Review: Believe Me

Rating: 4 Stars

When I read J. P. Delaney’s The Girl Before, I thought it was good, except the last part which fell flat for me. I don’t have any such complaints with Believe Me. This is my kind of book, with enough twists and turns, and grey characters to make me happy. This is one of those books that I picked up at an airport, not because I wanted to read it, but because it’s a sin to not buy a book from the airport! I had no idea what it was, and I have never seen a single review for it. Once again, I was so happy to be taken by surprise.

Claire Wright is a British student, some people say an excellent actress, with a problem. She’s studying drama in New York on scholarship, but doesn’t have much money for anything else. She cannot work like other students because she doesn’t have a green card and is not allowed to work off-campus. The only way for her to make ends meet and pay the rent is to work for a law firm, acting like an easy pick up to gather evidence against philandering husbands. Even this stroke of luck seems to be running out as the firm decides to part ways with her.

And then, a client is murdered and her husband, who had been one of Claire’s target, is accused of the crime. The police want Claire to help them catch the killer, and Claire, backed into a corner, agrees. As she plays her part, she begins to fall for the suspected killer, Patrick Fogler, and it dawns on her that things might not be as straight forward as they seem.

With the backdrop of New York, Broadway, theater and drama school, this fast paced thriller goes from one high to another without losing momentum. As soon as you start believing in a character, they give you reason to doubt. Everything that you read seems like a deception. There are no innocents, yet you can’t figure out who’s guilty either. It was a pleasure reading this book, which I managed to finish in less than a day.

Recommended for all fans of thrillers.