Category Archives: Mary Torjussen

April 19, 2020 · 11:57 pm

Review: The Closer You Get by Mary Torjussen

Title: The Closer You Get by Mary Torjussen
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 365 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

They had the perfect plan to start a new life together…before it all went horribly wrong.

A new twisting novel of psychological suspense from the acclaimed author of The Girl I Used to Be.

Coworkers Ruby and Harry are in love—but they’re married to other people. They decide to tell their spouses that their marriages are over and to start a new life together. Ruby has wanted to leave her controlling husband for a while, so she tells him she’s leaving and waits at the hotel where she and Harry are to meet. But Harry never shows up.

Suddenly, Ruby has lost everything. Harry won’t answer her calls, and she’s fired from her job. She finds a cheap apartment in a run-down part of town, all the while wondering what happened to Harry.

Just as Ruby thinks she’s hit rock bottom, strange and menacing things start to happen—someone is sneaking into her apartment, and someone is following her home late at night—and she is going to have to fight for her survival.

Review:

The Closer You Get by Mary Torjussen is an enthralling domestic mystery.

Ruby Dean is more than ready to leave her husband Tom and begin her new life with her married boss Harry Sheridan. She is nervous, a little scared and a lot excited as she gives Tom the news then leaves to meet Harry. When he fails to show up at the hotel that evening, Ruby is concerned but assures herself he will meet her tomorrow. After Harry does not join her, she goes to work, certain he will have a logical explanation for his absence. However, Ruby is unceremoniously fired  and she learns distressing news about Harry and his wife, Emma.

With her plans in tatters, Ruby decides to go it alone and rents a shabby flat. She soon grows uneasy as she begins receiving shocking phone calls and chilling notes.   Ruby then begins to feel as though someone is watching her and she is soon terrified by the realization someone has been in her flat. Who could be behind these increasingly menacing threats?

Ruby has been unhappy with Tom for years and she is stunned by her unexpected attraction to Harry.  Over the years, Tom has worn her down with his negative comments and controlling behavior. She has no say in their life as he contemptuously dismisses her suggestions.  Harry, on the other hand, is charming and she basks in the glow of his attention. Taking care to keep their eighteen month affair far under the radar, Ruby and Harry are now ready to begin their new life together.

Harry’s wife Emma is a successful, independent business woman who realizes early on that Harry might have a crush on Ruby. But as time passes, she believes his infatuation with her has ended. But when Harry is leaving for a business trip, Emma is immediately suspicious that her husband and Ruby have a much more intimate relationship than employer and employee. After her worst fears are confirmed, Emma’s kneejerk reaction sets in motion a series of events that could jeopardize her future.

Alternating between Ruby and Emma’s points of view,  The Closer You Get is a tension-filled mystery that is quite riveting. Ruby is easy to empathize with as she tries to restart her life on her own.  Emma is not quite likable at first, but as she is caught up in an increasingly fraught situation, it is much easier to feel sympathy for her.  Tom is surprisingly solicitous and caring after Ruby’s departure but can she trust he is being sincere? With intriguing twists and turns, Mary Torjussen brings this thrilling mystery to a satisfying conclusion. I greatly enjoyed and highly recommend this psychological mystery to fans of the genre.

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Filed under Berkley, Contemporary, Mary Torjussen, Mystery, Review, Suspense, The Closer You Get

April 18, 2018 · 11:57 pm

Review: The Girl I Used to Be by Mary Torjussen

Title: The Girl I Used to Be by Mary Torjussen
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Contemporary, Suspense, Mystery
Length: 368 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

The acclaimed author of Gone Without a Trace delivers another twisting novel of psychological suspense in which a woman is backed against a wall–with nothing left to lose…

The morning after real estate agent Gemma Brogan has dinner with a prospective client, she’s furious at herself for drinking so much. But there will be more to regret than a nasty hangover.

She starts receiving mementos from that night: A photo of a hallway kiss. A video of her complaining about her husband. And worse…much worse. The problem is she doesn’t remember any of it.

As the blackmailing and menace ramp up, Gemma fears for her already shaky marriage. The paranoia, the feeling that her life is spiraling out of control, will take her back to another night–years ago–that changed everything. And Gemma will realize just how far the shadows from her past can reach…

Review:

The Girl I Used to Be by Mary Torjussen is a suspense-laden mystery about a woman who is being harassed by someone she barely knows for unknown reasons.

Fifteen years ago, Gemma Brogan’s life was forever altered at a party with her classmates just as she was about to go off to University. By the time she meets her now husband, Joe Brogan, she has finally moved past her demons and they are now settled into married life. Gemma owns a thriving real estate business  and  she puts in long hours so Joe can be a stay at home dad to their three year old son, Rory. Her life is shockingly upended following a dinner with prospective client, David Sanderson, who begins sending her harassing photos and threatening messages. With few memories from that night, Gemma is desperate to keep Joe from finding out she was less than truthful about how she spent her evening whilst she was at a business conference. When she uncovers stunning information about her stalker’s identity, will Gemma stop him from ruining her life?

Gemma puts in long hours at her business which means little time to spend with Joe and Rory. She desperately misses her little boy, but with Joe not working and the downturn in the economy, she cannot afford to hire another employee. She loves Joe with all her heart, but Gemma is becoming resentful of being the family’s sole breadwinner.  Unfortunately, she risks losing her husband and her son if she reveals to him that someone is threatening her. One innocent lie about how she spent her evening during her business trip soon becomes a tangled web of mistruths as she tries to uncover the truth about David’s identity.

The first half of the novel is written entirely from Gemma’s perspective. Her exhaustion, frustration and fear are keenly felt as she tries to keep her life together. After she stumbles onto shocking information at about the halfway point, the novel then alternates between two points of view: Gemma’s and one of her employees. She then discovers who is harassing her and why, but will the two of them take their discovery to the police before it is too late?

The Girl I Used to Be is a fast-paced and compelling mystery. Gemma is a well-drawn character and it is very easy to empathize with her as she tries to disentangle herself from this stunning turn of events. Although sharp-eyed readers will most likely zero in on a suspect fairly early, Mary Torjussen has a few clever plot twists that will keep the pages turning at a blistering pace. The novel’s conclusion is just the teensiest bit predictable but this does not detract from the overall enjoyment of watching the perpetrator get exactly what they deserve for their despicable actions.  An outstanding read that fans of the genre are sure to love.

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Filed under Berkley, Contemporary, Mary Torjussen, Mystery, Rated B, Review, Suspense, The Girl I Used to Be

April 10, 2017 · 11:57 pm

Review: Gone Without a Trace by Mary Torjussen

Title: Gone Without a Trace by Mary Torjussen
Publisher: Berkley
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 352 pages
Book Rating: C+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

A jaw-dropping novel of psychological suspense that asks, If the love of your life disappeared without a trace, how far would you go to find out why?  

Hannah Monroe’s boyfriend, Matt, is gone. His belongings have disappeared from their house. Every call she ever made to him, every text she ever sent, every photo of him and any sign of him on social media have vanished. It’s as though their last four years together never happened.

As Hannah struggles to get through the next few days, with humiliation and recriminations whirring through her head, she knows that she’ll do whatever it takes to find him again and get answers. But as soon as her search starts, she realizes she is being led into a maze of madness and obsession. Step by suspenseful step, Hannah discovers her only way out is to come face to face with the shocking truth…

READERS GUIDE INSIDE

Review:

In Gone Without a Trace by Mary Torjussen, lead protagonist Hannah Monroe’s devastation over a shocking break up turns into an obsession.

Hannah’s excitement about a possible promotion at work quickly turns to dismay when she returns home from a business meeting to find her boyfriend of four years, Matt Stone, has left her without warning. Not only has Matt disappeared, but he has erased every trace of him from her life. Frantic to find him in order to learn what prompted the split, Hannah is soon so obsessed with trying to track him down, she jeopardizes her job and begins to alienate her few friends. Before long, she is receiving strange texts and she also suspects someone has been inside her house. Hannah becomes convinced Matt is responsible for these strange occurrences although she lacks any evidence or even a logical reason that supports her theory.

Hannah is initially a sympathetic character and it is easy to understand her compulsion to try to understand why Matt would take such extreme measures after leaving her. According to Hannah, the two have been blissfully happy and Matt gave no indication he was thinking of ending their relationship. Her best friend Katie urges her to move forward and forget about Matt, but Hannah is certain if she finds Matt, he will move back home and they will live happily ever after.

However, after weeks pass and Hannah continues her downward spiral, it soon becomes apparent that she is not the most reliable of narrators. The glimpses of her distant relationship with her parents are a fairly good indication that she might have deeper issues than her missing boyfriend. Her friendship with Katie is also somewhat dysfunctional and there is an unhealthy jealousy between the women that leaves Hannah (and the reader) questioning her friend’s motives. Hannah also has a somewhat complicated past with Katie’s boyfriend James that adds another layer of uncertainty to the unfolding story.

While the initial reaction is sympathy for Hannah’s plight, it does not take long to run out of patience for her growing obsession and increasingly irrational conviction that if she can just find Matt, their relationship will resume right where it left off. Once the shock over the way he left her wears off, curious minds will wonder what prompted Matt to break up with Hannah in such an extreme fashion. Equally fascinating is how quickly Hannah becomes fixated on finding Matt and how nothing seems to faze her as she jeopardizes her career and friendships as she single-mindedly focuses on finding someone who made it blatantly clear he was finished with her.

While the premise of Gone Without a Trace is quite unique, the story gets somewhat bogged down and repetitive as Hannah’s obsession with finding Matt consumes her. The mystery behind Matt’s behavior is initially what keeps readers engaged in the unfolding drama but readers might become impatient with the lack of details or new information about their relationship or the reasons for the break up. Mary Torjussen throws in a few plot twists at the novel’s conclusion that are completely unexpected and an interesting epilogue offers an intriguing (and rather surprising) glimpse into Hannah’s future.

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Filed under Berkley, Contemporary, Gone Without a Trace, Mary Torjussen, Mystery, Rated C+, Review, Suspense