This book was a page turner and very suspenseful but Isabel's actions were a mystery to me. There's brave and then there's stupid. At first she doesn't believe the FBI when they tell her that her husband is a murderer and international con-man and thief. When she finds that he has cleaned out all their joint accounts she decides to take matters into her own hands even sneaking off to the slums of Prague to track him down. ( )

This is a story of betrayal, forgiveness and suicide. The incredible love that Isabel has for her husband, only to find out that he's not who he says he is, is almost unbearable. Even for the reader.

There are so many characters in this story. I found that I liked many of them, and of course disliked the villains. Detective Grady Crow is an awesome character. He's even keel, even in the most bizarre of circumstances. He keeps his head, and still has his own life going on in the background of the story.

There are a lot of different story lines going on in this one at the same time. It takes a bit of concentration to keep up. It didn't take away from the main story though, and while reading I wondered if it would all come together and even though it didn't come together like I thought it would be, it did tie in and create and interesting conclusion.

Overall, I really liked this book. The narrator was awesome and did an incredible job with the accents and character voices. The book isn't one that is totally memorable, but it comes back as something that held meaning and had purpose. This was my first book by Unger and I'm looking forward to picking up another or two of hers! ( )

Isabel Raine is married to a man she loves who is not what she thinks he is. He disappears, steals money and people die. Izzy must find out who and why he did this to her. New York and Prague. Undertones of father's suicide prevail. ( )

In Lisa Unger's DIE FOR YOU, Isabel thought she knew her husband, until the night he didn't come home. Married to Marcus for five years, and except for one brief indiscretion by her husband, Isabel thought they were happy. After alternating between anger and panic all night, she finally gets a phone call from his cell phone- and hears a violent struggle and a man scream on the other end of the call.

A call to the police goes nowhere, as a husband who doesn't come home is not high on the priority list. Isabel goes to her husband's office, a successful high-tech game software company, to talk to his partner. The partner is evasive, angering Isabel. Before she can get any more information, the FBI raids the office. Confusion reigns, and Isabel is knocked out.

When she awakens in the hospital, she finds out that it wasn't the FBI, and several people were killed, including her husband's partner. Her apartment has been trashed, and all of the money she and Marcus had in the bank is gone. Isabel discovers that her husband conned her brother-in-law Erik out of his life savings as well.

Police Detective Grady Crowe is wary of Isabel's claims of ignorance of her husband's activities. More bad news arrives when it is discovered that her husband is not the real Marcus Raine- that man was murdered years ago, and it appears that her husband assumed his identity. Did he also murder the real Marcus Raine?

Isabel is determined to discover the truth about her husband. Crowe warns her against that, particularly when more people show up dead, and Isabel seems to be the one closest to the dead bodies upon discovery. Is she a victim or a murderer?

Unger writes a fast-paced thriller, and she uses the setting of New York City to good advantage. Anyone familiar with the city will recognize the spot in Central Park where a confrontation takes place, and the Upper West Side area where Isabel lives. A journey to Prague brings that city to life as well.

Some thrillers/mysteries sacrifice character for action, but Unger's characters are fully drawn. The family dynamic between Isabel and her sister Linda, Erik and their kids is realistic and interesting. Erik and Linda's relationship is loving, even though both make big mistakes that threaten that relationship. Even Detective Crowe and his partner have a good chemistry.

One thing bugged me though. Isabel's actions frequently put herself in danger, but also endanger her family. Isabel's quest to find out the truth about her husband caused her family great pain, and I couldn't understand that. Was her need to personally discover the truth about her husband worth the agony she put her family through?

Isabel also knew nothing about her and her husband's finances. She signed papers he put in front of her, and agreed to use her name on all the paperwork for his company. Could she be that naive, particularly since her father left her mother, sister and her broke when he killed himself. Yet her sister makes a similar mistake. Perhaps this is a cautionary reminder to the reader to always pay attention to your family finances.

I didn't understand Isabel, but maybe that is the point of the story. Maybe we never really know anybody, even the person sleeping next to you for five years. I give DIE FOR YOU three and half stars because Unger kept me turning the pages when I should have been sleeping. ( )

Reason for Reading: Well, we all know by now I love a good thriller and a missing person case is always a good read. The plot intrigued me and I hadn't yet read the author but had heard of her.

Comments: Isabel Raine, famous bestselling author, is married to Marcus Raine, successful software designer and company owner; they've had five fairly blissful years of marriage and after a particularly pleasant morning Marcus sets off for work and never returns. After waiting, and making phone calls, all through the night, Isabel heads for his office where she meets his partner on his way up to work. Barely after arriving the office is swarmed with men and women in FBI jackets taking all the computers and files. They lock her in an office and she sees her husband's partner in handcuffs. After banging on the door a woman who Isabel has determined could not be FBI comes into the office and kicks her in the head. When Isabel wakes in the hospital, she's told that the office was ransacked by these people (not the FBI) and all three employees were found dead in the office with her still alive, albeit unconscious. And so starts the tale of Isabel learning some frightening facts that Marcus Raine was a man who disappeared ten years ago and while also from Czech and looking slightly like her husband, is in fact not the man she is married to. Her whole life as she knows it falls apart by Isabel is not the type of woman to lay down and cry, oh no, she is going to find out why he's done this to her.

The incredible fast pace of this novel takes place over a short period of time and has our heroine in New York, remembering the past in Paris and on the run in Czech. Her rich, luxuriant life is now filled with NYPD detectives, Russian and Albanian mobsters, and other unsavouries who'd simply prefer she be dead. But Isabel has a dark past where she was once left before and never had the question why answered and she'll not rest, even if it kills her, to let the man she loved get away from her without this simple answer. Determination runs through the book so hard, that you feel your teeth clenching as Isabel often kicks caution to the wind to try to find her answer.

This is not my typical type of book. I'm usually your serial killer, or at least "let's have a few dead bodies" thriller type of reader but this book sucked me into a new sub-genre I can see myself really enjoying. I certainly love these types of movies. There is a suspense that starts to tickle you on the first page only to grab you a couple pages later and just doesn't let go until the final pages. A complete whirlwind of compulsive reading. I read the first 3/4's all in one day. Then unfortunately real life intervened and I had to wait a bit to get back to finishing it but this can certainly be set aside to read in day. When you have one of those lazy Saturday's coming up spend the day with Die For You and you might find your pulse rate quickening and even burn a few calories while you read. Recommended! ( )