Author: D.J. Palmer

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

ISBN: 9781250107497

It’s been two years since Nina Garrity’s husband, Glen, disappeared. She tries to convince herself it doesn’t matter anymore. She has her kids, Connor and Maggie, and now Simon. Simon Fitch, the history teacher at Maggie’s school, has stepped into Glen’s place, or almost anyway.

Simon is thoughtful, kind, and so attentive to Nina and the kids, and he’s been through his own share of tragedy. His wife committed suicide several years ago. Now he’s just trying to move on, and he thinks Nina is the one to help him.

Nina’s drawn to Simon and his story, and before long the two are living together and engaged. The arrangements come as much from necessity as love. Before Glen disappeared, he drained the bank. Nina can no longer afford her home, and Simon is ready to take their relationship to a new level. Buying a house together only makes sense. 

If only Maggie could see it that way. While her son takes to Simon with ease, Maggie can’t seem to accept the fact that her father is gone. Nina makes several attempts to help Maggie and Simon get along, and Simon does his best too. For Maggie, though, it’s not enough.

And, Maggie decides, it’s never going to be enough. Simon tries to act like a dad, but he’s not. More than that, he creeps Maggie out. She tries to tell her mom that Simon isn’t as innocent as he seems, but her mom’s always so stressed. With the move and then getting a new job, it seems like her mom is always worried.

The more Maggie watches Simon with her mom, the more she’s convinced that Simon is the problem. He does strange things, like lying about booking family trips, and he acts differently with Maggie when her mom isn’t around. A new friend gives her the courage to do something she never thought she could: find out the truth about Simon and her dad. It’s the only way to make her family whole again.

Author D.J. Palmer sets up the parameters for a solid thriller, only to undo all of them one by one. The writing tends toward too much explanation in many places: rushing to give character descriptions as soon as they’re introduced; reminding readers over and over of the importance of specific locations; spelling out feelings as soon as characters talk about them. It’s as if the point must be emphasized several times before the narrative can let go. 

Weak characterization drags down the book even more. Connor, Maggie’s older brother, is mentioned, but he disappears for major portions of the book, coming back only to make the plot move forward. Simon’s motivation for why he behaves the way he does is too simplistic. Glen’s situation, while a surprise at first, quickly devolves into the predictable. Other minor characters, too, enter and exit in bit parts that are almost interchangeable.

Nina and Maggie come across as the most developed characters, although Nina may make readers shake their heads from time to time. Despite working in a field that should have armed her to detect Simon’s true intentions, she questions herself so many times it becomes exasperating. Maggie transforms into the story’s star, but the epilogue dims her contribution. The book would have been better off ending with its climactic conclusion.

The wordiness of the narration as well as the predictability of the story as a whole might make readers want to miss this one. I say The New Husband Borders on Bypassing it.