by K.A. Tucker
Pub. Date: Feb. 2, 2016
Publisher: Atria Books
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
My Rating:
Sultry Scale:
The USA TODAY bestselling author of the Ten Tiny Breaths and Burying Water series makes her suspense debut with this sexy, heartpounding story of a young woman determined to find justice after her best friend’s death, a story pulsing with the “intense, hot, emotional” (Colleen Hoover) writing that exhilarates her legions of fans.
A woman who almost had it all . . .
On the surface, Celine Gonzalez had everything a twenty-eight-year-old woman could want: a one-bedroom apartment on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, a job that (mostly) paid the bills, and an acceptance letter to the prestigious Hollingsworth Institute of Art, where she would finally live out her dream of becoming an antiques appraiser for a major auction house. All she had worked so hard to achieve was finally within her reach. So why would she kill herself?
A man who was supposed to be her salvation . . .
Maggie Sparkes arrives in New York City to pack up what’s left of her best friend’s belongings after a suicide that has left everyone stunned. The police have deemed the evidence conclusive: Celine got into bed, downed a lethal cocktail of pills and vodka, and never woke up. But when Maggie discovers a scandalous photograph in a lock box hidden in Celine’s apartment, she begins asking questions. Questions about the man Celine fell in love with. The man she never told anyone about, not even Maggie. The man Celine believed would change her life.
Until he became her ruin.
On the hunt for evidence that will force the police to reopen the case, Maggie uncovers more than she bargained for about Celine’s private life—and inadvertently puts herself on the radar of a killer. A killer who will stop at nothing to keep his crimes undiscovered.
Well heck, I have no idea how to review this one without giving spoilers. This was a solid suspense read with a good mystery that kept me turning the page all day. I ranted the whole time that I couldn't figure out who the big bad was... and then once I thought I had it all figured out, I was totally wrong. There are definitely some twists and turns that you will not expect with this one.
You will immediately be hooked into the story with the prologue where our protagonist, Maggie, is bound in the trunk of a car on the way to who knows where. Then the story goes back about a month where you will follow along with Maggie while she tries to uncover the real story behind her friend's suicide/murder. But because of that prologue, you are reading the entire time with a sense of impending doom. While I don't usually like that feeling of doom in my romance reads, it actually fits in perfectly in suspense stories such as this.
I really liked Maggie. Although she has grown up with money from the family's coal and energy business, she did not come off as spoiled or entitled. I liked that she took her trust fund and used it for good, helping people in third world countries to build villages and obtain more education. I had a lot of respect for her, particularly because she got out there and worked the charity instead of sitting behind a desk and running it from afar. I loved her tenacity to uncover the truth, even when it was hard for her to discover Celine's true colors in those diaries. I was drawn into the story so that I was feeling the suspicion, vulnerability and betrayal right along with her.
I think one of the things that I liked best about this book was that is was, for the most part, realistic. I could imagine reading or watching this story in the news, on television or in a true crime novel. So I liked having a suspense where I didn't have to suspend my belief for once. This is my first read by this author, and I recommend it to all fans of a good who-done-it story.
I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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