Leah Konen

Mary is a dutiful and loving wife until her husband's need to control every aspect of their life drives her away. But she's still very much tied to him, through their child and because he holds all the money, and his wealthy and powerful family make sure she's still doing what they want. Her sister-in-law left her husband's brother earlier and she sided with her husband's family in that mess, too timid to help her SIL retrieve her own possessions and believing the stories the family now tells about her. So now she's living in places owned by her husband, trying to resuscitate the career he insisted she leave when they married and dealing with the drudgery of the full-time care of a toddler for the first time. Then, at the playground, Mary meets another young mother and for the first time in a long time feels like she has a friend.

This is the story of two ex-wives, one willing to fight for what is hers and for her freedom and one who keeps hoping that her husband will change, or that her in-laws will love her again, and of one woman's best friend, who is willing to do what it takes to support her friend. Told in alternating viewpoints of the meek wife and the good friend, this thriller involves murder and deception, but is told primarily from the point-of-view of the least interesting character. It's such an interesting choice by Konen to lead with this narrative, and give hints of the real story in the portions narrated from Willa's point of view.

As with most thrillers, this one doesn't entirely make sense, but it's well written and fast paced and fun. Mary may want to just go along with what she's being told, but the author is looking out for her and there is plenty of vengeance against abusive husbands, which given how horrific all the men in this book prove to be, is very satisfying indeed.… (more)