Review: Every Step She Takes

I've been making up for lost time after years and years of never reading a Kelley Armstrong book - since the beginning of 2019 I've read four, including two by her alter-ego, K.L. Armstrong. The latest, just published on Tuesday, is Every Step She Takes, a thriller that kept me turning the pages until I discovered the answers I needed. I ended up finishing the book in one sitting.

Here's the synopsis:

Sometimes there's no use running from your past. . . .

Genevieve has secrets that no one knows. In Rome she can be whoever she wants to be. Her neighbours aren't nosy; her Italian is passable; the shopkeepers and restaurant owners now see her as a local, and they let her be. It's exactly what she wants.

One morning, after getting groceries, she returns to her 500-year-old Trastevere apartment. She climbs to the very top of the staircase, the stairs narrowing the higher she goes. When she gets to her door, she puts down her bags and pushes the key into the lock . . .

. . . and the door swings open.

It's unlocked. Sometimes she doesn't lock it because break-ins aren't common in Rome. But Genevieve knows she locked the door behind her this morning. She has no doubt.

She should leave, call the police. What if someone is in her apartment, waiting for her? But she doesn't.

The apartment is empty, and exactly as she left it, perfectly tidy and not a thing out of place . . . except for the small box on her kitchen table. A box that definitely wasn't there this morning. A box postmarked from the US. A box that is addressed to "Lucy Callahan."

A name that she hasn't used in ten years.

The book's description doesn't give the reader a whole lot to go on. I think that's intentional but I also think it would have been best for the reader to know going in that the main suspense isn't, actually, who sent her the package. It's what happens to that person. I think that would help the set up of the novel because I found myself just waiting for the big moment and for the suspense to truly start. Speaking of the set up...it and beginning of the novel was a tad...clunky? I guess? and didn't seem to flow as well as the rest of the story did. Maybe it's just because I was invested in the thrill and suspense by that point that I stopped worrying about word choices and how certain things were described.

Without giving anything away, I'll say that I didn't figure out the whodunnit. I had a suspicion about part of it and I was correct there but who committed the final, actual, permanent crime? Didn't even cross my mind. I did, however, guess the identity of a certain mysterious character. (And that was even with my e-galley not being formatted properly and missing a number of important instant messaging conversations.) Are you confused yet? What I'm getting at is, there were some predictable, to me, moments and others that completely surprised me. I consider that a win for a thriller.

The story itself really interested me. I was totally invested in Genevieve/Lucy, her past, and how she was going to get out of the situation she found herself in. I think it helped that we were the same age so I could kind of get into her head (both then and now) a little bit easier. I also really appreciated that Armstrong didn't use the unreliable narrator trope. That can be done well, of course, but I like when a story, especially a mystery or thriller, doesn't rely on a trope that I've been reading a lot of. 

Sure, there are some issues with Every Step She Takes. It's not what I'd call a great book but I got a lot of enjoyment out of it and didn't want to put it down, so that should tell you something about the entertainment value of it (and let's be real here, we mostly read for entertainment). I'm going to continue to check out K.L. Armstrong's books (and those she writes as Kelley, too) because she's clearly getting stronger with her thrillers and I'm curious to see what she writes next.

*An e-galley of this novel was provided by the publisher, Doubleday Canada, via NetGalley in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Review: Wherever She Goes

Unreliable female narrators seem to be in every other book these days. Which is totally fine...when they're done well, that is. Wherever She Goes was almost there. K.L. Armstrong's novel was interesting and riveting but there was something - a something small, mind you - that kept me from completely falling in love with this one.

Here's the synopsis:

"Few crimes are reported as quickly as a snatched kid."
That's what the officer tells single mother Aubrey Finch after she reports a kidnapping. So why hasn't anyone reported the little boy missing? Aubrey knows what she saw: a boy being taken against his will from the park. It doesn't matter that the mother can't be found. It doesn't matter if no one reported it. Aubrey knows he's missing.
Instead, people question her sanity. Aubrey hears the whispers. She's a former stay-at-home mom who doesn't have primary custody of her daughter, so there must be something wrong with her, right? Others may not understand her decision to walk away from her safe life at home, but years of hiding her past--even from the people she loves--were taking their toll, and Aubrey knows she can't be the mother or wife she envisions until she learns to leave her secrets behind.
When the police refuse to believe her, she realizes that rescuing the boy is up to her alone. But after all the secrets, how far is she willing to go? Even to protect a child.

I know the author name reads K.L. Armstrong but here's a not-so-secret secret: it's actually Kelley Armstrong. Here's another not-really-a-secret: I had never read her books before this year and now I've read two! This novel is, I think, a bit different from what she normally writes so the name adjustment isn't surprising.

I liked that Aubrey was, quite honestly, a hot mess. A perfect character is boring so when there are issues, it adds some depth to both the story and the personality of the character. It was also a bit heartbreaking because you could see that she was trying so hard to get herself together for the sake of her family, her daughter in particular. You want to root for her because she seems like such a decent person, deep down. But you also can't help but wonder...is the separation from her daughter warranted? Is she really in her right mind right now? Did she make up the whole kidnapping?

There were a lot of elements to this mystery but it was one of those ones you kind of sort of were able to figure out as you went along. There were still some twists that surprised me so that kept me from being bored and had me looking forward to reading through until the end.

I know it could seem like I wasn't loving this one but I definitely think it's worth a read if you like mysteries. Wherever She Goes did keep me guessing for the most part and I enjoyed reading K.L. Armstrong's novel. I'd file this one under borrow instead of buy but worth a look!

*An ARC of this novel was provided by the publisher, Doubleday Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*