very well done but some readers might not appreciate the slow pace in the first half.
I really enjoyed reading Felix and Emma’s chapters, it was very cool to see a book within a book. The chapters also had a lot of parallels to their reality.
Thank you so much to @netgalley and @quercusbooks for the gifted arc in exchange for my honest review.
I had my suspicions about a certain character but overall really didn’t see the second half of this coming! This left me with a few questions. The ending was unexpected and I enjoyed the reveal of a villain. The tense and heavy atmosphere was very well done but some readers might not appreciate the slow pace in the first half.
I really enjoyed reading Felix and Emma’s chapters, it was very cool to see a book within a book. The chapters also had a lot of parallels to their reality.
Thank you so much to @netgalley and @quercusbooks for the gifted arc in exchange for my honest review.
Read
April 29, 2025Emma and Felix are two halves of a whole – both as husband and wife and as the duo behind the bestselling pen name, Morgan Savage. With eight bloody thrillers under their belt, they are faced with writers’ block as they attempt their ninth novel.
In search of inspiration, they swap the bustle of New York City for a secluded retreat in the south of France, settling into a remote cliffside house.
Emma decides they will switch their usual plotting for pantsing and they take turns writing chapters on the fly. However, it isn’t long before the cracks in their marriage begin to show. With each twist of the story, it becomes harder to tell where fiction ends and reality begins – and how much of their unraveling is bleeding onto the page.
If you loved Alice Feeney’s Beautiful Ugly, then you’ll want to read this! I had fun donning my detective cap and trying to unpick this one.
Thank you to Insta Book Tours and Quercus Books for the gifted copy in order to take part in the readalong and tour.
In search of inspiration, they swap the bustle of New York City for a secluded retreat in the south of France, settling into a remote cliffside house.
Emma decides they will switch their usual plotting for pantsing and they take turns writing chapters on the fly. However, it isn’t long before the cracks in their marriage begin to show. With each twist of the story, it becomes harder to tell where fiction ends and reality begins – and how much of their unraveling is bleeding onto the page.
If you loved Alice Feeney’s Beautiful Ugly, then you’ll want to read this! I had fun donning my detective cap and trying to unpick this one.
Thank you to Insta Book Tours and Quercus Books for the gifted copy in order to take part in the readalong and tour.
May 4, 2025
I want to start off this review by saying a huge thank you to Insta Book Tours for having me on this readalong/tour.
I really didn't know quite what to expect when delving into this novel, but my goodness, it was soooo refreshing and addictive all at once. The characterisation was second to none; I constantly was wanting to know what was going on in the minds' of the protagonists and I simply didn't know who to trust and who to listen to.
I thought the idea regarding the authors writing the book alongside the storyline was an absolute stroke of genius and it added such insight into their relationship and foreshadowed the plot very well. I have read other books with a similar vibe but this was executed excellently in my opinion and stood out a mile above the rest of its kind.
There were plot twists round every corner and just when I thought it had calm down, the drama was back and better than ever. I just felt like I couldn't catch a break - but in the best way!
A total minefield of deceit - my favourite!
I really didn't know quite what to expect when delving into this novel, but my goodness, it was soooo refreshing and addictive all at once. The characterisation was second to none; I constantly was wanting to know what was going on in the minds' of the protagonists and I simply didn't know who to trust and who to listen to.
I thought the idea regarding the authors writing the book alongside the storyline was an absolute stroke of genius and it added such insight into their relationship and foreshadowed the plot very well. I have read other books with a similar vibe but this was executed excellently in my opinion and stood out a mile above the rest of its kind.
There were plot twists round every corner and just when I thought it had calm down, the drama was back and better than ever. I just felt like I couldn't catch a break - but in the best way!
A total minefield of deceit - my favourite!
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