Joanna Lambert's Reviews > The Prisoner’s Wife

After a whirlwind romance followed by a luxury wedding, Emma soon discovers her marriage to wealthy businessman Tommy Driscoll isn’t the happy ever after she thought it would be. Tommy soon reveals himself as a controlling bully, who treats her as a possession and takes away her liberty. When he is convicted of the possession of a firearm and given a five year sentence, she thinks this will free her. However, she has no idea what Tommy has put in place to make sure he retains control of her.
Written from Emma’s POV, I found this a little slow to start. Emma’s character felt a little one dimensional although the way the story moved between past and present helped get a feeling for her current situation. I also felt given her comments about some of the hard faced men she met while with Tommy, that she didn’t realise his true vocation. Tommy was the archetypal gangster, and a controlling bully. The family structure following that of many similar novels/TV dramas - the hateful mother in law and the not so smart brother. There was also Tommy’s henchman Jack, the hard man with a soft spot for Emma.
There were one or two twists and turns in the story, but all in all, nothing really grabbed me. Although I didn’t particularly enjoy The Prisoner’s Wife – which I gather is a debut novel – I would be interested in seeing what Ali Blood comes up with next.
I would like to thank Avon, Ali Blood and Netgalley for an ARC of The Prisoner’s Wife in exchange for an honest review.