Second Life: A Novel

Written by S. J. Watson

Narrated by Susan Lyons

From the New York Times bestselling author of Before I Go to Sleep, a sensational new psychological thriller about a woman with a secret identity that threatens to destroy her.

How well can you really know another person? How far would you go to find the truth about someone you love?

When Julia learns that her sister has been violently murdered, she must uncover why. But Julia's quest quickly evolves into an alluring exploration of own darkest sensual desires. Becoming involved with a dangerous stranger online, she's losing herself . . . losing control . . . perhaps losing everything. Her search for answers will jeopardize her marriage, her family, and her life.

A tense and unrelenting novel that explores the secret lives people lead—and the dark places in which they can find themselves—Second Life is a masterwork of suspense from the acclaimed S. J. Watson.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Jun 9, 2015
• ISBN: 9780062395306

S. J. Watson

S. J. WATSON was born in the Midlands. His first novel was the award-winning Before I Go to Sleep, which has sold more than four million copies in over forty languages, followed by the critically acclaimed novel Second Life. S. J. Watson lives in London.

Reviews for Second Life

[nana50-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I almost put this one down about half way through since I do not care for sex scenes much. However they were important to the story and they more or less disappeared after half way. Glad I stuck with it so I could see if my hunches were right or not. The ending gives one lots to think about. I do recommend this one and give it 4 stars

[Stacey Aldridge · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I finished it, sadly it did not get better. - It’s been 22 chapters and I don’t think I can force myself to listen to this book any longer. It has been quite a while since I have hated a protagonist this much. I can’t believe this is the author who wrote Before I go to sleep. We are supposed to believe that an artist who lived in Berlin doing heroin with drag queens somehow became the most naive sheltered housewife in all of Britain. She lacks any self awareness which given that she’s supposedly worked the 12 steps is hard to believe. After her sister is murdered she decides to get on the website where her sister met men for casual encounters, she tells herself it is to try to find the killer but if she’s trying to solve anything she’s the worlds worst detective. She messages a couple men and then falls into a relationship with a man who - is he? Could he be? He couldn’t be! - she can’t decide if he’s her sisters killer or not but she will have an affair with him all the while saying she’s doing it to try to solve her sisters murder, even though she’s sure he’s not the killer, for much longer than any human could possibly delude themselves. For her son! She’s doing it for her son!

I blame “50 shades of gray” for the odd, fantasy driven, not quite bdsm but not really consensual affair she has with Lucas. All the while shocked that a man she met on the internet can find out her real name and that she’s married yet she’s Facebook friends with him?!? She lies to him about where she lives, her name, her martial status, how her sister died, and yet is convinced that he’s not lying to her and doesn’t even register when it turns out he lives near her and not in Milan! Does this woman have brain damage that the reader is unaware of? The only way I can possibly finish this book is to hope that he kills her in the end which she will of course be shocked by. I can’t imagine how she’s managed to live past 30 and not accidentally poison herself or be hit by a bus she is so dumb. Awful, horrible, poorly written, and Julia is certainly not believable as a person.

[eadieb-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Julia's sister has been violently murdered. In order to find out who murdered her sister, Julia must become involved with a dangerous stranger online. Her search will jeopardize her marriage, her family and her life. I was a bit disappointed in this book. The main character was very annoying and I did not enjoy the explicit sexual language with the online scenes. It was slow getting started and rather boring. I cannot recommend this book but you may feel different about it because it has mixed reviews.

[froxgirl · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Meh. Maybe domestic thrillers of this type (woman screws up and puts herself in peril) are getting old. Stupid actions by the main character and foreseeable twists by the author.

[howifeelaboutbooks · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read this book in just over a day. I found the subject matter very interesting, and while I thought Julia was being stupid and dense a lot of the time, I really wanted to know what happened to her. I couldn’t relate to her much as a character, but I liked the suspense of the story. The ending was a bit confusing, but I’m still thinking about it, so I think the psychological thriller aspect has been achieved!<

[Autumn Rachel Dryden · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Ugh! I am giving it 2 stars because on a sentence level, it's readable. But, the plot and characters were awful. The main character keeps making incredibly stupid decisions, over and over and over, leading to worse and worse outcomes. I hung on to the end because if I didn't finish it my brain would keep replaying it, but, it never got better. I do not recommend. Which is a shame, because I did enjoy Before I Go To Sleep by the same author.

[tina1969_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Julia lives with her husband Hugh and son Conner. When her sister is murdered in Paris, Julia will stop at nothing to find the killer. She goes onto a website to find the killer, only to find herself drawn into another world when she chats to Lukas. Lukas however may not be what he seems and Julias life starts to get ouf of control. This is the second book by S J Watson with his first one being a worldwide bestseller. So I was ecpecting something as good as his first book and I was too disappointed. The stories were both in the same type of genre of domestic thrillers which are coming very popular.The story for me seemed to take a little while to get going, but the tension is slow building as Lukas reveals himself. As the book progressed to the end and there is the scooby doo reveal I have to say I didnt guess, which for me is always a bonus. Julia I phoned quite irritating at times and did wonder why she let herself get drawn in the way she did. I did want to shout at times to just got to the police. Lukas is ond creepy guy and made the book the thriller it is meant to be.I enjoyed the book and there was plenty to keep me turning pages and guessing till the end. I enjoyed the first book by the author, and this his second was worth waithing for. I would read more by him in the future.

[purple_pisces22 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A good story. The main character, Julia, could be annoying. It has a few twists I enjoyed at the end, but I feel the ending was rushed and left questions.

[amandanan · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Marking read even though I skipped ahead every few pages to reach the twist. I think we turned me off was the protagonist and her terrible, terrible choices and personality.

[lorikboyd · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

At first, this book reminded me of Fatal Attraction, but it it so much more. It was fast moving, with a lot of twists, some you saw coming and others were a surprise. All I can say is the ending left me wanting more.....

[katkealy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very good book. Somewhat predictable, but one of the things I was pretty sure was true early on ended up being slightly wrong, which was refreshing. If you liked his first novel, I definitely recommend this one. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

[felicity1smith-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I found this book heavy going in places. I am not sure I was ready to dislike the main character quite as much as I did. It is difficult to write a less than sympathetic core collection of characters and this is a good example of it being done quite well.

I liked some of the details/descriptions and style this was written but overall for me it was a bit grim. I think if you like these sorts of "tied up tightly together" stories it is well written.

I found the pace was slow for the last 1/3 of the book but that may have been again related to not identifying well with the core characters and therefore not feeling empathetic to their situation. I appreciate this is my interpretation and I cannot fault the writing - it is just not for me in this case.

[wassilissa · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Ich wurde ja schon vorgewarnt, dass dieses Buch nichts besonderes ist. Und tatsächlich bestätigte sich der Eindruck. Erstens kommt die Geschichte sehr schleppend in die Gänge, zweitens mag ich die Figuren nicht.Es geht um Julia, die den Sohn ihrer Schwester aufzieht und sehr liebt. Gerade als ihre Schwester den Jungen zurückhaben möchte, wird sie ermordet. Julia ist untröstlich. Als sie feststellt, dass ihre Schwester auf Online-Dating-Seiten unterwegs war, schaut sie sich auch dort um. Und das Verhängnis nimmt seinen Lauf.

[seasonsoflove_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

When Julia's sister is murdered, Julia knows she must find out why, and by who, or it will consume her. Joining the online site her sister had used to meet strangers, Julia finds herself drawn in, and unable to find her way out.This book has a lot of twists and turns, which I always appreciate. There's a lot of layers to characters, and so many people are more than they first appear.This book felt predictable in a lot of places, unfortunately. I called one of the biggest twists chapters before it actually happened.The book also felt pretty slow at times, and then the ending seemed rushed, like Watson wanted to fit in more revelations.I loved Before I Go to Sleep. It's one of those books I own my own copy of, have re read, and have recommended to friends. But Second Life just wasn't as good--it was one of those books that is just okay, which coming from an author I've previously loved, was definitely a disappointment.

[jennysbookbag.com · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

The summary of this book sounded so intriguing, but after seven chapters I called it quits. The execution and the characters were just so boring. I'm not sure if I was too impatient or if it just wasn't my cup of tea.

[mcelhra · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

After Julia’s sister Kate is murdered, Julia learns that Kate had been a member of an Internet hookup website. Julia joins the site with the intention of investigating her sister’s murder but soon finds herself in way over her head.I really liked the author’s first book, Before I Go to Sleep, and was hoping that this book would be just as good. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. Firstly, Julia is supposed to be a devoted mother but she appears to have little to no interaction with her son, even at the beginning of the book before she gets involved with the Internet hookup website. Secondly, parts of the book are repetitive and could have been edited down. Finally, there are plenty of surprising plot twists but they required a healthy suspension of disbelief and relied too much on improbable coincidences.I’m afraid Second Life is the victim of the dreaded sophomore slump.

[nyiper · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Oh dear me....the ending!!!!! The audio for this was beautifully read by Susan Lyons. I was becoming exhausted with the efforts of Julia to try and make her life just plain worse and worse. I kept listening and waiting for her to put her head on straight! It's hard to stop listening because the tension just builds and builds....and builds......

[busyreadin · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Wanted to like this but slow moving. Creepy, but distasteful.

[fictionzeal · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

‘Marcus in the Mirror’ – that’s the enlarged photo hanging in an art exhibit. Julia took the photo years ago when she and Marcus were lovers. He died. She moved on. Or so it would seem. Now she’s been married ten years to Hugh, a surgeon. They have a comfortable life in North London. They have an adopted teen, Connor. Actually, Connor was her younger sister Kate’s son. Kate was only sixteen when she gave birth to Connor; she begged Julia to take care of him. But, more recently Kate has been making demands to Julia to return Connor to her … that is until Kate is attacked and killed in an alley in Paris.Julia meets Kate’s flat-mate Anna at Kate’s funeral service. Julia discovers the world that both Anna and Kate have been involved in and it’s not pretty. Online-sex, Phone-sex, sex-sex, you name it. They pick up these men they meet on website encountrz.com. The police have little to go on. Julia thinks she can do better. She accesses encountrz.com using her sister’s user name and password. She’s looking for her sister’s possible killer; then, she meets ‘Lucas’. Can anyone say ‘fatal attraction’?This story grips hold of your little eyeballs and draws you completely into this psychological thriller. At times, indeed many times, you’d want to grab Julia by the shoulders and shake some sense into the woman. I did find it difficult to consider why someone would lose themselves so completely into seduction and sex because they’ve lost their sister. Oh I know — part of the reason was she was looking for a connection to her sister’s killer. But to look for people and information didn’t mean she had to follow her sister down that same rabbit hole performing the same sexual acts for a man she didn’t know. It’s almost as if she were out to destroy her own marriage of ten years over the matter. Nevertheless, you won’t want to put the book down until you find out what happens. And then … it doesn’t give you a complete ending. After reading 415 pages, I feel I deserve to know the end. If I have to use my own imagination, I opt for a happy one. Rating: 3 out of 5.

[smik_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

First of all, I have a confession to make. I had formed the impression that S.J. Watson was a female writer. But no, definitely a male. Now that shouldn't make a difference should it, but in both his first novel BEFORE I GO TO SLEEP, and in SECOND LIFE, the primary narrator is female.I thought one of the aspects of the story that was handled very well was the concept of the fine line that divides the real world and the online world. Not so long ago we were amazed at the concept of text conversation through email. But then the technology changed and we were able to enter online "rooms" where other voices spoke to us. As happens in SECOND LIFE, there is really no way of knowing whether these other voices are truthful in what they tell us, and even when we have underlying doubts, we tend to believe in the persona they create. Conversations with these online characters can be stimulating, even erotic, crossing boundaries which we wouldn't cross in "real life" situations. There is sometimes the feeling that you've discovered a soul-mate, a person who understands you in a way that no-one in your real world does, but of course you are seeing only part of their character and personality, the bit they want you to see, and you know almost nothing of their history.The world that Julia discovers her sister has been part of is a 2D text based world, although not the 3D world also called Second Life in which avatars make the online world seem even more real. There have been other authors who have played around with the idea of Second Life, and explored online world in which even murders can happen, such as VIRTUALLY DEAD by Peter May, and WICKER by Kevin Guilfoile.However in this novel Julia and her sister Katie both set up relationships in text rooms in an online world and then arrange to meet their new acquaintance in the "real" world. No one quite matches the persona they have created. The primary motivation for the meeting is sexual although Julia tells herself it is her search for her sister's killer.The resultant story is one full of tension in which Julia crosses borders she wouldn't normally and the man she is meeting gives confusing signals. In reality she knows almost nothing about him.So is this crime fiction you ask? Well yes, it is. The underpinning plot is Katie's murder, and then there are a heap of little secrets that Julia has hidden for well over a decade. But has Julia got in too far over her head, and will there be another murder?

[randall6hansen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Let me say I enjoy S.J. Watson's writing, and the care he takes in developing his characters. Enjoyed his debut novel more than this one, his second, but this novel still has some good thrills and twists. The problem with the book is that the main character is weak, with self-esteem and other issues, which makes her hard to like and support. Plus, it takes her way too long to realize things the reader has already processed. The book is sort of like watching a train wreck in slow motion; you know it's going to end badly and you should turn away, but something compels you to keep reading... I guess hoping for a different ending or salvation or something. It's a good, but frustrating read.

[twink_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Okay, here it is - the book I'll be recommending as required summer reading this year....Second Life by S.J. Watson.Watson' debut novel, Before I Go to Sleep, was a runaway success. I absolutely loved it. (It's also a movie starring Nicole Kidman and Colin Firth) When I heard Watson had a new novel coming out, it immediately went on my must read list. But I did wonder if he could match the success of that first book. The answer is a resounding yes!Julia and her husband Hugh have been raising Julia's nephew Connor as their son since he was a toddler. When her sister Kate is murdered in Paris and the crime remains unsolved, Julia feels compelled to try to see what she can find out for both her sake and Connor's.Julia connects with Kate's roommate and learns that Kate was active in online hook up sites - casual sex online or in person. You can see it coming can't you.....yep, Julia joins the same site......"I have another message, but it's not from him. This one is from someone new. As I open it I get the strangest feeling. A plunging, a descent. A door has been nudged open. Something is coming."I'll tell you what's coming - one heck of a great read! Psychological, suspenseful twisty turny, keep you up late kinda read. I found myself breaking my rule (never peek ahead in a book) more than once - you know - just to see what happens and then going back to read a little slower.Julia finds herself caught up in this online world......and then it spills over into her real life....."I wish I'd never met him. I don't know who he is, this man, this person I've let into my life. I want everything to go back to how it was before."Uh, huh. It's too late Julia. Watson's premise is not all that far-fetched. I'm sure many folks indulge in online anonymity. But he's taken that 'what if' to a whole new level. And even when I thought I knew what the ending would be (I refused to peek ahead that close to finishing) I was still surprised by the final twist.Fair warning to gentle readers - there are some sexual scenes.Absolutely recommended! I can't wait to see what Watson pens next!

[patcolin · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Why make your protagonist an idiot, not to mention one that you loathe? This is one of the silliest stories I've ever read.

[adpaton · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This slow-building domestic thriller had me hooked from the start despite unfavourable comparisons to author SJ Watson’s debut, Before I Go to Sleep.Recovering addict Julia has a comfortable life: her loyal husband is a senior surgeon, her adopted son Conner is a typical teen, and although she is no longer a photographic artist she makes pin money from her pictures. Everything changes when her sister is murdered and Julia, determined to find the killer, is drawn into a ‘second life’ of on-line liaisons and an illicit affair which consumes her as entirely as her youthful addiction to alcohol and heroin did. Things unravel quickly and she discovers nothing is as it seems and her life is, once again, out of control and hurtling toward disaster. The ambiguous denouement was a disappointment and the unlikable Julia makes a series of disastrous and unconvincing choices, but the book is a solid read.

[cherylk_44 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I had a complete turn with this author. I absolutely loved the author's first book, Before I Go to Sleep. I could not stop reading it. In fact, I read it in a few short hours and could not go to sleep until I finished the book. So I was so looking forward to reading the next book by this author. Yet, I could barely read this book. I had to make myself get half way. This is all I could do. After that I did not care what happened to the characters in the book. None of them were interesting. They were so boring that they could have been anyone. I thought that Julia came off cold and kind of bitchy. Her husband was clueless and it was easy to see why Julia went so easy into the arms of another. They hardly interacted with each other. I did read the last few chapters to see how the story ended. Lets say that I felt no different about this book reading the ending.

[shelleyraec · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

SJ Watson's debut, Before I Go To Sleep was a smash hit and I imagine the pressure to produce a similarly successful novel has been immense.London wife and mother, Julia, is devastated when she is informed her younger sister, Kate, has been murdered by an unknown assailant in a Parisian alleyway. Half crazed with grief and guilt, Julia becomes obsessed with finding Kate's killer, infiltrating an online 'hook-up' service her sister used in search of suspects.Lukas is one of the first men to respond to her tentative approach, and though she quickly dismisses him as a suspect in her sister's murder, Julia can't seem to extract herself from the connection they have made. Her stolen moments with Lukas are a reprieve from her despair but as their relationship transitions from the virtual to the real world, Julia's 'second life' unwittingly puts everything she has, and those she loves most, at risk.What Watson does particularly well in Second Life is create a close, tense and increasingly disorientating atmosphere as Julia's life spirals out of control.My dissatisfaction with this novel can be laid at the feet of Watson's protagonist, Julia. I just didn't buy into her behaviour, despite the author's rationalisations of grief and guilt. I found Julia to be painfully frustrating - naive, self obsessed, and later, wontingly self destructive.Unable to invest in the character, I then struggled with the plot, which relies on Julia's poor judgment to progress. There is tension and some surprising twists but it wasn't enough to convince me to put aside my dislike of Julia. Perhaps the strongest element of the story is the pacy and shocking denouement, though I'm still not quite sure how I feel about its ambiguity.Just barely an okay read, largely due to my frustration with the main character, unfortunately, I think Second Life suffers badly in comparison with Before I Go To Sleep.