Going inside the mind of a pretty, freckled villain who commits a seemingly victimless crime creates a page-turner with just...
When a young woman considers the consequences of stealing from her employer, she doesn’t consider that the damage might reach beyond the walls of a prison cell.
After learning that anyone with the right initials could cash a check made out to NT instead of NuLine Telecommunications, Natalie Bingham becomes Natalie Taylor, wife of Colin Taylor, who keeps exotic reptiles in the house he shares with his mother. Natalie’s commitment to the scam, going so far as to marry a man she doesn’t love just to get his initials, is part of the allure of this wholly unlikable character. From the outside, she appears to be a beautiful and clever woman who charms everyone she meets, from her gullible husband to her cynical defense lawyer. On the inside, she’s intellectually lazy, insulting people with racial slurs and turning to a life of crime at the first sign of financial hardship. She doesn’t believe she’ll hurt anyone if she steals a few dollars at a time from a big corporation, but even when she’s proven wrong, she finds that she doesn’t care. Similar to Something to Hide (2016), Moggach’s latest book connects the lives of strangers in alternating narratives. In this case, Natalie’s trail of stolen phone-bill payments leaves one of her victims, David, his wife, Sheila, and their daughter, Chloe, with a dead phone line at the worst possible time. Each of them wants something out of reach—David wants a better life for his overweight daughter, Colin wants a family, and Natalie wants more excitement than an ordinary office job can offer her. And how far they are all willing to go to get what they desire most uncovers some surprising truths about the lies people tell themselves.
Going inside the mind of a pretty, freckled villain who commits a seemingly victimless crime creates a page-turner with just enough moral ambiguity to ensure an unexpected ending.Pub Date: June 6, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4683-1093-1
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Overlook
Review Posted Online: March 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
Above-average formula fiction, making full display of the author’s strong suits: sense of place, compassion for characters...
Female rivalry is again the main preoccupation of Hannah’s latest Pacific Northwest sob saga (Firefly Lane, 2008, etc.).
At Water’s Edge, the family seat overlooking Hood Canal, Vivi Ann, youngest and prettiest of the Grey sisters and a champion horsewoman, has persuaded embittered patriarch Henry to turn the tumbledown ranch into a Western-style equestrian arena. Eldest sister Winona, a respected lawyer in the nearby village of Oyster Shores, hires taciturn ranch hand Dallas Raintree, a half-Native American. Middle sister Aurora, stay-at-home mother of twins, languishes in a dull marriage. Winona, overweight since adolescence, envies Vivi, whose looks get her everything she wants, especially men. Indeed, Winona’s childhood crush Luke recently proposed to Vivi. Despite Aurora’s urging (her principal role is as sisterly referee), Winona won’t tell Vivi she loves Luke. Yearning for Dallas, Vivi stands up Luke to fall into bed with the enigmatic, tattooed cowboy. Winona snitches to Luke: engagement off. Vivi marries Dallas over Henry’s objections. The love-match triumphs, and Dallas, though scarred by child abuse, is an exemplary father to son Noah. One Christmas Eve, the town floozy is raped and murdered. An eyewitness and forensic evidence incriminate Dallas. Winona refuses to represent him, consigning him to the inept services of a public defender. After a guilty verdict, he’s sentenced to life without parole. A decade later, Winona has reached an uneasy truce with Vivi, who’s still pining for Dallas. Noah is a sullen teen, Aurora a brittle but resigned divorcée. Noah learns about the Seattle Innocence Project. Could modern DNA testing methods exonerate Dallas? Will Aunt Winona redeem herself by reopening the case? The outcome, while predictable, is achieved with more suspense and less sentimental histrionics than usual for Hannah.
Above-average formula fiction, making full display of the author’s strong suits: sense of place, compassion for characters and understanding of family dynamics.Pub Date: Feb. 9, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-312-36410-6
Page Count: 400
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2008
There are unforgettable beauties in this very sexy story.
Passion, friendship, heartbreak, and forgiveness ring true in Lovering's debut, the tale of a young woman's obsession with a man who's "good at being charming."
Long Island native Lucy Albright, starts her freshman year at Baird College in Southern California, intending to study English and journalism and become a travel writer. Stephen DeMarco, an upperclassman, is a political science major who plans to become a lawyer. Soon after they meet, Lucy tells Stephen an intensely personal story about the Unforgivable Thing, a betrayal that turned Lucy against her mother. Stephen pretends to listen to Lucy's painful disclosure, but all his thoughts are about her exposed black bra strap and her nipples pressing against her thin cotton T-shirt. It doesn't take Lucy long to realize Stephen's a "manipulative jerk" and she is "beyond pathetic" in her desire for him, but their lives are now intertwined. Their story takes seven years to unfold, but it's a fast-paced ride through hookups, breakups, and infidelities fueled by alcohol and cocaine and with oodles of sizzling sexual tension. "Lucy was an itch, a song stuck in your head or a movie you need to rewatch or a food you suddenly crave," Stephen says in one of his point-of-view chapters, which alternate with Lucy's. The ending is perfect, as Lucy figures out the dark secret Stephen has kept hidden and learns the difference between lustful addiction and mature love.
There are unforgettable beauties in this very sexy story.Pub Date: June 12, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5011-6964-9
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
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