Keep Your Friends Close by Leah Konen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
**3.5-stars rounded up**
Separated from her husband, George, and embroiled in a tense custody battle over their 2-year old, Mary needs a friend to support her now more than ever.
She realizes, as she tries to put her life back together, that over time she’s become estranged from the friends she had before she and George married. He took over her life. He changed her. She feels very alone.
It’s at this low point when Mary happens to meet Willa at a playground in her Brooklyn neighborhood. Mary has never connected with another Mom organically like this before, so it feels a bit fated. Willa seems equally receptive.
The two become fast friends and Mary feels like she finally has someone she can confide in about everything she is currently going through.
One night though, after too many margaritas, Mary says some things about George that she later regrets. It seems too have turned Willa off as well, because after that night, Mary doesn’t hear from her again.
Willa ghosted her.
A couple of months later, fed up with all things Brooklyn and with their divorce almost finalized, Mary decides she needs a completely fresh start.
She travels to a town halfway between NYC and her hometown, where her family still lives. She figures this will be a fair middle ground when sharing custody of Alex.
It’s there that she bumps into Willa again, only Willa pretends not to know who she is. Oh yeah, and she claims her name isn’t Willa, she’s Annie. What the heck is going on? Mary feels like she’s losing her mind.
Things go from bad to worse, when George tracks her down to try to win her back. Mary doesn’t want any of this. She just wants a new life.
When George turns up dead shortly thereafter, Mary quickly becomes the prime suspect. With no one else to turn to, Mary seeks out Willa again for help.
As new evidence comes to light, Mary starts to wonder just how well she really knows Willa, if at all. Is she friend, foe, or something much, much worse? Mary needs to figure it out ASAP before she loses even more than she already has!
Keep Your Friends Close is an entertaining and fast-paced Domestic Thriller. Konen kept the drama high throughout, so it’s easy to fly through. You want to get to the truth.
I liked the back and forth between Then and Now sections as the full scope of Mary’s relationship with Willa, as well as the dissolution of her marriage are presented to the Reader. I actually really enjoyed getting to know Mary.
I think Konen did a great job of keeping me at the edge of my seat with short chapters and several mini-reveals. Just when I thought it was starting to come together, something else would come up that would leave me scratching my head.
I also appreciated getting Willa’s perspective a bit as well. That helped to fill in some of the finer details of what all had happened in this messed up friendship.
I will say towards the end, it did start to get a little convoluted, IMO. It definitely toed the line into the dreaded, one twist too many territory. However, the ultimate conclusion did leave me satisfied.
I would recommend this to Readers who enjoy Thriller, or Suspense stories, involving complicated Female Friendships. Bonus if you love a Twisted Domestic Drama. This one definitely went there as well.
Thank you, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I enjoyed this and am definitely planning to read more from Leah Konen!