It began with an affair. And ended in death.

Sally Thorning is watching the news with her husband when she hears an unexpected name-Mark Bretherick. It's a name she shouldn't know, but last year Sally treated herself to a secret vacation-away from her hectic family life-and met a man. After their brief affair, the two planned to never meet again. But now, Mark's wife and daughter are dead-and the safety of Sally's own family is in doubt.

I will start by saying I think all first time Mothers, especially Working moms should read this. The overall mothering thoughts, good and bad were dynamite in a psychologically frightening way. Also the appreciation and love husbands show differently, I truly enjoyed. It will make you question what you take notice of or if your spouse will notice anything different when giving hints etc. That is the summary of what I enjoyed about the book. It was a great try but just not executed well, lots of twists but for me just not a believable story.

The story overall to me was not believable, the police work not believable and the main victim, Sally, not believable especially in her reaction to a few things and the ending, WTF, whatever I thought. Way too many characters and unnecessary to switch from real name to nickname, it was just an additional distraction to keep track of in the book that didn’t add to the story. Also with that many police officers why would female characters have male names, eg Charlie, just a dumb choice in my opinion. Background relationships that was unnecessary also. The book was 400 pages, could have been so much better with only 300. ( )

This dark thriller starts out with a bang, quite literally, and keeps ratcheting up the suspense until the shocking end. Sally Thorning's life takes a turn toward the surreal when she discovers the man with whom she shared a weeklong affair is not in fact the man she thought he was. As she attempts to unravel that mystery, police are investigating the apparent murder-suicide of that man's wife and daughter. As the book alternates between Sally's deteriorating situation and the police investigation, the suspense and questions build toward a stunning crescendo.

This book kept me guessing until the very end, and left me eerily staring over my shoulder on the street. The story is quietly dark and I was impressed by the thrills the author achieved in this psychological drama. The writing was tight and the voice never faltered though it was sometimes hard to understand Sally's actions in light of developing events. The Wrong Mother was my first exposure to Sophie Hannah- I'm delighted to discover she has other books I can add to my wishlist. Highly recommended psychological thriller. ( )

Kind of confusing in that I couldn't keep up with all the different policemen. Also, ending was a little vague and never did understand about Charlie and Simon. What was it that everyone in the public was supposed to know? Didn't get it. ( )

What an excellent thriller this was! I got it because it had a recommendation from Tana French on the back cover. French is one of my favorite new crime writers who managed to write an amazing first book and an even more amazing second book. I figured if she liked this one, I would, too. And I did!

This is one of those books that both excels past its genre and stays firmly in it. Hannah never breaks the rules of thriller in this book, but she expands the notion of what a writer of thrillers can do. All the things that you want from a thriller writer are here - tight and intricate plotting, suspense, and unexpected twists and turns. Add to those things compelling characterizations and deft writing and the book is successful.

I especially liked that Hannah was brave enough to allow one of her characters to express the dirty little secret of mothering small children - that it's hard, back breaking, frequently enraging work; that mothering is thankless and brutal; and that small children are often tyrannical in their power over us as parents. No, this isn't the only story to be told about mothering, but it is a part of the story - it's just the part we're all too uncomfortable to express. Express it Hannah does, and she expresses it with utter skill.

This was a great thriller and now I have to go find her other novels! You should read this - it's really really good. ( )

This book was originally released August 2008 in the United Kingdom as The Point of Rescue. The name was changed to The Wrong Mother and release in the US September 2009. I have recently began broadening my horizons to include more of the crime fiction genre. This book was a wonderful start to my collection. Sophie Hannah created a incredibly intricate story that kept me guessing. Though, be forewarned this book takes complete focus and attention to understand; the number of characters that are followed throughout the entirety of this book was a bit overwhelming. I love books that make you reflect on your life, and the reality of the story will leave its mark in the future; The Wrong Mother is one of those stories. For a mother and a wife it makes me step back and look at life a little more clearly. ( )