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3.42 AVERAGE
3.42 AVERAGE
2.5 stars.
My main issue with this one is it’s just too long- the central mystery just isn’t interesting enough to warrant a 400+ page book
My main issue with this one is it’s just too long- the central mystery just isn’t interesting enough to warrant a 400+ page book
Heidi Perks taps into water cooler drama on steroids at an advertising firm in a town south of London, its building standing like a giant glass beacon and blocking the view of the quay. Laura was a rising star at the firm, and is ready to get back in the saddle when she returns from her six month maternity leave.
To Laura’s dismay, the temp she hired before she left is still sitting in her seat. Mia has been offered a permanent position, and to rub more salt into the wound, the officemates seems to love her. Laura is the exact prim and proper opposite of bubbly and sweet Mia. Laura can tell that Mia is trying to edge Laura out by taking her most prized account. The story continues to show Laura’s rising stress and struggle with balancing life as a new mother and the pressure of keeping up at the office.
However, it is not all sunshine and roses with Mia, and she seems to be having problems at home. To top off the tension, the office building is burned down. Who is the arson? Laced through this look back at the recent history of Laura returning and Mia finding her place on the team, inspectors investigate and interview the employees. It seems like one of these competing women may be the culprit.
While this story was filled with juicy gossip, competition, the realities of being a working mother, and women pushing against toxic masculinity, it was not the most enthralling story. Even though I’m sitting at home while I work, I don’t have a huge desire to spend my off hours being reminded of more work. I couldn’t see much proof that Mia was taking Laura’s job other than taking one of her accounts, and I was confused that Laura could be so busy with work when the rest of her workload seemed like scraps in comparison to the account she had lost. And then, to know she wasted a solid hour and half cyber stalking Mia for dirt made me wonder if she really was working. Go home, Laura, you can dig up dirt from your couch!
All in all, not a bad a read, but not the most suspenseful thriller.
To Laura’s dismay, the temp she hired before she left is still sitting in her seat. Mia has been offered a permanent position, and to rub more salt into the wound, the officemates seems to love her. Laura is the exact prim and proper opposite of bubbly and sweet Mia. Laura can tell that Mia is trying to edge Laura out by taking her most prized account. The story continues to show Laura’s rising stress and struggle with balancing life as a new mother and the pressure of keeping up at the office.
However, it is not all sunshine and roses with Mia, and she seems to be having problems at home. To top off the tension, the office building is burned down. Who is the arson? Laced through this look back at the recent history of Laura returning and Mia finding her place on the team, inspectors investigate and interview the employees. It seems like one of these competing women may be the culprit.
While this story was filled with juicy gossip, competition, the realities of being a working mother, and women pushing against toxic masculinity, it was not the most enthralling story. Even though I’m sitting at home while I work, I don’t have a huge desire to spend my off hours being reminded of more work. I couldn’t see much proof that Mia was taking Laura’s job other than taking one of her accounts, and I was confused that Laura could be so busy with work when the rest of her workload seemed like scraps in comparison to the account she had lost. And then, to know she wasted a solid hour and half cyber stalking Mia for dirt made me wonder if she really was working. Go home, Laura, you can dig up dirt from your couch!
All in all, not a bad a read, but not the most suspenseful thriller.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book lived up to the hype for me. I love ensemble casts and this book had an interesting mixture of the POV of the three main women as well as interview interludes. The interludes allowed me to anticipate what I believe happened and to connect the dots. It was an intriguing foreshadowing device.
An interesting if slow read about the complex interconnections of the lives of three women. The flashbacks along with the police interviews in the present made an unusual narrative, and I wish the book had carried on this way somehow. A certain suspension of disbelief is required in terms of the what (and who) tied the women together, though.
(Review copy from NetGalley)
(Review copy from NetGalley)
When Laura returns to her job after six month of maternity leave, she expects Mia, who substituted her in this time, to be gone. Yet, the young woman is still there, at Laura’s desk and with Laura’s most valuable customer and: she got a permanent contract. Laura is furious and soon convinced that there is something wrong with that seemingly sympathetic colleague who makes friends with everybody easily. The more Laura digs into it, the more paranoid she gets, neglecting her husband and young son, her mind only circulating around how to dethrone the enemy. Mia actually has something to hide and yes, there was a reason why she rushed to this rural area and wanted explicitly to work in this company. Janie, Laura and Mia’s boss Harry’s wife, on the contrary, is a full time mom and at the moment totally frustrated. It is not just that she has given up a splendid career, something is nagging on her and slowly destroying her marriage. When one evening, the offices burn down, all three of them seem to have had good reasons to destroy the company. But, did they also count on killing somebody inside the building?
Heidi Perks’s mystery is a marvellous story which hooked me immediately and keep me reading on as soon as I had started. Three female protagonists are very different from each other and hard to see through at the beginning. But the more you see them interact with each other, the more suspicious you get and while I was reading, I was constantly shifting sympathies since every piece of information added to the picture and slightly changed it.
At first, I felt compassionate for Laura. Coming back after months at home now struggling with her new role as mother and having a career at the same time. Her husband’s constant criticism – even though completely justified – and having somebody younger and attractive stealing her post while her boss lacked supporting her: I could easily understand why she felt like losing all confidence in herself and increasingly getting obsessed with Mia. I didn’t really like the later at first, mainly due to the fact that she was presented through Laura’s point of view, she seemed like an intruder with evil intentions. Yet, there was also another side which she kept from the office and which told an entirely different story. I didn’t know what to do with Janie, was it just lamenting at a very high level? Having a wonderful family and lots of money, what did she have to complain about? It was herself who suggested giving up her career. She was certainly the character least tangible of the three and her motives of ending her marriage remained quite blurry until the end.
A brilliantly crafted plot with a very female and perfidious fight between the three. There was also something really tragic about the story when the motives were finally revealed which kept me pondering about the fact that how easily you put together an allegedly coherent picture of a person or a situation while you might be totally wrong.
Heidi Perks’s mystery is a marvellous story which hooked me immediately and keep me reading on as soon as I had started. Three female protagonists are very different from each other and hard to see through at the beginning. But the more you see them interact with each other, the more suspicious you get and while I was reading, I was constantly shifting sympathies since every piece of information added to the picture and slightly changed it.
At first, I felt compassionate for Laura. Coming back after months at home now struggling with her new role as mother and having a career at the same time. Her husband’s constant criticism – even though completely justified – and having somebody younger and attractive stealing her post while her boss lacked supporting her: I could easily understand why she felt like losing all confidence in herself and increasingly getting obsessed with Mia. I didn’t really like the later at first, mainly due to the fact that she was presented through Laura’s point of view, she seemed like an intruder with evil intentions. Yet, there was also another side which she kept from the office and which told an entirely different story. I didn’t know what to do with Janie, was it just lamenting at a very high level? Having a wonderful family and lots of money, what did she have to complain about? It was herself who suggested giving up her career. She was certainly the character least tangible of the three and her motives of ending her marriage remained quite blurry until the end.
A brilliantly crafted plot with a very female and perfidious fight between the three. There was also something really tragic about the story when the motives were finally revealed which kept me pondering about the fact that how easily you put together an allegedly coherent picture of a person or a situation while you might be totally wrong.
Wow! Absolutely LOVED this book from start to finish. I started the book this morning and finished it this evening as I couldn’t put it down. The character's are just so brilliant - by the end of the book I felt like I knew them. This book had me enthralled from the start. I look forward to the authors next book.
3 woman consumed with hate and bringing each other down until someone winds up dead and they all go silent.
Laura so preparing for her first day back in the office 6 months after having her son Bobby, they came to the conclusion it was better for Laura to go back to work and Nate was to stay home as she was the bread winner in the family.
Mia was Laura’s replacement for her 6 month maternity leave. But Mia wasn’t going anywhere now Laura was back. Harry their boss trying to smooth everything over yet forgetting to mention that Laura had been taken off her biggest client portfolio in the time she was away.
Jaime was the picture perfect house wife who’s world revolved around her girls and her husband Harry, Laura and Mia’s boss. She gave up her courtroom career to make Harry’s dreams come true. Her lady cause still hunting her 5 years later.
There was a body pulled out of their burning building and the three women are first in line to be questioned. They all have a secret that could easily become motive to kill. But who did it? I forgot how much I loved thrillers. Even though I did piece together the ending this book was so well put together.
Laura so preparing for her first day back in the office 6 months after having her son Bobby, they came to the conclusion it was better for Laura to go back to work and Nate was to stay home as she was the bread winner in the family.
Mia was Laura’s replacement for her 6 month maternity leave. But Mia wasn’t going anywhere now Laura was back. Harry their boss trying to smooth everything over yet forgetting to mention that Laura had been taken off her biggest client portfolio in the time she was away.
Jaime was the picture perfect house wife who’s world revolved around her girls and her husband Harry, Laura and Mia’s boss. She gave up her courtroom career to make Harry’s dreams come true. Her lady cause still hunting her 5 years later.
There was a body pulled out of their burning building and the three women are first in line to be questioned. They all have a secret that could easily become motive to kill. But who did it? I forgot how much I loved thrillers. Even though I did piece together the ending this book was so well put together.
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes