Just a few years ago, Corie Geller was busting terrorists as an agent for the FBI. But at thirty-five, she traded in her badge for the stability of marriage and motherhood. Now Corie is married to the brilliant and remarkably handsome Judge Josh Geller and is the adoptive mother of his lovely 14-year-old daughter. Between cooking meals and playing chauffeur, Corie scouts Arabic fiction for a few … few literary agencies and, on Wednesdays, has lunch with her fellow Shorehaven freelancers at a so-so French restaurant. Life is, as they say, fine.
But at her weekly lunches, Corie senses that something’s off. Pete Delaney, a milquetoast package designer, always shows up early, sits in the same spot (often with a different phone in hand), and keeps one eye on the Jeep he parks in the lot across the street. Corie intuitively feels that Pete is hiding something—and as someone who is accustomed to keeping her FBI past from her new neighbors, she should know. But does Pete really have a shady alternate life, or is Corie just imagining things, desperate to add some spark to her humdrum suburban existence? She decides that the only way to find out is to dust off her FBI toolkit and take a deep dive into Pete Delaney’s affairs.
Always sassy, smart, and wickedly witty, Susan Isaacs is at her formidable best in a novel that is both bitingly wry and ominously thrilling.
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I haven’t read a Susan Isaacs book in years and after reading her new book, I realized what I had missed and ordered some of her earlier books. This is suspense book with a twist — it is presented with a lot of sarcasm and humor, which I just love from a main character. I thought it was a fun book to read as well as having a very suspenseful plot.
I liked the main character of Corie — she was humorous and sarcastic along with being very detailed in her investigation. I thought it was very interesting the way that she worked to get information – from neighbors, group members and others and then traced her information to the next level. I must admit that the book bogged down for me during some of her investigation – there was simply too much detail and too many conversations that went on for too long. I think that the investigation part of the novel (the middle third) could have been greatly condensed and it would have made this a better book. The last third of the book makes up for it and it’s full of action with a lot of twists and turns. I enjoyed Corie and the adventure that she went on. I’d like to read another book about her and her FBI investigations.
Thanks to Bookish Firsts for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
I could not finish this one. I started it twice but still couldn’t finish it.
I didn’t enjoy any of the characters and honestly I don’t really care to know what Pete’s secret is.
Kept me wanting to know but at times too slow, and disappointing ending.
Takes One to Know One is a slow burn mystery/domestic suspense novel with a strong women’s fiction tone, about Corie, a retired FBI agent now living in suburbia with her federal judge husband and teenage daughter, who becomes focused on the potentially odd behavior of an acquaintance, convinced he may be more than he appears.
I enjoyed the novel and think the retired FBI agent concept is a great hook that could be turned into a series, though the book certainly stands alone. The characters are interesting and we learn a lot particularly about Corie. The author’s descriptions are very detailed. If the author writes a sequel I’d be interested to see how Corie, her family and best friend Wynne are doing and what they’ve gotten themselves into – mainly Corie and her retired NYPD detective father.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions in this review are honest and my own. #TakesOneToKnowOne #mystery #suspense
Yeah, so this is a book about a former FBI agent who retires and becomes a suburban housewife who is so bored with her life that she starts eyeballing a neighbor as a Person of Interest. She can’t tell if she’s trusting her well-honed instincts or just, well, bored.
I vote for bored. I don’t care what the revelations throughout the story say or what the neighbor is actually up to. Want to know why? Because if I was living her life, as told in the book, I’d be bored too. I was, in fact. So bored that I literally had to force myself to turn pages until I finally realized that I Just. Didn’t. Care. And that’s when I stopped and called it…
I just couldn’t get into this one. The characters never grabbed me, the plot (such as I found it) never engaged me, the credibility never hit green (or even an extreme red such that I wanted to suspend disbelief). It just felt flat, from the opening gambit. I’m coming off of a string of VERY strong thrillers full of action and secrets and lies and misdirection. It is entirely possible that this one was just the wrong book at the wrong time for me. But it’s also possible that this writer’s style (dry to the point of Sahara) just didn’t resonate with me.
My review copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley.
I was excited to receive an ARC from Bookish First of Susan Isaac’s latest novel, Takes One to Know One. I would start the book and put it down. I found myself asking what did I just read. The premise was good. Corrie had an FBI Career as an FBI Counterintelligence agent. What she was missing was a personal life. She met and married a widowed judge who had a teenage daughter. Corrie was bored. On Wednesday’s she met other freelancers for lunch. Kind of a self-help group. She became interested in Pete. Her sixth sense told her there was something wrong with him, and she decides to investigate. The book moves too slow and I just could not get into it no matter how hard I tried. I found myself skimming.
Susan Isaacs. What more do I have to say? I’ve loved her books since Compromising Positions and she just keeps getting better and better. Takes One to Know One kept me up very late last night! Isaacs hit the right blend of laughter and nail-biting suspense. Highly recommended.
The best way I can think of to define TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE by Susan Issac is a novel of intrigue, written in a primarily cozy style. There is not a specific murder mystery to solve. Instead, the entire book follows Corie Geller as she pursues questions she has about one of the regular attendees in her weekly luncheon group. Corie, who is a former FBI agent, now married and doing occasional contract work for them, is working hard to adjust to a more “normal” life, being married to a widowed judge. She has adopted his now young teenage daughter and has a cushy life in suburbia, but she finds something missing. As a result, she begins to have questions about one of her luncheon regulars who seems to be a study in bland; a persona he has created rather than his actual personality.
With the exception of a few pages toward the end of the novel, there is little physical danger or description about activities, which is much more like a cozy than an actual thriller where there is danger in almost every chapter. Instead, the reader follows along as Corie pursues first one then another of her hunches about the true identity of her luncheon companion. She is aided on a couple of her quests by her father, a retired NYPD detective and her best friend, an exclusive designer who can gain entry for Corie into an elite group in Texas.
Although there is more included about Corie’s father and her best friend, all of the characters seem to lack much depth. The book is narrated by Corie and spends time with her telling the reader about her activities rather than giving information that allows the reader to see the action as it takes place. While it is grammatically well-written, this style of writing can veer into becoming tedious as there is little information for the reader to develop any mental pictures regarding the participants, the location or the action itself.
My thanks to Grove Atlantic’s Atlantic Monthly Press and NetGalley for providing me with an advance digital reader copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
I loved how this book had a mixture of FBI profiling, humor and what it’s like to be a parent to a teenager. It made it all the more real. One of the things I really liked was the profiling and how him sitting facing the window and other things he did. It reminded me of how my hubby always notices things about people and what they do. He has been in law enforcement for over 30 years. It’s fun to read books and see how they use this kind of thing in a story.
This is definitely one author I’ll be checking out her other works in the future. I kept wanting to cheat and look ahead because I could hardly wait to see what happened. There were some really scary moments. Make sure you don’t have to get up early when you sit down to read this if it’s at night or you will be going without sleep.
It Takes One to Know One by Susan Isaacs is a story about Corie Geller, married to a judge, happy adoptive mother to his 14-year-old girl. She used to work in the FBI catching terrorists so she has a suspicious mind. She goes to weekly luncheons and is suspicious about a fellow person at these luncheons, Pete Delaney. She finds that some things he does are most peculiar, like sitting in a particular chair in the restaurant, facing the window so he can look at his car. She feels that he is hiding something and sets about investigating him, eventually getting her father to assist her.
What follows is a humorous but dangerous attempt by Corie to really find out who and what Pete is up to. I loved the style of writing, the characters are believable.
I have always loved Susan Isaacs writing ever since I read Compromising Positions way back when..This is definitely a book worth reading!
Cori a former FBI agent and a member of the counter terrorism task force has married Josh, a wonderful, gorgeous and wealthy judge. She has also adopted his daughter, Eliza. Her life should be everything and more that she ever hoped for, but she is missing the excitement of her former career. She is working from home reviewing books in Arabic when she reads a notice in the paper about other work at home individuals that meet once a week for lunch to talk about their work and also to relieve their isolation. Joining the group, Cori begins to suspect something is strange about one of the participants and begins to obsess about him.
Here is where the book really begins to drag and through most of the middle. It is only the last chapters where the book picks up speed and becomes an interesting read. I received an ARC from Netgalley for my honest review.