Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for sharing this book with me. Your kindness is appreciated. This book gripped me right from the opening chapters. Former therapist turned stay-at-home mom Jules lives a nightmare when she swerves her car to avoid a deer and ends up in an icy lake. Confused and disoriented, she latches on to a hand and rises to the surface. She realizes with her horror that she's saved the wrong boy. Her son is still submerged, while her neighbor's son is safe.

Now i bet your like what happens to Isaac and Jules since she's in jail? Isaac isn't in jail yet the trial hasn't happened and he's looking at like life and stuff but he is seeing a psychiatrist and while he was in jail for a bit THEY STILL HAD COMMUNICATION! THEY DIDN'T SEND THE LETTERS DIRECTLY TO EACH OTHER FOR FEAR OF GETTING CAUGHT SO IT WAS WRITTEN IN CODES. I also want to shout out a huge thanks to @GirlWithThePinkSkiMask for our unofficial buddy read! Such a pleasure to Exchange opinions and guess where this was going to. It definitely helped me to enjoy this book much more ❤️❤️❤️ lots of focus on the sister of kid who goes missing and the fact that she sleeps in her parents bed but… not really that relevantMeanwhile there's a serial killer on the loose killing teenage boys. The MO fit's perfect into Isaacs disappearance. Out walking dog, cell phone found on the side of the road, and a perfectly wrapped box of the last clothes he was wearing discovered in a local park - like all the other victims but Amber can't and won't believe it. It's Jules, Jules, Jules and she is not willing to consider anything else and will stop at nothing to prove her point. First things first, this was MUCH better than Under Her Care. This was closer to Lucinda Berry's previous bangers—Appetite for Innocence and Saving Noah. However, similar to UHC, I found myself wishing Jules to get in the car with Amber (Isaac's mom) and drive into the river again. They are both insufferable.

A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy. The characters are fun. More fun I would say. The story well planned out with much details. The art is amazing as always. Minimal yet effectively entertaining! The family is trying to save as much as possible but they have to have a family adventure together. So off they go to a road adventure borrowing Uncle Gary's camper van. Damn, I just couldn't bear the second hand embarrassment the family had to face following the trip 🤦😂 Isaac Greer is the young man that Jules saved from the icy crash. Isaac goes missing and Jules finds herself at the heart of the investigation. Jules states she did not take Isaac. Where is he? I am really unsure what the author was going for when she wrote Jules but what we got was a childlike idiot who couldn’t seem to make up her mind what kind of diagnosis she had... I mean at one point she was homeless and being ‘inappropriate’ with herself in a park… PLEASE unnecessary!! 🤢

Advance Praise

Overall, this story could have been so much better. There were a couple of holes that were left, including the initial person of suspect that the police were linking Isaacs's disappearance too. This one was left kind of cold and unanswered. This was my first book by this author and I really wish I had chosen one of her other titles. And then a bit later on all the summer fun and adventure become alive. Yes, it would have been so much better to read this one during the summer! The game was called Dracho. Why im bringing this up is because during the stand off with isaac jules and isaac parents. His dad admitted to playing the game WITH ISAAC! Isaac didn't know it was his dad until he brought it up to stop Issac from unaliving himself and said if he did who will eat burgers and throw bottles at people (in the game) with him and isaac said omg your so and so? and the dad said yes son thats me. He finally realizes that he will never be wealthy or one of them through his prostitution-like activities. He becomes upset, and decides that although he had a great time & great sex, feels used. He then plots his revenge for all the great sex he had while showing off for the husband. Let’s see, how does this end? Well, it’s a big surprise: Not great for anyone. The Best of Friends gripped me from the stunning opening to the emotional, explosive ending. In this moving novel, Berry creates a beautifully crafted study of secrets and grief among a tight-knit group of friends and of how far a mother will go to discover the truth and protect her children.” —Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author of The Weight of Silence and This Is How I Lied

If you've read any of Lucinda Berry's previous work it's no secret that she refuses to skirt around the darker issues in life and just nose dives straight into them, and Off The Deep End was no different. It was devastating, heart-wrenching and suspenseful in simultaneously the best and worst ways.I found the main characters of this book a little boring, if im honest. Although Jules had some depth, the main arc of her storyline didn't really make too much sense to me. Amber was a little annoying at first, but did grow on me a little near the end. I am a compulsive reader of literary novels…but there was one book that kept me reading, the sort of novel I can’t put down… The Perfect Child, by Lucinda Berry. It speaks to the fear of every parent: What if your child was a psychopath? This novel takes it a step further. A couple, desperate for a child, has the chance to adopt a beautiful little girl who, they are told, has been abused. They’re told it might take a while for her to learn to behave and trust people. She can be sweet and loving, and in public she is adorable. But in private—well, I won’t give away what happens. But needless to say, it’s chilling.” —Gina Kolata, New York Times wildly inappropriate psychiatrist that holds the patients hands when she is upset… I’m sorry pretty sure thats blurring some lines