What Lies Between Us by John Marrs

I bought a copy of What Lies Between Us by John Marrs on Vinted. Published in 2020, it is a dark psychological thriller, which gets darker and darker.

Every other day, Nina and Maggie have dinner together at home. Sometimes, they listen to music. But then Nina takes Maggie upstairs, chains her up and locks her in her room. It is her punishment for how she has treated Nina in the past.

Now in her late 60s, Maggie only wanted to do the best for her daughter. But sometimes doing her best meant going too far and making mistakes.

In her mid-30s, Nina is single and childless. She has been working in the same library for 15 years. She wants a more interesting life and believes it is Maggie’s fault that she doesn’t have one. So Maggie must suffer…

Nina and Maggie are two horrible characters. Sometimes it’s hard to work out who is the most horrible, but I concluded it’s Nina. She is a complete narcissist, who has no understanding of other people’s feelings. Everything must revolve around what she wants and needs. And she will go to great lengths to get and keep what she wants, regardless of the effect on anyone else…

I loved What Lies Between Us. The behaviour of both Maggie and Nina just got more and more awful as it went on.

If you enjoy a dark thriller, I would definitely recommend What Lies Between Us. It reminds me of Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent, which is a brilliant dark thriller. But if you don’t like books about horrible people, you should probably give it a miss.