A sometimes-messy real estate tale with a surprising twist that rewards steadfast readers.
A Miami real estate agent deals with personal and professional challenges.
In this debut contemporary novel, Eliah Selig is a successful, high-end real estate professional, selling expensive condos and overseeing construction projects in South Florida. Eli lives with Haile Giles, his longtime best friend, and the two—who have a platonic relationship—introduce themselves as brother and sister. The story alternates among chapters narrated by Eli, Haile, and Janna Cooper, a real estate agent who joins Eli’s company. Janna repeatedly propositions Eli, who has no desire to get involved with a co-worker, and later starts an affair with one of their clients. Meanwhile, Haile’s chapters reveal her mental health issues related to her childhood sexual abuse at the hands of her father, which she is still dealing with as she reaches middle age. When the client’s marriage implodes and he ends the affair, Janna sues Eli for sexual harassment in retribution. Matters come to a head at Eli’s elaborate 50th birthday party. The tale largely holds together because of a last-chapter twist that turns what often seems like irrelevant and meandering details into crucial developments in the plot and characterizations. But the clues that make sense in retrospect are easy to dismiss as artifacts of insufficient editing, since the book suffers from unpolished grammar (frequent, unnecessary capitalization and misuse of commas) and minor errors (Haile’s dog is called both heand sheon the same page twice). The story’s sense of place is one of its strengths. Fabian does an excellent job of capturing the details of South Florida’s elite, from Botox and fashion designer Lilly Pulitzer to apology gifts from Tiffany and moccasins worn without socks (“Just as the women wore an array of slinky clothes the men had a signature look too”). As many of the tale’s thought-provoking psychological insights are only evident once the twist is revealed, readers will have to be patient as the characters, all damaged, make self-destructive and often perplexing choices. The story’s resolution is ultimately satisfying, but it would be helped by a more refined prose style.
A sometimes-messy real estate tale with a surprising twist that rewards steadfast readers.Pub Date: March 17, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-66782-106-1
Page Count: 150
Publisher: BookBaby
Review Posted Online: Jan. 31, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Lapena’s talents shine in this irresistible novel about revenge, betrayal, and secrets.
So many suspects, so little evidence in Lapena’s latest tale of domestic suspense.
Busy mom Bryden Frost doesn’t see it coming after a morning fender bender involving a Tesla and its charming owner, Derek Gardner, sets her on a collision course with fate. Or does it? Just as in her other fast-moving, women-centric novels, including her breakout The Couple Next Door (2016), Lapena’s female protagonists appear to be living normal lives that some people might even envy—at least at first. When Bryden’s husband, Sam, returns home from work in Albany, New York, to find her missing but her purse and phone still in their apartment, a police investigation ensues. Did Bryden run away? Was she kidnapped? Or could she still be somewhere in the building? Sam is the prime suspect until police Det. Jayne Salter and her team hear from a source that Bryden was having an affair with Derek, something he denies. As Lapena builds her twisty plot, we soon see that these two men aren’t the only people who could be responsible for Bryden’s disappearance. Her sister, Lizzie, who has always been jealous of Bryden, has an addiction she’s hiding from the police, and Bryden’s best friend, Paige, carries a damaging secret as well. And what about the neighbor who was recently accused but not charged with kidnapping and raping a woman? Lapena excavates everyone’s secrets, exposing what’s really going on in the lives of Bryden’s family and friends. None of it is pretty. Lapena’s timely tale mixes the formidable dangers involved with online true-crime addiction with classic police work in a story that will make you wonder what secrets your family and friends are hiding and who, if anyone, you really know or can trust.
Lapena’s talents shine in this irresistible novel about revenge, betrayal, and secrets.Pub Date: July 29, 2025
ISBN: 9780593832448
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Pamela Dorman/Viking
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An enjoyable visit with an old character, but not one of Ware’s strongest.
Travel writer Lo Blacklock is back. Ten years after the events of The Woman in Cabin 10 (2016), she's attending the opening of a lavish Swiss hotel when, once again, a mystery intervenes.
A decade after she almost died on a luxury cruise and ended up exposing a murder plot, travel journalist Laura “Lo” Blacklock is trying to get back into the business post-Covid-19 and post–maternity leave. When she's invited to an exclusive hotel launch by the Leidmann Group on the shores of Switzerland’s gorgeous Lake Geneva, her supportive husband, Judah, insists that she should go, and her old boss, Rowan, says that if Lo can score an interview with the reclusive Marcus Leidmann, she’ll publish it in the Financial Times. Leaving Judah and the kids at home in New York, Lo is surprised by a last-minute upgrade to first class, which kicks off her trip in style. The hotel is appropriately awe-inspiring in both scenic location and effortless luxury, and Lo starts to put the memories of last trip’s trauma behind her, thinking that maybe she can just enjoy the experience this time. But then, at dinner, she's surprised to see at least three guests who were also on that original cruise, and when she finds a mysterious note in her room saying "Please come to suite 11 as soon as possible," she gets another shock. To quote William Faulkner, she realizes that “the past is never dead,” and soon Lo is careening across Europe on her way to England, only to find herself embroiled in another murder. The back half of the novel offers her the opportunity to continue her amateur sleuthing, and while she avoids much of the physical danger that plagued her on the cruise a decade ago, she is in very real legal trouble. This is the prolific Ware’s first sequel, and it's fun to spend time with Lo again, as she's both savvy and kindhearted. Unfortunately, the mystery is not as atmospheric and gripping as usual for Ware, though even a lesser Ruth Ware thriller is still worth reading.
An enjoyable visit with an old character, but not one of Ware’s strongest.Pub Date: July 8, 2025
ISBN: 9781668025628
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Scout Press/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2025
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