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The Husband Ghost: A spine-tingling psychological thriller with a ghostly twist
"Minnie? Are you there? I need you!"
My husband Alex died three weeks ago in a tragic boating accident.
Heartbroken and alone, I can barely function, until the night my phone buzzes with a message from his number. I stare at the text. I know he can’t have sent this and yet I feel a flicker of hope. Before I can talk myself out of it, I text back.
"Who is this?"
"Minnie? I’ve missed you so much..."
My heart flutters. I know it can't be him, and yet I bash out a response. The reply is instant. This person knows secrets only my husband would know.
Could it really be him?
Desperate to hold onto this fragile link, I shut myself away from the world. I don’t eat. I don’t sleep.
It’s just him, and me.
But then the messages grow darker. And now, I face an impossible to finally let him go, or to join him on the other side...
The Husband Ghost is a haunting psychological thriller for fans of Frieda McFadden, Daniel Hurst and Noelle W Ihli.
My husband Alex died three weeks ago in a tragic boating accident.
Heartbroken and alone, I can barely function, until the night my phone buzzes with a message from his number. I stare at the text. I know he can’t have sent this and yet I feel a flicker of hope. Before I can talk myself out of it, I text back.
"Who is this?"
"Minnie? I’ve missed you so much..."
My heart flutters. I know it can't be him, and yet I bash out a response. The reply is instant. This person knows secrets only my husband would know.
Could it really be him?
Desperate to hold onto this fragile link, I shut myself away from the world. I don’t eat. I don’t sleep.
It’s just him, and me.
But then the messages grow darker. And now, I face an impossible to finally let him go, or to join him on the other side...
The Husband Ghost is a haunting psychological thriller for fans of Frieda McFadden, Daniel Hurst and Noelle W Ihli.
265 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 15, 2026
About the author
Lorna Dounaeva
39 books278 followersLorna Dounaeva writes addictive psychological thrillers filled with family secrets, toxic relationships, and dark truths hidden behind closed doors. Set in British seaside towns, remote islands, and close-knit communities, her books delve into dangerous obsessions, deception, and the devastating consequences of buried secrets.
Fascinated by morally complex characters and the darker side of human nature, Lorna writes tense, twist-filled psychological suspense and domestic suspense. Her stories often explore small-town secrets, isolated communities, dysfunctional families, and the dangerous consequences of deception.
A politics graduate, Lorna worked for the British Home Office before turning to crime fiction. She lives in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, with her Ukrainian husband and his parents, three children, a crafty cat, and a happy dog.
Lorna Dounaeva's thrillers include The Family Trap, The Wife's Mistake, and The Beach. She has been published by Inkubator Books, Bookouture, and Jentas. Many of her novels are also available in audiobook editions. Her books are likely to appeal to readers of psychological thrillers and domestic suspense by Lisa Jewell, K.L. Slater, Alice Feeney, and Freida McFadden.
You can find updates on her latest books and join her readers' club at lornadounaeva.com
Fascinated by morally complex characters and the darker side of human nature, Lorna writes tense, twist-filled psychological suspense and domestic suspense. Her stories often explore small-town secrets, isolated communities, dysfunctional families, and the dangerous consequences of deception.
A politics graduate, Lorna worked for the British Home Office before turning to crime fiction. She lives in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, with her Ukrainian husband and his parents, three children, a crafty cat, and a happy dog.
Lorna Dounaeva's thrillers include The Family Trap, The Wife's Mistake, and The Beach. She has been published by Inkubator Books, Bookouture, and Jentas. Many of her novels are also available in audiobook editions. Her books are likely to appeal to readers of psychological thrillers and domestic suspense by Lisa Jewell, K.L. Slater, Alice Feeney, and Freida McFadden.
You can find updates on her latest books and join her readers' club at lornadounaeva.com
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
April 19, 2026
Minnie is grieving the loss of her husband, Alex. She spends her days drinking and reading texts from her beloved Alex. How is her texting her? Is he really dead? Is Minnie losing her grip on reality? She begins to answer the texts, and it’s just a mess from there. This should have all of the makings of a great thriller, but the plot is a mess. What the real deal here? What was Alex up to? I had great hopes for this one, but it was disappointing at best. (Honest Review- 2.5 Stars).
I received a copy for free, and am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received a copy for free, and am leaving this review voluntarily.
May 5, 2026
When I first started reading, the book immediately drew me in. Receiving text messages from your dead husband is eerie enough, but having an ongoing conversation with him makes it even more unsettling. Since I’m not familiar with this author’s work, I wasn’t sure if it would lean supernatural or if someone was manipulating Minnie. I was hoping for the latter, as I don’t typically gravitate toward supernatural stories. You’ll have to read to find out! The ending was unexpected, and overall, I really enjoyed this book. I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
April 18, 2026
A very interesting premise, but the execution was an absolute mess!
We're introduced to a seemingly personality-free character who's grieving her husband by - you guessed it - drinking too much (authors in general really need to show a wider variety of coping mechanisms!), and when said husband begins texting her from 'the great beyond', she can't resist responding over and over and then following her, um, ghost husband's instructions. This is not a supernatural thriller, so we get the gist early on that either our main character is hallucinating or that something nefarious is afoot.
What's REALLY going on here?! Well, I was excited to find out, but the reveals disappointed me at almost every turn. The villain/perpetrator's motivations made NO sense. Why in the world would he/she choose THIS particular route, and what was his/her ultimate goal?! It was maddeningly nonsensical.
Random storylines are raised and promptly ignored, we're supposed to care about characters who are not defined and developed at all, said characters change their minds every few pages without any rationale, and - pet peeve alert! - we get a supposedly THREE-year-old kid who's a fount of wisdom and insight (riiiiight!) and speaks as if she's a minimum of nine or ten.
The few things I liked, ie why I'm giving it two stars instead of one:
1. As mentioned above, the premise itself is intriguing and original.
2. The writing style is...fine, and we're subjected to very few glaring errors, which elevates it above many other recently released books in this genre!
3. I like the way the point of view shifts from the character we think we'll be following throughout the whole book to a different character who has to take over given a certain turn of events
4. The depiction of grief will likely resonate with some readers who have suffered through it
What I disliked:
1. OMG, what an egregious mess of a plot!
2. The villain's motivations for taking the specific actions that he/she does throughout the novel make ZERO sense. However angry or upset said perpetrator might be, there is simply no reason to have channeled that rage in this particular direction and by doing these specific things. It's so egregiously bizarre, and not in a 'wow, it's fun how wild and unhinged this thriller is!' kind of way. I mean...NOTHING about this character makes any sense, lol. Not any of his/her choices and actions, not the things he/she says to other characters, not his/her reactions, not his/her ultimate motivations and goals. Nothing!
3. Speaking of which, literally almost nothing about the titular husband's actions and motivations make sense either.
4. There are so many random bits thrown in here that have no relevance to anything. These are not deliberate 'red herrings', just irrelevant filler.
5. The pacing is really uneven. I'm used to my psychological thrillers alternating between the past and the present, and while it's not my favorite plot device, it can be done really effectively. In this one, though, we get basically NOTHING from the past at first, and then a full 90% of the second half of the book all takes place in the past lol. Again...kind of a mess.
6. Only one character has anything approaching a well-defined personality
Overall, this had a lot of promise, but the execution ranged from mildly disappointing to outright atrocious!
We're introduced to a seemingly personality-free character who's grieving her husband by - you guessed it - drinking too much (authors in general really need to show a wider variety of coping mechanisms!), and when said husband begins texting her from 'the great beyond', she can't resist responding over and over and then following her, um, ghost husband's instructions. This is not a supernatural thriller, so we get the gist early on that either our main character is hallucinating or that something nefarious is afoot.
What's REALLY going on here?! Well, I was excited to find out, but the reveals disappointed me at almost every turn. The villain/perpetrator's motivations made NO sense. Why in the world would he/she choose THIS particular route, and what was his/her ultimate goal?! It was maddeningly nonsensical.
Random storylines are raised and promptly ignored, we're supposed to care about characters who are not defined and developed at all, said characters change their minds every few pages without any rationale, and - pet peeve alert! - we get a supposedly THREE-year-old kid who's a fount of wisdom and insight (riiiiight!) and speaks as if she's a minimum of nine or ten.
The few things I liked, ie why I'm giving it two stars instead of one:
1. As mentioned above, the premise itself is intriguing and original.
2. The writing style is...fine, and we're subjected to very few glaring errors, which elevates it above many other recently released books in this genre!
3. I like the way the point of view shifts from the character we think we'll be following throughout the whole book to a different character who has to take over given a certain turn of events
4. The depiction of grief will likely resonate with some readers who have suffered through it
What I disliked:
1. OMG, what an egregious mess of a plot!
2. The villain's motivations for taking the specific actions that he/she does throughout the novel make ZERO sense. However angry or upset said perpetrator might be, there is simply no reason to have channeled that rage in this particular direction and by doing these specific things. It's so egregiously bizarre, and not in a 'wow, it's fun how wild and unhinged this thriller is!' kind of way. I mean...NOTHING about this character makes any sense, lol. Not any of his/her choices and actions, not the things he/she says to other characters, not his/her reactions, not his/her ultimate motivations and goals. Nothing!
3. Speaking of which, literally almost nothing about the titular husband's actions and motivations make sense either.
4. There are so many random bits thrown in here that have no relevance to anything. These are not deliberate 'red herrings', just irrelevant filler.
5. The pacing is really uneven. I'm used to my psychological thrillers alternating between the past and the present, and while it's not my favorite plot device, it can be done really effectively. In this one, though, we get basically NOTHING from the past at first, and then a full 90% of the second half of the book all takes place in the past lol. Again...kind of a mess.
6. Only one character has anything approaching a well-defined personality
Overall, this had a lot of promise, but the execution ranged from mildly disappointing to outright atrocious!
April 17, 2026
⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ (4/5)
I picked up an Advanced copy of this title and i'm leaving a voluntary review. Because when i heard a dead husband texting his wife?? yeah I needed to see how that was gonna play out. It was way more emotional than I expected.
The story follows Minnie after her husband dies, and then she starts getting messages from his phone. At first it feels almost comforting for her, but then it starts knowing things it really shouldn’t. And that’s when it turns from sad to straight up unsettling.
I can’t lie, I understood why she kept replying, but at the same time I was like girl… please… it gets weird FAST.
The strongest part for me was the description of the atmosphere. The house feels cold and empty. Little things start happening and it builds the creepiness and tension. Only issue is the pacing. It drags a bit in the middle and repeats itself sometimes. I did catch myself wanting it to move quicker bcus of my thriller brain.
But overall I liked it. It’s more about grief and that slow mental spiral than big shocking moments.
4 stars, good read. solid idea, creepy in a subtle way, just needed to tighten up a bit.
If you like stories that haunt you rather than big shocking twists every 2 seconds, you'll like this one. Just don’t read it alone at night unless you want to start side-eyeing your phone…
I picked up an Advanced copy of this title and i'm leaving a voluntary review. Because when i heard a dead husband texting his wife?? yeah I needed to see how that was gonna play out. It was way more emotional than I expected.
The story follows Minnie after her husband dies, and then she starts getting messages from his phone. At first it feels almost comforting for her, but then it starts knowing things it really shouldn’t. And that’s when it turns from sad to straight up unsettling.
I can’t lie, I understood why she kept replying, but at the same time I was like girl… please… it gets weird FAST.
The strongest part for me was the description of the atmosphere. The house feels cold and empty. Little things start happening and it builds the creepiness and tension. Only issue is the pacing. It drags a bit in the middle and repeats itself sometimes. I did catch myself wanting it to move quicker bcus of my thriller brain.
But overall I liked it. It’s more about grief and that slow mental spiral than big shocking moments.
4 stars, good read. solid idea, creepy in a subtle way, just needed to tighten up a bit.
If you like stories that haunt you rather than big shocking twists every 2 seconds, you'll like this one. Just don’t read it alone at night unless you want to start side-eyeing your phone…
May 12, 2026
Thank you to Lorna Dounaeva for this free advanced copy via booksirens. I am leaving this review voluntatily and all opinions are my own.
This is my second book by Lorna Dounaeva and I consider myself officially intrigued. Lorna, you just earned yourself a place on my one-to-watch list!
I went into this at first just going with the motions. I really thought I had it all worked out, and I almost sprained my eyeballs thinking it was going to be so predictable.
I'm in a tail spin and I'm not even entirely sure how to feel. This woman played with my emotions - I was mad, sad, and confused, all in the space of a few pages.
Minnie begins to receive unexpected texts from her husband. But how can that be the case when he died in a boating accident? Minnie begins a pursuit of the truth - buckle up for the bumpy ride!
My only qualm is the ending being left so open. Otherwise I quite enjoyed this book!
If you enjoy being led on a wild goose chase and being left shocked by the twists along the way, definitely add this to your tbr!
This is my second book by Lorna Dounaeva and I consider myself officially intrigued. Lorna, you just earned yourself a place on my one-to-watch list!
I went into this at first just going with the motions. I really thought I had it all worked out, and I almost sprained my eyeballs thinking it was going to be so predictable.
I'm in a tail spin and I'm not even entirely sure how to feel. This woman played with my emotions - I was mad, sad, and confused, all in the space of a few pages.
Minnie begins to receive unexpected texts from her husband. But how can that be the case when he died in a boating accident? Minnie begins a pursuit of the truth - buckle up for the bumpy ride!
My only qualm is the ending being left so open. Otherwise I quite enjoyed this book!
If you enjoy being led on a wild goose chase and being left shocked by the twists along the way, definitely add this to your tbr!
April 28, 2026
I received an advance copy of this book and am leaving this review voluntarily.
Imagine like the main character Minnie, you lose your husband, but after he's passed, you still message him, and he answers. Rather intriguing or it should be, but unfortunately, the plot became a confused hot mess, and I actually considered not finishing this. Nonsensical this story ended up being bizarre and in need of an experienced editor to guide the author vis a vis plot and execution. 2 stars.
Imagine like the main character Minnie, you lose your husband, but after he's passed, you still message him, and he answers. Rather intriguing or it should be, but unfortunately, the plot became a confused hot mess, and I actually considered not finishing this. Nonsensical this story ended up being bizarre and in need of an experienced editor to guide the author vis a vis plot and execution. 2 stars.
May 28, 2026
Alex meets Minnie and falls head over heels, they marry and are very happy. But Alex is leading a double life. He goes by the name of Andy and has a long time girlfriend, Karline and they have a six year old son Danny. When Karline catches him in his double life, she gives him a choice, Minnie or me and Danny. What a storyline! Great characters, twists to tear you apart. I laughed, I cried and enjoyed every minute of this story!
April 23, 2026
I received an advance copy of this book and am expressing my thoughts and opinions voluntarily.
I enjoyed this book! I got to feeling like there was a bit too much going on at times (multiple character viewpoints AND timelines) however it held my interest and kept me up reading way past my bedtime! Once I got used to the extensive plotline, I couldn't put it down.
I recommend this read!
I enjoyed this book! I got to feeling like there was a bit too much going on at times (multiple character viewpoints AND timelines) however it held my interest and kept me up reading way past my bedtime! Once I got used to the extensive plotline, I couldn't put it down.
I recommend this read!
April 21, 2026
I couldn’t put this down. We start the book with Alex’s widow, Winnie straight after Alex’s funeral. He died on his new boat in an accident on the lake. Winnie receives a text from Alex - it says that he needs her and misses her. Winnie responds and although she knows it can’t really be Alex, she can’t help hoping that maybe, just maybe, he’s found a way of communicating from beyond.
I loved how everything came together. We meet a whole cast of characters but somehow manage to keep track of exactly who everyone is (I usually have a lot of trouble with too many names). Although very easy to read, the writing wasn’t too simplistic and flowed really well. It was fast-paced and very polished.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I loved how everything came together. We meet a whole cast of characters but somehow manage to keep track of exactly who everyone is (I usually have a lot of trouble with too many names). Although very easy to read, the writing wasn’t too simplistic and flowed really well. It was fast-paced and very polished.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
May 18, 2026
Twist Ending
This was a really good read. I did not guess any of the plot. Was totally surprised. And the end, wow. Was not expecting that. Definitely want to read more books by the author.
This was a really good read. I did not guess any of the plot. Was totally surprised. And the end, wow. Was not expecting that. Definitely want to read more books by the author.
May 27, 2026
3.75⭐️
I was gripped for the first 60% then things went a bit strange then the ending of a few things kind of got left to the side.
Overall I fantastic premise and I’m glad I read it, just wish the ending was abit more satisfying.
I was gripped for the first 60% then things went a bit strange then the ending of a few things kind of got left to the side.
Overall I fantastic premise and I’m glad I read it, just wish the ending was abit more satisfying.
April 28, 2026
Excellent
I read this wonderful book over 2 nights.
An intriguing and compelling story with a shocking twist at the end.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I read this wonderful book over 2 nights.
An intriguing and compelling story with a shocking twist at the end.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
May 10, 2026
Thanks to BookSirens, publishers and author for an ARC of The Ghost Husband.
True rating 3.5
Started out a little annoying, but grew into something brilliant.
True rating 3.5
Started out a little annoying, but grew into something brilliant.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews