Review: Her Three Lives by Cate Holahan

Title: Her Three Lives by Cate Holahan
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Domestic Mystery, Suspense
Length: 353 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

Gaslight goes high-tech in USA Today bestselling author Cate Holahan’s new standalone thriller in which a family must determine who the real enemy is after a brutal home invasion breaks their trust in each other.

Her public life

Jade Thompson has it all. She’s an up-and-coming social media influencer, and she has a beautiful new home and a successful architect for a fiancé. But there’s trouble behind the scenes. To Greg’s children, his divorce from their mother and his new life can only mean a big mid-life crisis. To Jade, his suburban Connecticut upbringing isn’t an easy match with her Caribbean roots.

Her private life

A savage home invasion leaves Greg house-bound with a traumatic brain injury and glued to the live feeds from his ubiquitous security cameras. As the police investigate the crime and Greg’s frustration and rage grows, Jade begins to wonder what he may know about their attackers. And whether they are coming back.

Her secret life

As Greg watches Jade’s comings and goings, he becomes convinced that her behavior is suspicious and that she’s hiding a big secret.  The more he sees, the more he wonders whether the break-in was really a random burglary. And whether he’s worth more to Jade if he were dead than alive.

Review:

Her Three Lives by Cate Holahan is a page-turning domestic mystery.

Thirty-two-year-old Jade Thompson is an influential life style blogger who writes about her Caribbean American culture. Following a bit of a whirlwind romance with two decades older Greg Hamlin, she is now engaged and expecting their first child. Greg is a wealthy, successful architect who is still in midst of a contentious divorce. His two adult children, twenty-three-year-old Violet and younger son Paul are not exactly thrilled with his new relationship. Despite his children’s attitudes, Greg and Jade are blissfully happy and eagerly preparing for their future together. However, their lives are shattered when Greg suffers a serious head injury and Jade miscarries during a home invasion. After he is released from the hospital, their relationship deteriorates as Greg grows suspicious that Jade might have something to with the attack. Jade is keeping secrets from her fiancé but are they related to the vicious assault?

Jade is devoted to assisting Greg during his recovery and she is also mourning the loss of their baby. She is already under stress since their attackers have not been caught when Greg decides to install a security system. Jade sometimes does not recognize the suspicious man she is now living with. After she begins receiving threatening notes in the mail, she is afraid they are connected to her past. Unable to reveal the information she has kept hidden from Greg, Jade tries to find out for sure. Will she unearth the truth about who attacked them and why?

Greg is dealing with side effects as he recovers from his head wound. Unfortunately, he fears losing Jade if he reveals any weaknesses. So, he works hard to keep up a façade of strength when he is around her. Greg also ignores his doctor’s admonition to work with a counselor to deal with his PTSD. With his paranoia and fear of being attacked again rising, he installs a plethora of security cameras both inside and outside of their home. His daughter Violet stokes his fears about Jade and he grows increasingly distrustful of his fiancée. As his temper rises, what will Greg do about his suspicions about Jade?

Her Three Lives is a suspense-laden domestic mystery. Jade is a vibrantly-developed character who is proud of her heritage and shaped by her life experiences. Greg’s wealth insulates him ordinary life which contributes to his unwarranted but very real fears after the brutal assault.  The storyline is fast-paced and the tension increases with every chapter. With clever misdirects, Cate Holahan brings this riveting mystery to an unpredictable dénouement. I absolutely loved and highly recommend this thrilling domestic mystery to fans of the genre.

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Filed under Cate Holahan, Contemporary, Domestic Mystery, Grand Central Publishing, Her Three Lives, Mystery, Rated B+, Review, Suspense

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