Is it murder? Is someone playing mind games? Or is it both? The chilling answers are in this twisting novel of psychological suspense by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of Trespassing.The apparent suicide of a beautiful aspiring law student unites two strangers, connected only by their tangled suspicions: that nothing about Margaux Stritch’s tragic end is what it looks like.Firefighter … looks like.
Firefighter Jessica Blythe is courageously making her mark in the male-dominated Chicago Fire Department while navigating a complicated relationship with a detective. A first responder to the crime scene, Jessica has a professional duty to Margaux. Then there’s Kirsten Holloway, a wife and mother pulling herself together after an emotional breakdown. But her husband’s infidelity has left her in a place full of mistrust and fear. Her dreaded curiosity about Margaux’s death has become very personal.
Two women are about to converge on a trail of blackmail, secrets, troubled pasts, and hidden shadows, where violence and desire entwine, unchecked. And they’re not the only ones stepping into the dark. Someone else is following. But is it to warn Jessica and Kirsten? Or to usher them into a nightmare?
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I love a good thriller. I love a book that keeps me wanting more. That keeps me in suspense. That makes me guess all the way to the end. One that I think I know but then find out it’s not exactly what I really thought. This is such a book in many ways.
One man with way to many secrets. Three names he uses. His real name and then the two he uses to fool other women or coax them into his bed. A very sick man who loves having complete control over a woman. Not just in life but especially in the bedroom. He loves bringing them to deaths door before stopping. Just stopping short of killing a woman. It is what drives him. Gets him going. Makes him feel powerful. One such girl is very young. He daughter’s age actually. She’s already had a lifetime of abuse and now when she thinks she is being loved, she finds out it’s all a lie and she is being used again.
A wife, Kirsten, who has dedicated her entire life to her family. Her husband, daughter and son. She’s always done the right thing. Been a dutiful wife. Obedient and loyal to a fault. Raised their two children and gave up her hopes of ever going to college. Of ever having a job or a life. All the while her husband is abusing her love for him too.
Margaux was just a child when she lost her entire family in a terrible wreck. She was adopted by an older couple who wanted her to call them grandparents. Strange in my opinion. Richard/granddad is a pervert from the start. I truly hated him with a passion. I felt so bad for Margaux. I felt bad for her through this whole book. She never stood a chance. Helen/grandmother was not good to her. So of course she turned to an older man, Arlon, trying to find love. He loved doing things to her that were not right. She felt like he was proving he loved her though.
Jessica is a firefighter who is on the scene where Margaux is found hanging. She has to cut her down and it leaves her feeling like justice certainly has to be served in this case. Was it suicide or murder. If it was murder who did it and why. Will an innocent man go to prison for murder or will someone who treats women as next to nothing get just what he deserves?
I loved how this book played out. I loved how Kirsten handled herself in this story. I actually loved how all the women finally banded together. They wanted to make sure justice was served and to show solidarity between women.
There are some very intense scenes in this book that will possibly make you feel uncomfortable or maybe not. There are things that happen that will possibly make you cringe. Things that happen to a young woman who should have had her whole life ahead of her. Things that were stolen from her that should not have happened. She should have been protected…. She only wanted to be loved.
A wife who finally sees that she deserved way more. Finally sees through open eyes that she’s been living a lie. Who will go to great lengths finally to protect her children. Who will not under any circumstances allow her son to be framed for something he did not do. A firefighter who finally faces her past and finds the love she really wants with the man she really loves.
This book was very well written. Some characters are so well loved while a couple will be hated. Things that happened may curl your toes and I don’t mean in a good way either. They will make you pause and think. Take deep breaths and wonder how can anyone do these things.
There are a few passages that I’d like to share:
(1) When one is in love, one always begins by deceiving oneself, and one always ends by deceiving others.-Oscar Wilde (I personally disagree with this one)
(2) I’ve spent my whole life waiting for things to begin, and suddenly, everything feels closer to the end than the starting line.
(3) You can smash a vase, apologize to it for breaking it, and you can even glue it back together. Maybe it even holds water again, but no matter what you do, its fractures will always be there. (I could relate to this one)
(4) “It doesn’t matter if you did it or not. You deserve whatever punishment they give you.”
Thank you to #NetGalley and #LakeUnion for this ARC. This is my opinion.
I give this book a huge, very huge, 5 stars and highly recommend it.
Intriguing Until The End. This book had a LOT going for it – the opening hooks the reader into the central mystery pretty quickly, the various perspectives reveal some things not overly common, the mystery is tantalizing and features some points rarely if ever seen, etc. And all of these elements work *very* well, through 85% or so of the book. But in the book’s final act, instead of continuing the less traveled path the author instead swerves to the ordinary, safe play. I’m still planning to read future books from this author, and on the whole this book is still recommended, the ending is just a tad disappointing.
This is the first book by this author that I have read. Glad I did it was a fun read kept my attention with plenty of fast moving action suicide or murder? Kept me reading until the end to find out who did what. I liked the way is was written with three peoples view points made for a good story. Will read more from this author.