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The Trophy Wife
For the readers of Olivia Goldsmith and Susan Isaacs comes a dramatic - and fun - thriller with an over-the-top ending that will leave readers gasping.
For twenty-five years Emily Childs has been the perfect wife. She has devoted herself completely to her successful husband, Walter, on his climb to the top of the banking world, kept his home, raised his children, and entertained his clients. Now he is about to dump her for the younger, more beautiful Angela Hilliard, the perfect trophy for his life of conspicuous achievement.
But suddenly Emily vanishes from her home amidst clear evidence of violence. The kidnapper - demanding an enormous ransom - is known only by his mysterious computerized voice. Is this Walter's sick plan to get rid of his wife without the scandal that might ruin his career? Is it his mistress's way of moving Emily aside? Or is it one of Walter's business rivals, determined to beat him in the race to the chairman's office? From her basement prison, Emily pleads with her husband to save her. But as her captors panic, she realizes that she will have to save herself.
In a thriller that spans the financial towers of the world's money centers and the underworld markets of the Caribbean, Detective Andrew Hogan races against the ransom deadline to discover the identity of Emily's kidnapper. The ending to this novel of marriages, mistresses, and money is a shocker that serves as a warning to men who are reaching for that one final trophy.
For twenty-five years Emily Childs has been the perfect wife. She has devoted herself completely to her successful husband, Walter, on his climb to the top of the banking world, kept his home, raised his children, and entertained his clients. Now he is about to dump her for the younger, more beautiful Angela Hilliard, the perfect trophy for his life of conspicuous achievement.
But suddenly Emily vanishes from her home amidst clear evidence of violence. The kidnapper - demanding an enormous ransom - is known only by his mysterious computerized voice. Is this Walter's sick plan to get rid of his wife without the scandal that might ruin his career? Is it his mistress's way of moving Emily aside? Or is it one of Walter's business rivals, determined to beat him in the race to the chairman's office? From her basement prison, Emily pleads with her husband to save her. But as her captors panic, she realizes that she will have to save herself.
In a thriller that spans the financial towers of the world's money centers and the underworld markets of the Caribbean, Detective Andrew Hogan races against the ransom deadline to discover the identity of Emily's kidnapper. The ending to this novel of marriages, mistresses, and money is a shocker that serves as a warning to men who are reaching for that one final trophy.
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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129 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
February 19, 2020
"He lied to his wife Emily, at the beginning of the day when he told her he would be working very late. Lied to Joanne, his secretary, when he asked her to arrange for a late limo to his home in New Jersey horse country. Lied to the other officers at the bank when he lingered until they had all left. Lied to the limo driver who m he met at the bank lobby. And then ended his day with still another lie to his wife as he slipped quietly into bed beside her".
The Trophy Wife by Diana Diamond
It is amazing that a book that is about a housewife being kidnapped and that takes the reader literally all over the world could not draw me in more but it didn't.
SPOILERS:
It was not an awful book and the ending was a bit of a surprise. So I did enjoy some aspects of it. And the writer reminds me of Olivia Goldsmith. My issue is not the writing.
But what I have found is this: I really do not enjoy kidnapping stories. The ones I have read I never seem to rate high.I think it is good to explore Genres and this one was way better then another, way more recent kidnapping story called "The Good Girl".
I do think this book was fun in places but long winded and just not ultimately the book for me.
The Trophy Wife by Diana Diamond
It is amazing that a book that is about a housewife being kidnapped and that takes the reader literally all over the world could not draw me in more but it didn't.
SPOILERS:
It was not an awful book and the ending was a bit of a surprise. So I did enjoy some aspects of it. And the writer reminds me of Olivia Goldsmith. My issue is not the writing.
But what I have found is this: I really do not enjoy kidnapping stories. The ones I have read I never seem to rate high.I think it is good to explore Genres and this one was way better then another, way more recent kidnapping story called "The Good Girl".
I do think this book was fun in places but long winded and just not ultimately the book for me.
March 14, 2010
The story of an international bank executive whose wife is kidnapped by a bunch of amateur criminals, but working for a smart boss in order to rob one of the worlds well know international banks of millions of dollars...
The story ended well- in the sense that the reader could not predict who was behind the whole scheme....
However, I find most of the details redundant- way to much run on sentences with too much background information... I found myself bored and skipping paragraphs that I knew would say the same details over and over again, in different wording.....
Also, proofreaders should be FIRED as there were many spelling errors which I found annoying.
The story ended well- in the sense that the reader could not predict who was behind the whole scheme....
However, I find most of the details redundant- way to much run on sentences with too much background information... I found myself bored and skipping paragraphs that I knew would say the same details over and over again, in different wording.....
Also, proofreaders should be FIRED as there were many spelling errors which I found annoying.
January 12, 2011
Definitely an improvement over most grocery store paperbacks I have picked up lately. "The Trophy Wife" shuns the exorbitant sexual scenes for a truly twisted plot with a new spin on "the other woman" and a dried up marriage. While it was slightly predictable, there were times when I doubted myself and never did I find myself knowing the true outcome of the story until the last couple of chapters. A quick read... probably good to take on vacation.
March 5, 2023
The plot of the book was good and the execution of the kidnapping was enough to keep me interested (but get ready for my dreaded ‘however’)..
However the story could have been simplified to at least half the length of the book. I felt like the same feelings and thoughts kept being brought back up around and around. It took awhile for me to get through the book because of the constant circles.
The ending was a ‘surprise’ at best but through reading it was definitely was one of my thoughts from the beginning.
However the story could have been simplified to at least half the length of the book. I felt like the same feelings and thoughts kept being brought back up around and around. It took awhile for me to get through the book because of the constant circles.
The ending was a ‘surprise’ at best but through reading it was definitely was one of my thoughts from the beginning.
February 25, 2023
So many spelling and grammar errors. I accidentally read the large print one. Was this not proofread??! Author said the wrong name of a character more than once. Extremely strange. I liked the book it wasn’t GREAT and it seemed that there was too much going on and a bit hard to follow at times but would have rated it higher but can’t get over those errors. This is an author with many books it looks like, are they all like that because based on story I’d read another.
October 8, 2019
This book started out really interesting, but I think the middle was a little repetitive. Emily came so close to getting away so many times and she never did until the cops showed up. I think it would’ve been more interesting had she escaped sooner. The ending was good though.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 17, 2025
I enjoyed the book with all its twists and turns. I think it dragged on a bit but I enjoyed the story of Walter, his wife and his mistress. You don’t ever really know someone. Don’t want to tell story… it is a quick read and worth it.
January 3, 2022
Excellent. would make a great movie.
April 9, 2023
Meh...I couldn't get through thr first 3 chapters...too many unnecessary details.
December 15, 2008
Walter and Emily Childs were married for years. Their family included two teenaged children, a boy and a girl. Walter Childs worked as a senior vice-president at InterBank. He was in line to be promoted to the top spot at the bank when the current chief executive officer retired. Walter had decided to secure that position and then leave his wife, Emily, and marry Angela, a graduate of Harvard Business School and a woman he'd begun mentoring when she started work at InterBank. Angela was young, beautiful, smart, and she was the person Walter wanted by his side as he took over the CEO position for which he'd been preparing himself for years. It wasn't that he didn't care about Emily; it was a matter of Emily's no longer being suitable as the person with whom Walter wanted to share his new life as CEO. Walter believed Angela was the better choice as a "Trophy Wife" to share his future.
And then Emily was kidnapped for a $100 million ransom which Walter was supposed to arrange to deliver to her captors through funds he'd route from InterBank to a secret account in an offshore account. Whoever took Emily had arranged for various people to be involved in her abduction. None of the participants knew each other, nor did they know for whom they were working. The point was for no one to be hurt so long as Walter followed the instructions he was given to get the money to whomever had taken Emily.
Banks have policies about the abuction of its employees' family members. Even though Walter knew what this policy was and that he could not expect the bank to willingly arrange for the ransom demands of his wife to be paid, Walter enlisted the help of the bank security officer to try to get Emily back with or without the transfer of the money. It was at that point the story got more complicated. Emily's life was in serious jeopardy, and while Walter was concerned about her safety and wanted her returned unharmed, he also was worried about what his compliance with the kidnappers would do to his chances of moving up in the bank's hierarchy. He was not willing to consider that his future with the bank was in jeopardy because of this development.
Diana Diamond has written an absorbing story with plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader unsure of who is behind the plot to kidnap Emily Childs. Another interesting aspect to the story is the relationship between Walter and Emily. What makes a man decide that the wife who has stood by him over the years giving him the support he needed and often putting his concerns before her own is suddenly incapable of continuing to share his successful life with him? What makes such a man betray his family by so blithely deciding that what he must have to secure his future is a "Trophy Wife"? What I particularly liked about Diamond's treatment of this material was that she did not turn to the cliched version of this age old situation with the typical husband-dumps-wife-for-younger-woman scenario. Instead, Diamond gives a more grown-up version of this kind of situation which serves to make this book hard to put down. I'm interested in reading more of Diana Diamond's work.
And then Emily was kidnapped for a $100 million ransom which Walter was supposed to arrange to deliver to her captors through funds he'd route from InterBank to a secret account in an offshore account. Whoever took Emily had arranged for various people to be involved in her abduction. None of the participants knew each other, nor did they know for whom they were working. The point was for no one to be hurt so long as Walter followed the instructions he was given to get the money to whomever had taken Emily.
Banks have policies about the abuction of its employees' family members. Even though Walter knew what this policy was and that he could not expect the bank to willingly arrange for the ransom demands of his wife to be paid, Walter enlisted the help of the bank security officer to try to get Emily back with or without the transfer of the money. It was at that point the story got more complicated. Emily's life was in serious jeopardy, and while Walter was concerned about her safety and wanted her returned unharmed, he also was worried about what his compliance with the kidnappers would do to his chances of moving up in the bank's hierarchy. He was not willing to consider that his future with the bank was in jeopardy because of this development.
Diana Diamond has written an absorbing story with plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader unsure of who is behind the plot to kidnap Emily Childs. Another interesting aspect to the story is the relationship between Walter and Emily. What makes a man decide that the wife who has stood by him over the years giving him the support he needed and often putting his concerns before her own is suddenly incapable of continuing to share his successful life with him? What makes such a man betray his family by so blithely deciding that what he must have to secure his future is a "Trophy Wife"? What I particularly liked about Diamond's treatment of this material was that she did not turn to the cliched version of this age old situation with the typical husband-dumps-wife-for-younger-woman scenario. Instead, Diamond gives a more grown-up version of this kind of situation which serves to make this book hard to put down. I'm interested in reading more of Diana Diamond's work.
July 10, 2016
Emily Childs has been a dutiful corporate wife, devoting herself to her husband's career, her home, and her children. Even her husband Walter can't find fault with her. But he is about to leaver her for the beautiful and much younger Angela Hilliard, who would make the perfect trophy wife for an international banker being considered for his company's position. Before he can tell Emily that he wants a divorce, she is kidnapped. Her captors want one hundred million dollars of the bank's money, but the bank has a strict "no negotiations" policy with kidnappers. Will Walter defy the bank policy to ransom the wife he plans to dump? Or will he toe the company line at the expense of his wife's life?
August 27, 2010
This has the bones of a great book--a clever idea and a truly suspenseful plotline. Unfortunately, the author can't keep simple homonyms straight (bear/bare, it's/its were the most noticeable), but she can't even keep the characters' names straight! The most egregious was in a scene with Walter and Andrew (which names she confuses throughout the entire book) where she calls BOTH characters Andrew throughout the entire scene!
This is terribly disappointing, because it could have been awesome, but the lack of simple editing ruins the whole thing.
This is terribly disappointing, because it could have been awesome, but the lack of simple editing ruins the whole thing.
February 29, 2016
Walter, wants to achieve the big office at the bank, divorce his wife, and marry the young beautiful mistress. Then, his wife is kidnapped and the ramsom is 100 million dollars to be paid from the bank to an account in a Swiss bank. The policy of the bank is never to pay any money in this manner. Walter seeks help from the security manager who works along with Walter to try to find where the wife is being held. With several foul-ups and miscalculations, the plot twists, with a surprise ending. ,
November 21, 2011
There's a first time for everything - By page four , I knew whodunit !
Well , I half knew who the guilty party was anyways . Usually, unlike my super sleuth friend , ( Jill ) I am not able to figure out the mystery ...honestly , I've been kind of glad about that actually . I always thought it would ruin the whole story ;-) But it just enticed me to keep reading to see if I was right . And I was , well , kinda sorta , partially , half right and then .....the ending - OMG the ending !
Well , I half knew who the guilty party was anyways . Usually, unlike my super sleuth friend , ( Jill ) I am not able to figure out the mystery ...honestly , I've been kind of glad about that actually . I always thought it would ruin the whole story ;-) But it just enticed me to keep reading to see if I was right . And I was , well , kinda sorta , partially , half right and then .....the ending - OMG the ending !
March 11, 2013
My first Diana Diamond book. The wife of a senior vice-president of an international New York Bank is kidnapped. The ransom is 100 million dollars. A fun read with an interesting twist at the end on the who dunnit.
April 18, 2016
This was a book club selection because the author lives in our community. Would probably not have been my choice. Too much violence and profanity. I did like the plot and the surprise ending. Decent character development. The copy I bought has a lot of typos in it too.
December 16, 2011
Angie, I had it half figured out in the first chapter but not completely! But I loved the ending! Finally justice in a man's world! LOL! Hope you are good, miss you!
Jill :)
Jill :)
October 18, 2013
a little bit annoying when you start also predictable but still a good choise to read when you relax on the beach....the end prooves that love and trust can felt like towers very easy....
February 2, 2016
I enjoyed the book....not very complex, but a good summer read.
July 29, 2012
It didn't end as I thought it was going to but it was a good book.
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August 9, 2013Read 4/12
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