By Kimberly McCreight
This book is about a woman found dead in a pool of blood at the bottom of the stairs. It is a very similar situation to Michael Peterson and The Staircase. Did the husband do it? Zach Grayson, said husband, calls an old friend from college, Lizzy Kitsakis, to represent him after already being arraigned and denied bail for the crime. Lizzy, who has only litigated white-collar crime previously, encourages him to find a different lawyer. She is trying to hold on to the fraying edges of of a disintegrating marriage, but Zach, as always, has different plans.
The reader keeps uncovering more levels of the destitution that Lizzy’s marriage to Sam has reached. Most of this seems to be at the fault of Sam’s alcoholism, but Lizzy has secrets too.
As for Zach and his wife, Amanda, their life seems ideal from the outside. He has done well financially, becoming a super rich entrepreneur and moving his family to New York to start yet another successful business. Amanda runs his newly-formed charitable foundation, takes care of their son, and spends time with her new friends and their spouses. It seems perfect. But Amanda and Zach hardly spend any time together, with him actually telling his assistant not to allow any calls from her through to him. He demands absolute obedience from every person in his life. Yet a piece of Amanda’s past has never cared about the rules, and is circling ever closer to her.
This book kept me guessing! There are so many themes that are touched upon along with twists and turns I never saw coming! Murder is foremost, of course, but also stalking, molestation, and cyber crimes involving the exploitation of minors is also explored. White collar crimes of embezzlement, hacking into a school, fraud, and corruption occur. The strain of mental illnesses such as addiction, paranoia, narcissism, schizophrenia, and sociopathy is evident on the actions of the periphery players around the characters’ afflictions.
Plus, the idea of a perfect marriage is constantly attacked. Can it exist with infidelity or an “open” arrangement? Is a lack of complete honesty kind or divisive? Can two people have different priorities and share a life? Ultimately, can people make a meaningful, lasting change to make a relationship work and put another’s happiness before their own?
Soundtrack
- Suspicious Minds by Elvis
- Somebody’s Watching Me by Rockwell
- Somebody’s Eyes by Karla Bonoff
- Unwell by Matchbox 20
- Who Can it Be Now by Men at Work
- You’re No Good by Linda Ronstadt
Pros & Cons & Potential Spoilers
Pros
- Fast-paced! Didn’t have a lot of time to predict all the crazy turns that happened so I kept reading faster and so the cycle continues
- Every time you think you have a character figured out, they suprise you – sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s very bad
- People who should be there end up in jail
Cons
- The only reason it didn’t get five stars – I wanted to bad guys to suffer a bit more (I’m not proud of my vengeful side). Sure they are eventually caught, but the damage inflicted vs the punishment – doesn’t seem fair
- I was forced to suspect some characters I really liked of murder
- Money and status seem to define quite a few characters