Verity: The thriller that will capture your heart and blow your mind

Product Information

The mid-career success story of Colleen Hoover, a fortysomething Texas mother of three who has written more than 20 novels across multiple genres, is partly a testament to the power of social media. And yet that’s only a piece of the equation. As far as current sales go, Hoover is without rival.

Synopsis: Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts a job offer from Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. The format used is one of my favorites – telling a story within a story. The dual POVs swinging between Lowen’s present and Verity’s past made for a gripping read. You get to figure things out alongside Lowen as she reads the manuscript while Verity sets the stage for the twist. One of the strengths of the novel is the exploration of the characters' complex emotions and motivations. Each character is well-developed and multi-dimensional, making it difficult to determine who is trustworthy. The plot is intricately crafted and keeps readers on the edge of their seats. The narrative is fast-paced and the tension builds with each passing chapter. Lowen Ashleigh is an authoress whose struggles don’t know any bounds. Additionally, Lowen doesn’t exactly have a home. Lowen barely has any money to get by each month. She is indebted and is as close to eviction as she is to breaking down. Additionally, Lowen’s mother very recently died. She is regarded as a novelist whose talent is very high, but Lowen isn’t exactly the most charming in terms of marketing her works. This is one of the reasons why her works aren’t as loved as other less capable writers.What I’ve come to appreciate most about Colleen Hoover’s work—whether it’s an emotionally charged love story or in this case, her first go at suspense—is her penchant for pushing boundaries. For telling the unexpected story.

In the manuscript, Verity describes resenting her daughters because Jeremy loves them more than her. Verity also admits to loving one of her daughters ( Chastin) more than the other ( Harper), and she has a dream that Harper will someday kill Chastin. The word I would use to describe this book is disturbing. I was seriously disturbed the whole time I read. It wasn’t too spooky for me, but it was thrilling and horrifying at times. The writing was out of this world and the story messed with my mind. I’m not sure if I loved it, hated it, liked the characters or hated them. It’s a story that’s not always likable, but dang it was good. It was enthralling and made me think. That ending messed with my mind so bad, I don’t even know how to feel. This book employs one of my favorite formats, a story within a story. I've loved pretty much every book I've come across that uses this format, and it works especially well here. The interspersing of the inner manuscript with the outer story allows us to find out what's going on at the same time that Lowen is figuring things out. The same love and attention Colleen Hoover dedicated to Lowen is also given to both Jeremy and Verity, although we naturally mostly get acquainted with the latter through her writing and stories told by others. When it becomes increasingly clear both of them might very well be despicable human beings, they only become more absorbing due to the new internal vistas of theirs we get to witness.Verity is mainly about three people - struggling author Lowen Ashleigh, a man called Jeremy Crawford, and Jeremy's wife, Verity, who was recently left incapacitated by a car accident. Verity is a successful writer, but she is no longer able to continue her bestselling series. That's why Lowen is brought in to complete the remaining three books. To do so, she stays at the couple's house so she can go through Verity's notes. I couldn’t help thinking it’s a premonition, and true enough, Lowen discovers Verity’s manuscript soon after and we discover it’s not just the soul of the house that’s dark.

If you’re a CoHo fan familiar with her romance books, you really shouldn’t miss out on this book because it will show you a different side of her writing with this book. Other Books Like Verity Lowen starts to read Verity's book series called The Noble Virtues, which are all written from an antagonist's point of view. In Verity's office, Lowen also discovers an autobiographical manuscript that Verity wrote that reveals Verity's dark nature.

Book Excerpt

Now, Lowen Ashleigh is on the brink of losing everything she has in life, which isn’t much, but also on the verge of losing herself. Then, like a miracle – or a curse? – an opportunity that she could never have expected presents itself. Everyone is WAY too cool with murder in this too. Verity is a Medea-figure here, one who uses sex as a means of control and ranks how she values Jeremy based on the quantity of sex they are having, so I guess its no surprise she’s down to murder and not give two shits. But then there is also the ending. I wanted to like it. I mean, okay this whole book plays with ideas of duality—the twins as two sides of Verity’s personality, the two possible truths at the end—but Hoover is WAY too eager to walk you through showing to point out how clever it is. She’s practically yelling “VERITY MEANS TRUTH! GET IT?!?!?!?” Whoever thinks that letter was real, explain this comedy (which is actually much funnier with context I promise). I was half fully hoping Verity would chase her petrified ass around the house to really seal it in, the traumatisation and future years of therapy that is.