February 2009

A RELIABLE WIFE opens with Ralph Truitt standing on a train platform on a cold winter morning waiting for a woman who had answered his ad looking for "a reliable wife," "a simple honest woman." But Catherine Land is not the woman who she appears to be, and she, like Ralph, has secrets to hide.

Thus their story takes you on a very wild ride that is neither quiet nor placid. Passion, lust and greed motivate the characters. Readers will not be able to look away until they read the final page, lured in by a plot that continually delivers and writing that is careful but never precious. Every look has meaning; every plot twist propels the story faster. It's just brilliant.