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The Girl on Gander Green Lane
When a perfect marriage, the perfect husband and perfect life is nothing but an illusion.
Sarah Standon is living the dream, at least that’s what everyone tells her. She is the wife of a successful solicitor who looks like a movie star. They live a Stepford existence and appear to have it all.
Then, one fateful night, everything changes.
A terrible accident leaves Sarah alone to deal with a situation so frightening she starts to question her grip on reality. Her perfect life has been exposed as the lie it always was and she loses everything.
She thought that was the worst that could happen.
She was wrong.
Sarah Standon is living the dream, at least that’s what everyone tells her. She is the wife of a successful solicitor who looks like a movie star. They live a Stepford existence and appear to have it all.
Then, one fateful night, everything changes.
A terrible accident leaves Sarah alone to deal with a situation so frightening she starts to question her grip on reality. Her perfect life has been exposed as the lie it always was and she loses everything.
She thought that was the worst that could happen.
She was wrong.
207 pages, ebook
First published April 16, 2019
1808 people are currently reading
677 people want to read
About the author
M.J. Hardy
8 books62 followersPseudonym for author S.J. Crabb.
Librarian's note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Librarian's note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 177 reviews
May 9, 2019
Says badly.
Half way through and have to give up. Such of the bad writing. Can someone not just say something without the author putting in a context after the word says every time. He says angrily. He says brightly. He says lightly. He says firmly. He says forcefully. I say quietly. I say bla bla bla. Also every time the cops are in it they're sharing looks. They shared a look. How many times have i read that sentence in this book. About 10 time every 10 minutes.
Half way through and have to give up. Such of the bad writing. Can someone not just say something without the author putting in a context after the word says every time. He says angrily. He says brightly. He says lightly. He says firmly. He says forcefully. I say quietly. I say bla bla bla. Also every time the cops are in it they're sharing looks. They shared a look. How many times have i read that sentence in this book. About 10 time every 10 minutes.
April 30, 2019
Maybe it's time I ignore the "chilling psychological thriller with a twist" tag. I've been skunked and mislead by it recently. When I saw the tag line [as above] for The Girl on Gander Green Lane [try saying that three times] AND quite a few favorable reviews, I thought I'd give it a try.
Skunked again.
In the end, this book just does not deliver..and that's what I want in a thriller. Even more so with a book that has lack luster dialog, not one compelling character and a bone-numbing theme of domestic abuse....if I'm going to wade through something that is barely keeping me engaged, I sure want a pay off at the end. Didn't come and, moreover, the ending was ridiculous fluff.
Skunked again.
In the end, this book just does not deliver..and that's what I want in a thriller. Even more so with a book that has lack luster dialog, not one compelling character and a bone-numbing theme of domestic abuse....if I'm going to wade through something that is barely keeping me engaged, I sure want a pay off at the end. Didn't come and, moreover, the ending was ridiculous fluff.
April 28, 2019
Don’t bother
Appalling. Wasted half an hour skipping through book in an effort to find something resembling the hype. Main characters resembling cardboard cut outs.
Appalling. Wasted half an hour skipping through book in an effort to find something resembling the hype. Main characters resembling cardboard cut outs.
did-not-finish
January 16, 2025
TRIGGER WARNING: Extreme domestic violence.
I got about 40% through the book, just to the point of the "terrible accident," and decided I was not going to waste any more time than absolutely necessary on this book. I skipped to the end to find out whether the main character got out of her abusive situation.
I have absolutely no idea how this book could have a cumulative rating of 4.2. I can only surmise that there are people who give a high rating to any book which brings domestic violence to the attention of readers.
I got about 40% through the book, just to the point of the "terrible accident," and decided I was not going to waste any more time than absolutely necessary on this book. I skipped to the end to find out whether the main character got out of her abusive situation.
I have absolutely no idea how this book could have a cumulative rating of 4.2. I can only surmise that there are people who give a high rating to any book which brings domestic violence to the attention of readers.
April 30, 2019
Poorly written and a boring plot
This was one of the worst books I’ve read in a long time. I kept waiting for it to get better. Sadly it didn’t. There was no plot twist and the dialogue was horrendous.
This was one of the worst books I’ve read in a long time. I kept waiting for it to get better. Sadly it didn’t. There was no plot twist and the dialogue was horrendous.
May 18, 2019
Awful
No romantic saga,this .Just sex , domination and abuse . It was not chilling or psychological .Very disappointed in the reviews leading me to read this drivel .
No romantic saga,this .Just sex , domination and abuse . It was not chilling or psychological .Very disappointed in the reviews leading me to read this drivel .
April 22, 2021
Amazing read. It focuses on the psychological aspect of an abusive relationship. How it starts, how they always blames their victims for the abuse, how hard it is to get away from this type of relationships. It's full of dark things. And the twist at the last, never expected that.
May 23, 2022
What cool fast paced book, I finished it in a few hours. The Girl on Gander Green Lane is a thriller with an ending that you would never see coming. A must read!!! 4.5 ⭐️
April 8, 2019
I downloaded this story this morning and once I started I was unable to stop until I knew Sarah was going to be okay, or atleast be on the road to okay. This was a chilling story of a life lived with an abuser and the lengths one will go to in order to be free. I look forward to reading more books by this author.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
July 29, 2022
As an attorney who for many years was appointed by the court to represent victims of domestic abuse pro bono, I am no stranger to the tragedy this novel purports to illustrate.
The Girl on Gander Green Lane is a so-called thriller whose heroine Sarah is hopelessly married to an abusive husband too reminiscent of the scoundrel in the film Sleeping With the Enemy. Both husbands are handsome, wealthy, dapper, clever — and almost cartoonish in their cruelty. If ever there were superficial warning signs of spotting an abusive spouse, both were obsessively neat (shudder) and loved dark classical music (horrors).
If I had cross-examined any of the alleged abusers in my cases by asking if they listened to Berlioz or preferred their towels perfectly folded instead of just plainly folded or strewn on the floor, I would have been laughed out of court.
But the simplistic portrayal of an abusive marriage is only the beginning of this book’s problems. The first third of the story was somewhat suspenseful, but then lost its cohesion in the tedious two-thirds after Sarah’s accident. The final Act containing the advertised twist was a total cop out. Think Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.
Second, the text is poorly punctuated. The author and her editor seem to have most of their difficulties with commas and semicolons, resulting in a sloppy text. A sloppy text is indicative of an author who doesn’t care about her work product. And if she doesn’t care, why should we?
Third, the text is full of dialogue tags, the sure sign of an author who lacks the skill to convey an emotion without spelling it out to her readers, or who has the skill but is too lazy to write better. I suspect for this author it’s the former.
Fourth, each chapter pretentiously opens with what is intended to be a profound quotation, but many are simply homespun platitudes that sound like they came from a Fortune Cookie. The author wants us to believe that her ridiculous book is a serious study that took research to write.
Finally, I say ridiculous because once the identity of the girl who lives on Gander Green Lane is revealed, we realize it was impossible for Sarah to have seen her everyday as she drove past her house, envying her happiness even though they had never met. The explanation requires us to believe in magic rather than reality.
Bottom line? Whatever you paid for this book you paid too much. Even if like for me, it was offered for free.
The Girl on Gander Green Lane is a so-called thriller whose heroine Sarah is hopelessly married to an abusive husband too reminiscent of the scoundrel in the film Sleeping With the Enemy. Both husbands are handsome, wealthy, dapper, clever — and almost cartoonish in their cruelty. If ever there were superficial warning signs of spotting an abusive spouse, both were obsessively neat (shudder) and loved dark classical music (horrors).
If I had cross-examined any of the alleged abusers in my cases by asking if they listened to Berlioz or preferred their towels perfectly folded instead of just plainly folded or strewn on the floor, I would have been laughed out of court.
But the simplistic portrayal of an abusive marriage is only the beginning of this book’s problems. The first third of the story was somewhat suspenseful, but then lost its cohesion in the tedious two-thirds after Sarah’s accident. The final Act containing the advertised twist was a total cop out. Think Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.
Second, the text is poorly punctuated. The author and her editor seem to have most of their difficulties with commas and semicolons, resulting in a sloppy text. A sloppy text is indicative of an author who doesn’t care about her work product. And if she doesn’t care, why should we?
Third, the text is full of dialogue tags, the sure sign of an author who lacks the skill to convey an emotion without spelling it out to her readers, or who has the skill but is too lazy to write better. I suspect for this author it’s the former.
Fourth, each chapter pretentiously opens with what is intended to be a profound quotation, but many are simply homespun platitudes that sound like they came from a Fortune Cookie. The author wants us to believe that her ridiculous book is a serious study that took research to write.
Finally, I say ridiculous because once the identity of the girl who lives on Gander Green Lane is revealed, we realize it was impossible for Sarah to have seen her everyday as she drove past her house, envying her happiness even though they had never met. The explanation requires us to believe in magic rather than reality.
Bottom line? Whatever you paid for this book you paid too much. Even if like for me, it was offered for free.
April 23, 2019
Really good book...
Being a child watching my dad terrorize my mom many years ago I have a hard time reading books like these but I really did enjoy the mystery twists and while there wasn’t really a ‘justice for the bad guy’ ending, it was such a cool surprise the way it was ended!
Being a child watching my dad terrorize my mom many years ago I have a hard time reading books like these but I really did enjoy the mystery twists and while there wasn’t really a ‘justice for the bad guy’ ending, it was such a cool surprise the way it was ended!
May 14, 2019
Intriguing read. Did not see the ending coming. Good story!
April 26, 2019
Review to follow shortly.. 5 stars!!!
October 2, 2019
The Girl On Gander Green Lane is a total mindf*ck, and not just for the reader. Sarah is the envy of the neighborhood, married to the very successful and extremely handsome Richard, oh but what happens behind closed doors is the stuff of film noir. Monsters, whether real or imagined do exist. Read this book and you will believe. The ending while perfect was not enough for me, but doesn't take away from the true psychological thriller that is this book - Thank you SB ;)
May 27, 2019
Heart-Pounding Suspense
A page turner of nonstop psychological jitters. You will be on thether-hooks grasping all this author has put into this book. A thrill of a Ride to the very end.
A page turner of nonstop psychological jitters. You will be on thether-hooks grasping all this author has put into this book. A thrill of a Ride to the very end.
June 7, 2019
A fairly good read.
This book started off well but was difficult to read with all the mental and physical abuse. Why would Sarah not go to her parents to escape from Richard. I think the story was just to far fetched to earn 5 stars. I flicked through after half way to read the end because the story just didn't make sense any more.
This book started off well but was difficult to read with all the mental and physical abuse. Why would Sarah not go to her parents to escape from Richard. I think the story was just to far fetched to earn 5 stars. I flicked through after half way to read the end because the story just didn't make sense any more.
May 17, 2019
Awesome!
I really loved this book- I read it in one sitting because I literally couldn't put it down! The psychological journey was so well written- I really thought I had figured out how the book was going to end then BAM! A twist ending I didn't expect!! Awesome! Can't wait to read more from this author!
I really loved this book- I read it in one sitting because I literally couldn't put it down! The psychological journey was so well written- I really thought I had figured out how the book was going to end then BAM! A twist ending I didn't expect!! Awesome! Can't wait to read more from this author!
May 18, 2019
Control freak
A well paced thriller. Shows how a seemingly perfect couple are not what they appear to be. Little by little, the husband erases his wife's freedom and isolates her from her family and friends. Then he starts to control her whole life.
A well paced thriller. Shows how a seemingly perfect couple are not what they appear to be. Little by little, the husband erases his wife's freedom and isolates her from her family and friends. Then he starts to control her whole life.
May 12, 2019
Mesmerizing
This was a very entertaining read that I struggled to put down even for a few minutes. I read many psychological thrillers and this was one of the best. I am hoping when I research this author that this was not her only book. Ending was an expected and joyful experience!
This was a very entertaining read that I struggled to put down even for a few minutes. I read many psychological thrillers and this was one of the best. I am hoping when I research this author that this was not her only book. Ending was an expected and joyful experience!
May 12, 2019
Girl on Gender Green Lane
Really enjoyed this book interesting psychological twist there are not many books where the author makes me feel that I am right there with the characters however this author did
Really enjoyed this book interesting psychological twist there are not many books where the author makes me feel that I am right there with the characters however this author did
May 7, 2019
Stunning
Control, fear, domination and pain. These are not the foundations for a happy marriage but it is all too often the case. No one really knows what goes on behind their neighbors doors and the truth can be quite shocking.
Control, fear, domination and pain. These are not the foundations for a happy marriage but it is all too often the case. No one really knows what goes on behind their neighbors doors and the truth can be quite shocking.
May 3, 2019
Suspenseful Unreality
I thoroughly enjoyed the fast pace and very interesting quirks and turns. Did not see the ending coming at all and I am usually pretty quick to read between the lines. Sarah's not so perfect story
and her brief flirtation with accident caused unreality makes for great suspense.
I thoroughly enjoyed the fast pace and very interesting quirks and turns. Did not see the ending coming at all and I am usually pretty quick to read between the lines. Sarah's not so perfect story
and her brief flirtation with accident caused unreality makes for great suspense.
May 3, 2019
Suspenseful
Really enjoyed this book.
Thrilling
Suspenseful.
Twist that make the story a good read.
I enjoyed reading the book.
Not boring, a little repetitive when describing a character.
Really enjoyed this book.
Thrilling
Suspenseful.
Twist that make the story a good read.
I enjoyed reading the book.
Not boring, a little repetitive when describing a character.
April 28, 2019
Great book
I LOVED the book. So many human tragedies, emotions. Yes she was abused ,. Not your normal way. No spoilers. The is also a lot of love and many twist and an ending you will never see coming.
This is a must read and I'm going to buy a copy for my library of BEST BOOKS EVER!!!
I LOVED the book. So many human tragedies, emotions. Yes she was abused ,. Not your normal way. No spoilers. The is also a lot of love and many twist and an ending you will never see coming.
This is a must read and I'm going to buy a copy for my library of BEST BOOKS EVER!!!
April 28, 2019
Did NOT see that coming!!!
Wow! This is a book that will take drag you through every emotion, then rip your heart out.
Sarah is doing all she can to keep Richard pleased, but it's a losing battle. As the abuse continues to worsen, Sarah tries to make plans to leave, but is thwarted at every turn by Richard. Then, a tragic accident, and Sarah will never be the same.
Wow! This is a book that will take drag you through every emotion, then rip your heart out.
Sarah is doing all she can to keep Richard pleased, but it's a losing battle. As the abuse continues to worsen, Sarah tries to make plans to leave, but is thwarted at every turn by Richard. Then, a tragic accident, and Sarah will never be the same.
April 29, 2019
Oh my gosh! What a book!! The first few chapters were hard to get through but man once I did this book grabbed me and wouldn't let go. It was bone chilling and terrifying in some places- just extraordinary! Mr. Hardy- WOW! I can't wait to read more from you!
April 25, 2019
Surprise !
This story is quite the drama. Sarah deals with domestic violence on a daily basis. It's very intense and chilling. The ending was a surprise that I did my see coming, did not expect it. Great characters. Great story. 👍
This story is quite the drama. Sarah deals with domestic violence on a daily basis. It's very intense and chilling. The ending was a surprise that I did my see coming, did not expect it. Great characters. Great story. 👍
April 22, 2019
This is the 1st book I've read written by MJ Hardy; she has done a great job at writing a good book; I will definitely be reading more of her books.
The story line caught my attention at the very beginning and kept me interested throughout the entire book.
I loved the caracters.
I received a free copy of this book via booksprout and I’m voluntarily leaving a review.
The story line caught my attention at the very beginning and kept me interested throughout the entire book.
I loved the caracters.
I received a free copy of this book via booksprout and I’m voluntarily leaving a review.
April 20, 2019
Is definitely emotionally disturbing .
Very well written. This book touch subject on abuse with great care. While we going on this journey with Sarah the reality and images in her head were mixed to the point we loosing grip and touch.
The images of her life are horrible and ending very unexpected. I didn’t expect this turn.
Epilogue,sweetened this story immensely.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Very well written. This book touch subject on abuse with great care. While we going on this journey with Sarah the reality and images in her head were mixed to the point we loosing grip and touch.
The images of her life are horrible and ending very unexpected. I didn’t expect this turn.
Epilogue,sweetened this story immensely.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 177 reviews