An addictive psychological thriller you won't be able to put down

The Best Friend was a compelling and compulsive read. I found myself reading just one more chapter before bedtime. I loved the premise of the story as well as the pacing and execution of the plot. The tale was masterfully woven such that the characters of Louisa and Darcy really seemed real to me. Yes, you have to suspend some disbelief, but I found that the fun factor of this book was a ten. A great escape from reality for a few hours! I will definitely be reading more by this author. Highly recommended.

This one was ab.so.lute.ly phenomenal!!!!! The plot and character development are exceptional; fast-paced. It reads like watching a movie - a very good psychological drama suspense thriller. The Best Friend is too good a novel. I fell so in love with this book, that I hated to finish it. I actually completed it in two days.

I found myself getting really annoyed at Louisa's naïveté and gullibility early on, not to mention Jared's overly-ambitious ignorance and folly towards his wife (Louisa), and her gut instincts about Darcy, but all-in-all, they're empathetic characters, who Jared and Louisa. But on the other hand, Darcy makes you wish that you could go right into the story, physically, and beat the living crap out of her!

Louisa does well to heed her gut; for ones gut will never fail him or her. Her gut told her that something was wrong ... and there was.

The Best Friend truly lives up to all of its 5-star reviews - including my own. It is most definitely a CHILLING psychological suspense thriller masterpiece that will have you up way late into the wee hours, still reading. I hate to spoil, so I won't go any further, but this is a great one. And Shalini Boland must be extremely proud of this work. Exceptional!

This book is a must-have for any true fan of the genre. Prior to this novel, I'd read a really bad yarn that I was most disappointed in, but The Best Friend washed the bad taste in my mouth that it left right out. I had needed this. Great book. And a must-read.

While this thriller can boast a few surprises, it is mostly predictable. The behavior of the victims is not convincing..no one could be that gullible. So why did I give this novel three stars? First of all, the story is exciting. I kept on reading even though I was disgusted with the main character. If you just want an easy read at the beach or on a plane, go for it. Second, I wanted to see how everything would come together. While the ending did not disappoint, I felt it was hurried and contrived. So, I decided three stars was fair.

Dark and twisted suspense novel. I read it in one sitting. It's been a long time since I stayed up all night to read a book. As good as The Girl on the Train...if you like twisty suspense and multi-layered characters, this one's for you.

For whatever reason, this book never gripped me. I knew what the twist was going to be and the reason around halfway through the book. And I was so frustrated by the way Darcy was blatantly infiltrating Louisa’s life that I ended up skimming a lot of pages in the middle. If you read a lot of psychological thrillers or know your way around a lifetime movie, you’ll probably see the outcome coming a mile away. And I get that it’s tough to provide truly shocking twists these days with so many books in this genre, but that doesn’t stop me from enjoying the ride when I’m connected to the characters; in this case, I wasn’t connected.

I love a truly scary psychological thriller and this is it!! Gripping relationship between Louisa, Darcy and their families. One of those books you just don't want to put down. A very satisfying ending. Be careful who you befriend! Excellent writing and so looking forward to reading another by this author.

What an exciting book. I never have the time just to sit and read a book from cover to cover, but terrible weather her allowed me to do this. I don't think I could have put it down, if not. While I had wondered about several characters in the book and the ending revealed one of the characters as I had thought, it still keep me 'on the edge on my seat'. Very, very sell done!

I enjoyed the read for most of it .. really pulls you in. DH was making fun of me for gasping during my read...but then it starting coming to an abrupt conclusion. I would recommend the book but I prefer something a bit more believable... that would leave more of an impression on the reader in the end. It became too "yeah that would never happen".

This was an excellent read...full of suspenseful twists. It got better and better. Never got boring and it was the kind of book that called out to you while you did other things
"Come back and read me".

I prefer novels with more twists than this story I found this pretty predictable. I preferred Boland's other book The Millionaires Wife so I would definitely recommend that novel in comparison to this one.

This was a fairly spooky book which misled you in the beginning into thinking the main character had found a real friend. As I was trying to work out towards the end why the friend did what she did, I was wondering if there was a twist to the story. There was not but the 'why' was quite a mind bender.

WOW – this one of the most tense and gripping psychological thrillers I've read. From the first page I was absorbed into Louisa's life – how she kept seeing the same man across the road, outside the school gates and following her home. Louisa and Jared have just put their son, Joe, into a new school and Louisa is so pleased that Joe has found a new friend, Tyler, and that he seems to be settling and fitting in to his new school. Louisa is even more pleased when Tyler's mum, Darcy, asks her to join her circle of friends and invites both her and Joe round to her house after school. Louisa and Darcy get on so well and Darcy is so kind and helpful that they soon become firm friends. But then little things start to chip away in Louisa's mind, why does Darcy do some really cruel and thoughtless things, why does she hurt her feelings so much but not realise? and that man is still following her around.

This is one of the best descriptive stories of how a normal confident woman is gently but firmly brought down – chip, chip away – taking away her confidence, making her seem weak and neurotic to her husband and family to the point that no one believes her. And then, when she is at her lowest point, Darcy's real plans come action and Louisa's already failing life becomes a nightmare and falls into total devastation.

Shalini Boland's writing is tight, to the point, and with no unnecessary waffle. The story is taut, really has you on the edge of your seat, and the plot is unusual and totally engrossing. This is the second psychological thriller I've read by Shalini Boland and she's very quickly become a favourite and an author I shall definitely seek out in future. If you want a fast, gripping story I can certainly recommend this book. I was provided with an Advance Reading Copy of this book for which I chose to give my honest and unbiased review.

This is simply one of the worst and most predictable "thrillers" I have ever read. The "twists" are so obvious and far-fetched from such an early point in the plot that the author should have simply edited out about 100 pages of the middle. The "villain" is also such a one-dimensional, cartoonish creation that it's highly unlikely that he/she wouldn't have been caught immediately had this been real life. Do not waste any of your money on this; it's really , really bad- bad writing; bad plotting; bad characterization; etc.

This is simply one of the worst and most predictable "thrillers" I have ever read. The "twists" are so obvious and far-fetched from such an early point in the plot that the author should have simply edited out about 100 pages of the middle. The "villain" is also such a one-dimensional, cartoonish creation that it's highly unlikely that he/she wouldn't have been caught immediately had this been real life. Do not waste any of your money on this; it's really , really bad- bad writing; bad plotting; bad characterization; etc.

the beginning of the book is captivating, I really enjoyed it..but it becomes very long and repetitive at the end, violent and boring...too bad..the story started so well....and seemed so interesting...