The Secretary by Renee Knight

I've read so many husband-wife thrillers over the past few years it was refreshing to read a thriller that took place in a work environment; one that is between a female executive and her personal assistant. Office power struggles take on a whole new meaning in The Secretary.  

Told from the perspective of Christine Butcher, PA to Mina Appleton, we are looking back with Christine over the past 18 years of her life working for Mina. What started out as a seemingly innocent opportunity for a full-time job with great pay and benefits turned into a nightmare for Christine. A nightmare that cost her her marriage and her family, and left her completely reliant on Mina and her job as the only things that mattered in her life. 

You, as the reader, know from the beginning that something bad has happened, and Christine spends most of the novel giving you  plenty of foreshadowing. Mina is a manipulative, conniving, horrible woman who--you guessed it--puts on a face for the public that has everyone convinced she's actually a warm, wonderful, brilliant executive for her family's grocery company, Appleton's. Mina does what it takes to kick her father (the founder of the company) out of the business, and take it over in order to become one of the top grocery chains in England. Christine is along for the ride, making sure Mina's every wish, demand, and desire are taken care of; Christine will do whatever she has to in order to stay on Mina's good side. Unfortunately for Christine, she's just being used and falls for Mina's manipulative ways. She realizes too late just what Mina will do and who she'll ruin in order to keep herself on top. 

It's easy to see how loving your job can evolve into something that occupies more and more of your time. We've all done that at some point in our lives. At first, I got Christine's desire to prove herself indispensable and wanting to give her all. But after her marriage ends, and her relationship with her daughter grows distant, I felt alarmed and desperately wanted Christine to wake up! 

It takes a public humiliation before Christine wakes up, but she eventually does. And when she does, hoo boy, Mina has no idea what's about to happen. The ending may surprise some; for others, it may seem over the top. How far would you go to destroy someone who destroyed you?

Thank you to HarperCollins for sending me an advanced copy of this novel. It's definitely a thriller, and a look at the art of manipulation. It's a quick read; I read it in one day and couldn't put it down. 

Available in the U.S. on February 12 in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

Rating: 4/6 for a different kind of relationship-thriller-drama; this time it takes place in the business world. A novel of loyalty, manipulation, and revenge. 

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The Secretary by Renee Knight

Freefall by Jessica Barry

A big thanks to Harper Collins for sending me a copy of this novel. I probably wouldn't have read it otherwise. Sometimes being presented with a book is a good thing; it's nice to have someone else say "Here! Read this!" instead of me always deciding what to read next. 

Freefall is a fast paced novel about a plane crash, a woman's struggle to survive the wilderness, and a mother's struggle to understand the reasons her daughter was on a small plane with her fiancé that crashed in the mountains of Colorado. Told in the voices of Allison and her mother Maggie, the novel has short chapters that lend to the increasing urgency of uncovering the mysteries of Allison's life in San Diego. Back in her hometown of Owl's Creek, Maine, Maggie is grieving over the loss of her daughter and having a hard time believing she's dead, since her body has not been found in the plane wreckage. 

You, as the reader, know Allison survived the crash, and although injured, is moving through the Colorado wilderness in search of safety. She knows someone is after her and wants to kill her. 

The plot unfolds over a few weeks, and I have to give a shout out to the author for making Maggie's former career as a librarian an important part of the plot. Feeling restless and needing answers, Maggie returns to her former library to do some investigating online. As she slowly uncovers bits of Allison's life in San Diego, she has more questions than answers, and her feeling that Allison was involved in something dangerous keeps growing stronger. But was Allison involved in something that puts her mother in danger, too?

There's more to the story, of course. Maggie and Allison haven't spoken to each other for over two years, after Maggie's husband and Allison's father died of colon cancer. Maggie has no idea what Allison's been doing with her life, and while we are on Allison's journey with her, we learn what's happened to her, and the downward spiral her life took after her father died. How did Allison go from a bright, ambitious magazine writer to the brittle, controlled finance of a pharmaceutical genius? Her journey is pretty fascinating, and it's also fascinating to see what Maggie uncovers in her quest to understand her daughter's life. 

This is a pretty good thriller, with plenty of moments of high tension. You'll find yourself cheering Allison on as she doesn't give up, but keeps moving forward. Her reflections on her life, her growing terror that her mother is also in danger, and her transformation from a fragile controlled woman to one of independence and strength are all strong elements of the plot. The bad guys in this novel are definitely bad and ruthless. 

Rating: 5/6 for a thriller that grabs you from the first page and keeps you engaged and rooting for both women. As the plot unfolds, danger creeps closer, and you won't be able to put it down. 

Available in hardcover, ebook, and audio. 

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Freefall by Jessica Barry

Always by Sarah Jio

I faithfully read every new Sarah Jio novel and I haven't been disappointed.  Until now, darn it.  I don't like to give unfavorable reviews, but this one just didn't do it for me at all. 

Sarah returns to Seattle, which is the setting for most of her novels.  This time, the story bounces between 1996-1998 and 2008, as Kailey Crain is caught between her past and her future.  As a new resident of Seattle in 1996, Kailey meets Cade McAllister one night.  He's a successful music label owner who has a sixth sense about new artists, and Seattle in the 1990's was full of grunge rockers (Nirvana anyone?) trying to break out.  Kailey's love for Cade is shattered in 1998 when things go bad, and Cade leaves Kailey's life.  Heartbroken, she moves away, only to come back to Seattle years later, and fall in love with Ryan, a successful businessman.  They're engaged, and ready to begin life together.  But one night, leaving a restaurant, Kailey spots a homeless man standing outside the restaurant.  It's Cade.  He doesn't recognize Kailey, but she recognizes him, and, well, you know where this is going. 

What follows is Kailey's growing involvement in finding Cade, getting him help, and understanding what happened to leave him homeless, broken, and apparently without any memories of his previous life.  Kailey's job as a reporter covering a potential business deal that could detrimentally effect the homeless of Seattle keeps her in moving in Cade's world of homeless people who wander the streets and take up valuable real estate (according to Ryan's business connections).  What's she going to do?  And how long can she keep this secret from Ryan?  And why would she keep Cade a secret?  

This story just didn't live up to Sarah's previous novels.  It was maudlin, and this comes from someone who can take a lot of saccharine.  Kailey's life just seemed absolutely fantastical, and the tossing around of famous music names and songs just got old.  I have no desire to revisit the 1990's music scene in Seattle.  None of it felt very authentic to me.  At the end, I felt that there was never going to be a complete contentment from Kailey with the choices she made--and they were big choices.  

Drats.  I was disappointed in this one.  If you're a fan, by all means don't let this review stop you from reading Sarah.  I'll keep reading her; I just think this one missed the mark.  It felt like a very cheesy movie.

Rating:  1/6 for a story that just was too hard to believe, a heroine who didn't feel authentic to me, and ugh-an ode to 90's grunge music. 

Available in hardcover, audio, and e-book. 

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Always by Sarah Jio