The Handyman
by Britney King
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From bestselling author Britney King comes a hypnotic and terrifying psychological thriller about a man held hostage in a remote location by the “love of his life”—aka the woman he refuses to marry.
She only wants one thing:
for him to love her the way he used to.
When her boyfriend hesitates to propose—and then cheats instead of leaving—she decides the relationship needs structure. Space. Consequences. A reset. Retreating to an isolated house in the countryside feels like the responsible choice. A place where distractions disappear and commitment can finally take root.
He doesn’t see it that way.
At least not at first.
To the outside world, the man in her basement is her ill husband—too fragile for one of those homes, she explains. She’s devoted. Patient. Doing the work. No one asks too many questions.
Enter Luke.
Luke fixes problems.
Not the kind you call the police about.
The kind people quietly hope someone else will handle.
When he takes a job renovating an isolated country house, he knows something is wrong immediately. The work requests are about privacy, sound, containment. The woman who hired him is calm, polite, and lying badly.
He doesn’t intervene.
As Luke works, he watches her devotion harden into something stranger—and far more interesting. When he realizes her plan is flawed, he doesn’t stop it. He improves it. Suggests a way to make her boyfriend jealous. Engaged. Afraid of losing her.
It works.
What begins as an experiment turns into alignment. What looks like obsession becomes efficiency. And as lines are crossed—quietly, rationally—Luke understands the truth before she does:
Some relationships aren’t meant to be saved.
They’re meant to be replaced.
Darkly funny, unsettling, and compulsively readable, The Handyman is a psychological thriller about love, control, and what happens when the wrong person decides to help. Perfect for fans of You, Misery, and The Housemaid, this is a story that dares you to root for the solution—even when you know it’s wrong.
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My Rating:
Favorite Quotes:
The house squats at a dead end like it was built last out of spite. Faded clapboard, porch sagging at one corner, roof doing that subtle bow that means the beams are remembering they are mortal. One gutter hangs like a loose tooth.
I open the fridge out of habit. Filthy. The light inside flickers weakly, as if it’s surprised to be involved.
“My ribs are killing me because you dropped me down a flight of stairs.” “That was gravity. I just facilitated the introduction.”
I don’t trust this. I don’t trust this the way I don’t trust gas station sushi— the presentation is fine but something underneath is going to kill me.
He said thank you yesterday and I nearly called a priest because I was sure he’d been possessed.
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My Review:
No one does clever, smirk-worthy, and creepy snark like Britney King, no one! I revel in her cringe-worthy tales. The hair on my arms was often standing at attention, and the phone went unanswered during my rapt perusal. My favorite scene was cunningly and wryly crafted and involved Meg Ryan in the background for a brilliant touch of irony.
Ms. King never fails to deliver unpredictable twists and is deftly skilled at creating deeply fractured characters who commit heinous acts, yet her word skills are smooth, unbelievably sly, and stealthily manipulate me into caring about them. This pair was an unexpected find and laced together with major issues.
As is typical when I read one of her gripping and well-paced missives, upon reaching the last page, I wore a satisfied smirk, yet my cuticles were a ragged mess. Her family had best take note to mind their p’s and q’s, and come home with sweet treats on a daily basis.
Britney King lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, children, two dogs, one ridiculous cat, and a partridge in a pear tree.
When she’s not wrangling the things mentioned above, she writes psychological, domestic, and romantic thrillers set in suburbia.
Without a doubt, connecting with readers is the best part of this gig. You can find Britney online here:
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