Review by Booklist Review
Angela Powell's well-ordered, comfortable life with husband Jason and teenage son Spencer is coming apart. It was a life remade, thanks to NYU economics professor Jason, after then-teenager Angela was held captive for three years before her kidnapper was killed, and she escaped with a baby boy. Now, as she continues to keep her past hidden, Jason has become a media star, with a best-selling book and his own consulting firm, in addition to his tenured NYU gig. And then the trouble starts. First an intern at Jason's firm makes an accusation, followed by a more serious charge from Kerry Lynch, with whom Jason has been working as well as having an affair. High-powered defense attorney Olivia Randall (introduced in The Ex, 2016) defends Jason, while his case alternately looks better and worse as his secrets are revealed. But the wife has secrets, too, and tenacious NYPD detective Corrine Duncan keeps digging into them. With plot twists and turns to the very end, this is a tantalizing follow-up to The Ex that will keep pages turning.--Leber, Michele Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Angela Powell, the unreliable narrator of this plot-propelled roller-coaster of a domestic thriller from Edgar-finalist Burke (The Ex), is the wife of a respected NYU economics professor and rising media star and the mother of a 13-year-old. She leads a privileged, if somewhat boring life-which is precisely what she craves after miraculously surviving, as a teen, the kind of ordeal that spawns true crime tomes. But then intern Rachel Sutton accuses her husband, Jason, of sexual harassment, and a second woman comes forward to claim rape and then suddenly vanishes. NYPD Det. Corrine Duncan doggedly investigates the initial allegations and later the disappearance of consultant Kerry Lynch, who Jason claims was his mistress. In the process, Corinne uncovers Angela's painstakingly buried past, and it starts to look as though almost no one, maybe least of all Angela, is who he or she seems. As riveting as Burke's increasingly jaw-dropping twists prove, they eventually undermine the believability of her principals. Agent: Philip Spitzer, Philip Spitzer Literary Agency. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Reclusive Angela, beautiful and happily married with a 13-year-old son, lives with a dark secret that she zealously protects. She and Jason, her seriously hot media darling husband, are the perfect couple. His brilliant career as an NYU economics professor and successful consultant derails when he is accused of sexually harassing a young intern, and the publicity threatens the couple's idyllic lifestyle. When a business contact accuses Jason of rape and then disappears, their world implodes. NYPD detective Corrine Duncan tenaciously pursues these assault claims, even when they fall outside her jurisdiction, circling ever closer to Angela's closely guarded secret and Jason's deceptions. Angela's traumatic past is revealed bit by bit, but it is the shocking conclusion that provides an almost unbelievable twist. Burke's knowledge of criminal law and police procedures shines in this tangled plot with an unreliable narrator. Is anyone whom they seem to be? Verdict Edgar-nominated Burke (The Ex) has written a timely, riveting, and deeply resonant psychological suspense novel focused on sexual harassment and varying degrees of assault in both domestic and workplace settings. Fans of Linda Fairstein will devour this. [See Prepub Alert, 7/24/17.]-Gloria Drake, Oswego P.L. Dist., IL © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A woman who suffered extreme trauma in her teen years learns that her celebrity husband may be a sexual predator.Jason Powell is hot in every way. The handsome NYU professor has written a book on socially conscious investing called Equalonomics that spent nearly two years on the bestseller list. Now, in addition to his university job, he has a mega-successful consulting firm and a top-rated podcast. "I never would have predicted that my cute little egghead would become a cultural and political icon," says his wife, Angela, the narrator, who met her man during a catering gig she was working out on Long Island. Now she and Jason occupy a carriage house worth millions in Greenwich Village and send their precocious son to a pricey private school; she has the life of her dreams. Then comes the fly in the ointment, an intern named Rachel who files a complaint at the NYPD Special Victims Unit claiming that Jason made inappropriate sexual suggestions at the office. A second line of narration follows Detective Corinne Duncan as she investigates the complaint, which blows up a few days later when a second woman comes forward with a much more serious accusation. As the story explodes in the media and on the internet, Angela's reaction is a bit different than one might expect: "How long could Jason's 'scandal' make the rounds before someone started to wonder why his wife kept such a low profile?" Why, indeed. Angela's unusual and horrible secret will not completely unfold until the very end of this page-turner. Burke (The Ex, 2016, etc.) puts her experience as prosecutor to good use in her 13th novel, with detailed police work and legal machinations playing key roles.Classic domestic-thriller elementsthe too-perfect couple, the unreliable narrator, the troubled pastare given a good workout in this satisfying round of "Who's the Psycho?" Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
