The background of The Lies We Trade, the debut domestic thriller by Kristine Delano, is Wall Street. I admit I know nothing about the trading of stocks, the formation of ETFs, and other financial details. So while I love a good suspense novel, this book’s setting was as foreign as they come. But Delano did a great job of establishing an accessible backstory for main character Meredith Hansel while creating a riveting plot of betrayal in both her personal and professional lives. This book was definitely an edge-of-the seat read with lots of twists and turns. I especially liked the family life portrayed in the book. I don’t often run across a suspense novel in which the main character has a husband and kids. Even without all the nefarious work goings-on, Meredith has her hands full with a less than forthcoming teenager and a marriage that is teetering on a precipice. I loved that neither her work life or her home life were shorted — Meredith had work to do in both areas. The ending was surprising as well. All in all, The Lies We Trade kept me guessing and thinking. Kudos to Delano in this first offering. I hope there will be many more.
Recommended.
Audience: Adults.
(I purchased the Kindle version of this book. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)
A high-powered Wall Street career, a beautiful family in a quiet suburban neighborhood—she seems to have everything. Which means she has everything to lose.
Meredith Hansel should be having the best week of her life. After establishing herself as a portfolio manager at a prestigious Wall Street firm, she’s in the national spotlight for the innovative funds she created. But as Meredith prepares to celebrate, the plates she’s kept spinning for years begin to crash: Her strained marriage reaches a breaking point. Her conscientious teenage daughter acts out under mysterious pressures. Someone vandalizes her home with disturbing graffiti. And Betsey, her most trusted ally at the financial firm, goes rogue, and Meredith is forced to sign a restraining order against her.
Then her worlds collide when she receives a thumb drive and a cryptic note from Betsey threatening to reveal a secret that could have devastating effects on Meredith’s family . . . unless she can figure out what Betsey wants and deliver it in time.
As Meredith begins to dig into the data, however, she begins to suspect that it’s no coincidence her life is crumbling. That maybe what’s happening to her family is connected to what’s boiling beneath the surface at her investment company. Soon Meredith realizes there’s only one way to avoid taking the fall, and it all hinges on Betsey’s true motives. Was she really threatening Meredith or trying to warn her?
Kristine Delano is a former Wall Street executive turned award-winning author of domestic thrillers set in the high-stakes finance world. She hosts the We Talk Careers podcast and mentors women on work-life balance. When she’s not writing or reading, she enjoys scuba diving, playing games with friends, and chasing her family down the ski slopes of western Maine.
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