August 2020

Reading Shari Lapena’s new thriller, THE END OF HER, meant that I spent a day where nothing else got done! Her books are ones that I literally inhale. I interviewed her last year, and we talked about how she carefully works to make her novels addictive --- from the overall setup to the brisk writing and the unstoppable chapter endings.

In THE END OF HER, Patrick and Stephanie Kilgour are new parents coping with twin infant girls who are colicky. Each night they walk the floors with their inconsolable girls, and then they trip through their days bleary-eyed. Stephanie is a stay-at-home mom, while Patrick is a partner in an architecture firm. While their lives are exhausting, they are happy.

Then Erica, a woman who knew Patrick before he was married to Stephanie, shows up. She has things to say about him that make Stephanie wonder just who her husband really is. Patrick was married before, which Stephanie knew. Patrick’s wife, Lindsey, died, which she also knew. But Erica, who was Lindsey’s best friend, has a different story about what happened. So why is Erica here now, and what does she want? Suddenly, what may have happened back in Colorado with Lindsey grabs the attention of the authorities, and Patrick is in their crosshairs.

Readers get spun around and around as Shari sends us in many directions, right up until the ending. I loved it.