Title: Friends Like These by Kimberly McCreight
Publisher: Harper
Genre: Contemporary, Domestic Mystery
Length: 320 pages
Book Rating: B+
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss
Summary:
In this relentlessly twisty literary thriller from New York Times bestselling author Kimberly McCreight, a desperate intervention brings together a group of college friends 10 years after graduation—a reunion marked by lies, betrayal, and murder.
Everyone has those friends. Doesn’t matter how long it’s been, or how badly they’ve occasionally behaved, or how late it is when that call finally comes—you show up. No questions asked.
Honestly, that’s how the five of us ended up here in the Catskills. We did have the best of intentions. Especially after what happened to Alice all those years ago, we can’t bear to think of losing anyone else. In fact, we’ll do anything to make sure that doesn’t happen. We’ll go so much farther than we ever thought we would.
In the end, maybe that’s what caught up with us. That, and the fact that we’re such a complicated group—so much history and so many big personalities. Secrets, too, that can slip out at the most inopportune moments. Of course, we love each other despite all of those things. We love each other no matter what.
There’s something so beautiful about that kind of unconditional love. It can turn ugly, though. Or maybe that’s just us. After all, we’ve already been through so much together. And we have so very much to hide.
Review:
Friends Like These by Kimberly McCreight is a suspense-laden domestic mystery that is fast-paced.
Jonathan Cheung is hosting his longtime college friends for a weekend at his guest house in the Catskills. Although years have passed since graduation, he, Maeve Travis, Stephanie Allen, Derrick Chism and Keith Lazard have remained fairly close. Their weekend is off to an uneasy beginning when art gallery owner Keith brings his star artist Finch Hendrix with him. Then Jonathan’s contractors show up angrily demanding money for unpaid bills. He is in the complete dark about the past due bill since his fiancé Peter has been handling the renovation. By Sunday morning, one of the group is dead and Kaaterskill Detective Julia Scutt is asking uncomfortable questions they would very much rather not answer. Who is the victim? And who is responsible for what might just be murder?
Although one member of their friends died back in college, she is very much a part of the weekend get together. Jonathan, Maeve, Stephanie, Derrick and Keith have been keeping a huge secret about something that occurred while they were college students. Despite what happened back then, most of them have gone on to have lucrative careers. But have any of them truly moved on with their lives?
Over the course of the weekend, the chapters alternate between the various characters’ points of view. Jonathan has the best of intentions with the reason for the weekend but Finch’s unexpected appearance disrupts their plans. He is deliberately provoking reactions from everyone, but for what purpose? Everyone is already on edge when their first evening comes to a tense end. It will be up to Detective Scutt to attempt pry the truth out of them about what happened between then and the death of one of their own. Will she be able to uncover the secrets the group is obviously trying to keep hidden?
Friends Like These is an edge of the seat domestic mystery that is impossible to put down. The characters are well-developed but most of them are not easy to like. The chapters alternate between the different characters perspectives which provides interesting insight about each of them. The victim’s identity is kept tightly under wraps which adds an extra layer of stress to an already fraught weekend gathering. With jaw-dropping plot twists, Kimberly McCreight brings this stunning domestic mystery to an absolutely unpredictable conclusion.
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