A thriller that held my attention, and entertained me through nearly all of its chapters.  Unfortunately, the ending disappoints.

I'm talking about Patricia MacDonald's Married To A Stranger. 

Our heroine, Emma, seems to have it all.  Successful career, brand new loving husband, and a baby on the way.  But life takes a horrid turn when she is viciously attacked by an ax-wielding madman, while on her honeymoon.  Injured, but alive, she assumes it was a random attack.  Meanwhile the police are wondering about Emma's husband, David.  But when Emma's life is threatened a second time, and once again, David's whereabouts during the attack are questionable, even Emma is starting to wonder if she really knows this man she calls "husband".

We, the readers, have no idea who the would-be killer is, or what possible motives he might have.  But the author does a great job of dropping little hints along the way, and providing several viable suspects.  As I read, I kept flip-flopping in my mind as to who the guilty party really was.

Emma is immensely likeable, and we can't help but feel sorry for her, and hope she and the baby she's carrying survive this madness.  But she's not the sharpest tool in the shed.  In fact, she makes several moves that weren't just foolish, but were downright stupid.  Not the least of which was sneaking out of her house, alone, when she was supposed to be under a nurse's care.  Why would she do this?  So that she could do an errand.  But she easily could have asked someone else to do it.  It made no sense for her to risk further injury to herself or her baby.  But it was necessary for the author to get her out of the house in order to further the plot along.  Still, I felt it was completely unrealistic.

Another time, someone is about to reveal a piece of information to her, that could prove important.  But the conversation was interrupted before the information was given.  Was the conversation ever finished?  Nope, everybody got distracted by the interruption, and the conversation was never finished.  You could bet that if it were my life that were in danger, I'd remember to go back and finish the conversation!

David's not so bright, either.  And he kept doing things that no one would ever do, in real life.  Like toss into the garbage an item that might have been an important clue.  Or, leave his wife who's recovering from an attack on her life, in order to pursue a career opportunity. 

Still, this is a thriller, and you don't always expect people to behave realistically in such a book.  So I can forgive ridiculous characters, if the story's interesting enough.  In this case, the story was, indeed, captivating.  Right up until the end. 

And that's where it falls apart.  It's fine to incorporate some surprises at the end of a book in this genre.  In fact, it's pretty much expected.  But it should be done well.  It should make sense and be somewhat realistic.  It should not be contrived.  Nor should major showdowns rely upon coincidence.  But this ending suffers from both of those problems.

This book is definitely readable, but don't trip over yourself to buy it.  It's a quick-reader, fast-paced, and interesting.  But don't say I didn't warn you about the lame ending.

3 stars for "average" and a hesitant recommendation.

Recommended: Yes