A Sociopath’s Guide to a Successful Marriage

 

She doesn’t want a divorce. She wants a better house, better schools and maybe one well-timed murder.

A Sociopath’s Guide to a Successful Marriage by MK Oliver is the kind of wickedly fun domestic thriller that sinks its hooks in from page one and never lets up. The story follows Lalla Rook. She’s a wife, mother, and unapologetic shark in a sea of guppies. She has zero interest in pretending to be warm or charming. She’s cold. She’s calculating. She’s efficient to the point of being terrifying. She’s an absolute delight to read.

Lalla’s needs in life are simple: a better house, a better neighborhood, a better school for her kids, and a marriage that runs the way she thinks it should. It’s just smart planning if a few people need a gentle shove, a strategic bribe, or a well-timed threat to make things happen. But her perfectly organized life implodes the moment a dead man appears in her living room, and again when the first husband she left for dead years ago suddenly reenters the picture. Lalla’s daily to-do lists turn into full-tilt survival mission.

The themes of ambition, control, reinvention, and the blurred moral lines people cross to build the life they think they deserve are packaged with such dry, sharp humor that you can’t help but root for Lalla even when she’s doing something profoundly questionable. Her wit is accidental, her loyalty is conditional, and her problem-solving is borderline criminal. Watching her bulldoze obstacles and bully her friends “for their own good” is half the fun. The other half is seeing how deep she’s willing to dig her heels in when her master plan is threatened.

The pacing hums along, but the real engine is Lalla herself and every scheme, mess, and item she triumphantly crosses off her to-do list. It’s smart, sly, darkly funny, and just plain entertaining.

I had a blast with this book. Now I want to see what other shenanigans Lalla gets up to next. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Huge thanks to Atria for the advance copy. A Sociopath’s Guide to a Successful Marriage hits shelves February 17. You’ll definitely want to meet Lalla.

QOTD: Would you rather read about a likable main character or an interesting one?

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About the Author

M.K. Oliver is a former English teacher and headteacher originally from Liverpool. He long dreamed of becoming a writer and after many years of working in schools, he took the exciting decision to put down the whiteboard marker, take up the keyboard, and give it a go. He enjoyed writing courses at Curtis Brown, Faber & Faber, and the Royal Court Theatre and now lives with his family and talkative cat in North London.