Lying With Strangers
by James Grippando
I love
Grippando's Jack Swyteck series, but I enjoyed this stand-alone
story even more. Doctor Peyton Shields and her lawyer husband, Kevin
Stokes, are great characters. They both seem to have bright futures,
but Kevin feels inferior to his charismatic wife. It will probably
be years before he attains partnership status in the law firm he
works for, and she is already a respected physician and high earner.
Kevin thinks he has wasted the past five years and is now secretly
pursuing a career in writing. Kevin and Peyton suspect each other
of infidelity, and their failure to trust each other makes them
vulnerable to a psycho who has become obsessed with Peyton.
Peyton's car is run off the road and into a lake during a winter
storm. She is rescued by a stranger but then left alone in the freezing
snow . Peyton is convinced that it was not an accident. Her laptop
is stolen, and roses and notes are left for her by a mysterious
someone... She is just sure it is her former lover. Then, when her
ex-boyfriend is murdered, both she and Kevin are indicted for the
killing. The interplay between Peyton and the stalker in the Internet
chat-rooms is a bit confusing. She just doesn't seem like someone
who would do that...and, when some transcripts of these sexually
explicit emails turn up in Peyton's home and her nine millimeter
hand gun is missing, she looks like the murderer.
I was a bit put off by Peyton's pursuit of her former lover, and
her belief that he is her stalker feels like a contrived plot twist.
In spite of that, Lying with Strangers is a fine psychological
thriller that kept me reading long into the night. Grippando does
have some unique surprises in store for readers, and I could not
guess the unexpected, stunning climax.
|
The
Reviewer |
Beverly
J. Rowe |
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