Day: September 28, 2020

I have read three of this author’s books (The Good Neighbor, The Good Mother, and The Guest), and I usually find them to be decent psychological thrillers. This one is no exception.

One of the hallmarks of a good psych thriller is keeping the reader guessing right up until the very last pages. There should also be a good number of twists and maybe even a few red herrings to keep that thrill going.

This book had both of those in spades.

From the title and description, I thought that it would be a completely different plot than what it ended up being, so that was pleasantly surprising. I enjoyed that aspect of it.

I liked the juxtaposition between Vanessa and Laura. In spite of their differences in jobs (and attitudes), they actually had more in common than either one realized, which made their conflict a little more interesting.

While their interactions were realistic, I found each of them on their own to be a little bit more confusing. Vanessa ran very hot and cold about her working relationship with her boss. It wasn’t until very late in the book that it became clear as to why she was confused. It also took a couple of eye-opening events for her to see the truth.

Laura was more of an enigma to me. She started out as a seemingly bitchy workmate, but quickly revealed herself to be overambitious and driven. But to what detriment? Has she always been this way? And what really happened with her ex-husband?

That last question sat with me for a long time, because I felt like there was more to the story that we never got. Her memories of time with him seemed to stop abruptly when there was more to be mined.

I did feel like the plot lost focus a bit. It almost seemed like the author wanted to cover too much: workplace gossip, the drive to succeed, the struggle of women in the workplace, how simple moments can be misunderstood leading to bigger problems….there was a lot to unpack.

I did think the author used a unique way to show how much Laura’s fears preyed on her mind. And her obsession with running was a great metaphor for her work life. I thought that was particularly well-done.

All told, this story did have me guessing right up until the final pages. That wasn’t entirely because there was “edge of my seat” action, but because I kept trying to figure out where the main point of everything was. As I said, it got a bit muddled and unfocused.

I’m going to go with “ambition can be a killer and drive a person mad.” You’ll have to read the book to find out why.

About Cathryn Grant:

Cathryn Grant writes psychological thrillers, psychological suspense, and ghost stories. She’s the author of twenty-three novels. She’s loved crime fiction all her life and is endlessly fascinated by the twists and turns, and the dark corners of the human mind.

When she’s not writing, Cathryn reads fiction, eavesdrops, and tries to play golf without hitting her ball into the sand or the water. She lives on the Central California coast with her husband and two cats.

Cathryn is the author of The Guest, The Good Mother and other psychological thrillers. THE ASSISTANT will be her fourth novel published with Inkubator Books.