Title: Believe Me
Author: JP Delaney
Publisher: Quercus
[Synopsis]
A struggling actor, a Brit in America without a green card, Claire needs work and money to survive. Then she gets both. But nothing like she expected.
Claire agrees to become a decoy for a firm of divorce lawyers. Hired to entrap straying husbands, she must catch them on tape with their seductive propositions. The rules? Never hit on the mark directly. Make it clear you’re available, but he has to proposition you, not the other way around. The firm is after evidence, not coercion. The innocent have nothing to hide.
Then the game changes.
When the wife of one of Claire’s targets is violently murdered, the cops are sure the husband is to blame. Desperate to catch him before he kills again, they enlist Claire to lure him into a confession.
Claire can do this. She’s brilliant at assuming a voice and an identity. For a woman who’s mastered the art of manipulation, how difficult could it be to tempt a killer into a trap? But who is the decoy . . . and who is the prey?
[My Review]
This struck me as very a very different novel to what I’d expected it to be. I thought it would be more of a formulaic thriller that fits right into the typical tropes of this genre, but it was quite a surprise when I started it, both in terms of the plot and the way it’s written.
The plot had more atmosphere and perhaps less ‘action’ than you’d normally expect from the thriller/ mystery genre, and it developed the characters more, with an added focus on the world of the honeytrapper mixed with police investigations and undercover work, which I found really interesting! There’s definitely slightly sexy overtones at times, just due to main character Claire’s work, but it doesn’t stray too far that way, always coming back to the predicament Claire is in. There are definitely twists and turns which kept me completely engrossed. Sure, there were a few parts which were less believable, but you’re here to be entertained, right?
Whether you love or hate Claire (or are somewhere in the middle, like me!), she’s certainly an interesting character and someone that makes you want to read more about her. I wanted to find out whether she is what she makes out to be, or whether she’s hiding more than we first thought – and I was pleased to see this explored throughout the book.
The format of the story is also a bit of a change from the usual read; some parts are written as if you’re reading a play, whilst others revert back to a slightly more standard ‘speak directly to the reader’ format, and I liked this mix – it gave the novel a fresher, unique feel.
I don’t want to give too much away about this novel but I will say that it has some dark themes and a good few twists along the way. Definitely give this a go if you fancy a slightly different, slick pyschological thriller.