Trust a Stranger

by Cole Baxter

When everyone has dark secrets, who do you trust?

Lonely and abandoned by her abusive husband, Mary is quick to accept the friendship of widow Ruby after saving her life during an apparent seizure on the New York subway.

The older woman embraces Mary, urging her from her reclusive existence and back into life again.

When Ruby rescues her after Mary’s husband returns, her trust seems vindicated.

But after Mary jokingly says she wishes he were dead, his body washes up in the East River, showing signs that his death was no accident.

Red flags begin to pop up, leaving Mary to wonder who Ruby really is.

She escaped from her husband in the past, but can Mary survive her new best friend?


A thrilling psychological thriller that you won't be able to put down!

Genres: Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Fiction, Audiobook

458 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 5, 2020

About the author

Cole Baxter loves writing psychological suspense thrillers. It's all about that last reveal that he loves shocking readers with.
He grew up in New York, where there crime was all around. He decided to turn that into something positive with his fiction.
His stories will have you reading through the night--they are very addictive!

Sign up for Cole's VIP Reader Club and find out about his latest releases, giveaways, and more. Copy and paste this link to sign up: http://eepurl.com/dqL8yT

Reviews

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

This audiobooks book was just ok for me. Trigger warning fb there us some domestic abuse. I felt myself losing interest and then get sucked back in frequently. The narrator was kind of annoying as in my opinion she wasn’t the best at voicing multiple characters. The ending was alright.

Thank you to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cole Baxter has a wide selection of books and I think they're in the process of producing audiobooks for some of the former releases which is really cool.

He's a good author and I like his stories. I think the prose is a little cheesy. The talking and conversations, and even thoughts, seem forced or unnatural so I'd work on that.

In this book, Mary escapes an abusive relationship only to fall into an emotionally abusive friendship with a woman she helped on the bus. Between her ex Nick and her new friend Ruby, Mary knows no peace.

She finally has enough and tries to get away but Ruby has a few secrets and she's not going to let Mary go without a fight.

One thing that made me laugh(or maybe cry) is they keep talking about Ruby as if she's a tiny old lady but she's only in her 50's! Even the narrator does a sort of delicate old lady voice for Ruby.

I believe this author is improving with each book.

[Carly Flis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I absolutely hate leaving bad reviews about anything, but sometimes I have to. While the book was promoted as a psychological thriller. it takes a sharp turn into a romance story. I expected the main focus to be on the suspenseful part. The climax of the story did not occur as close to the end of the book as I would have expected either. The idea of the plot is great, I just wish it had been the entire focus of the book, without the romance becoming so prominent. I also thought the beginning of the story showed the main character, Mary, to seem weak. She quickly trusts a stranger and almost loses her life over it. I cannot imagine someone actually being that trusting.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Donna Mallery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, this was a long book (420 pages) for this genre. But it read very quickly! There’s more than one type of stalker, and this type can easily sweep into your life. So be careful! The poor protagonist in this book just can’t get a break, and her insecurities can easily lead to troubling relationships. I’m not much into the whole psycho theme, but this one worked for me. I like both Baxter boys, so I can always count on them to entertain!

[Michelle Flanagan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started off great, then fizzled

I really enjoyed the story at first, but it got downright convoluted and ridiculous at the end with Ruby being able to hold Mary hostage as well as many other women before her. This story could've gone in a better direction. Wasn't impressed with the ending at all. Also, full of typos and grammatical errors that I had to report. Editing wasn't at the level I would expect from a published book.

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing wasn’t that great. It seemed amateurish.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read, even though you could guess what was going to happen. The suspense kept me intrigued and wanting to know what was going to happen next! The main character should have seen some of the red flags that her new friend Ruby was exhibiting, but that is what made listening to this book that more fun.

Thank you to the NetGalley and the publisher for the audio ARC for my honest review.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Holy moly this was SOOOOO BAD!!! How the heck did it get through to a publisher?? I think some of my middle school students could have written a better story than the author did. It was like the author googled “Narcissistic personality” and then tried to write a story with all the over-the-top cliched examples. All of the characters and even the plot line are completely cliche and unrealistic - talk about all telling details. Sooo soo bad.

[Heather Adores Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars for the Audiobook

🚨 Psycho stalker alert 🚨

Mary is blindsided when she finds out her husband, Nick, is cheating on her. He throws her out and she tries to start over. She chances upon a woman having a seizure and is the only one willing to save her. Now Ruby is going out of her way to thank Mary for saving her life by throwing Mary parties and buying her whatever she (Ruby, not Mary) wants. Soon it turns into a bit of an obsession.

Ruby is a lonely widow and a former actress and suffers from seizures, or does she? I mean she is an actress after all.
At times I wanted to just yell at Mary ~ can you not see this broad for what she is??

Definitely predictable, but a crazy psychological roller coaster nonetheless, exactly what I would expect from this author. There were some suspenseful times and I like how it all wrapped up at the end.

Angie Kane did an excellent job narrating, even the male parts.

*Thanks to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media LLC and Cole Baxter for the advance audiobook. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review*

More reviews here ➡ Heather Adores Books

[Caron Higham-wood · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn’t get into the style of writing at all. It was like a child writing a school essay. Really not for me.

[Chloe (Always Booked) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this book early. I have read quite a few Cole Baxter books lately and this one was definitely my least favorite and felt like it could be a debut. Our main character Mary is SO ANNOYING to read about because she has zero common sense and never really gains any. The plot is uber predictable and is supposed to be thrilling but is actually just a little sad because the villain is someone who has severe unaddressed mental health issues that are glaringly obvious to almost anyone she interacts with. There are a ton of plot holes in this book (how does Ruby have so much money? Why does she sound 80 and get described as an elderly lady when she's in her 50's? How has the whole "twist" stayed secret so long? Why did Ruby do what she did if she was an established actress? Why does Mary's husband harass her so much?) and honestly I just wanted some answers to give this book a semblance of credibility. Additionally, there is a romance in the end that added nothing to the story and was so unnecessary, it cheapened the book even further.
Enough of my thoughts-- lets get into the synopsis. THIS SECTION WILL HAVE SPOILERS. This book is about a woman named Mary. Her abusive husband just let her for a younger woman and she sees an older woman having a seizure on the subway. Nobody's paying attention so she steps up to help and starts a friendship with the woman (Ruby). Ruby tries to make it up to Mary by throwing big parties for her, spending lots of money on her, etc. but something feels weird. She starts showing a really clingy, controlling side, but their friendship also meets a need for Mary so she continues. She starts to isolate herself a little bit more from others and things get a little weirder. There's a big showdown with Ruby and Mary's husband and Ruby gets hurt but then later Nick ends up dead. In the very end, Mary is kidnapped by Ruby and we find out that all the seizures, etc. were fake and this was all a big plot to kidnap and kill Mary like she had done with many other women. it's all found out and Mary lives happily ever after.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my second book by Cole Baxter and I really enjoyed it. After reading the description, I thought this would have more about domestic violence but that really wasn't the case. This is a pretty unique type of thriller that follows a bizarre friendship that you never know whether to trust. I could tell from the start that Ruby had something off about her so as the story unfolded I wasn't really surprised. I do wish the author had included more of the husband's storyline because that just seemed to be randomly thrown in and barely addressed. I think a bit more development of the issues in that marriage would have made this much more intense. Overall, I enjoyed this but think it was missing some opportunities to make this more intense and exciting, Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

[Star Gater · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love to be creeped out. This psychological thriller didn't do it. However, it was worthy of my time.


Angie Kane, the narrator, would not have been my choice for this story. The voice variations didn't match the characters. Primarily, Ruby who is 50ish, audibly sounds frail and much older. This changes the storyline dynamic.

The how they met and why they stayed in touch was reasonable. Without spoiling, there were other red flags, i.e. signs that were not realistic but did make for a pretty good story. (After reading accidentally back-to-back books by this author, this was my favorite.).

The ending was too far fetched for me.

Thank you NetGalley for accepting my request to read and review Trust a Stranger.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hated the one voice sooo much so that made it a hard listen. Way too high pitched but then I enjoyed the story so tried to not let it get to me and luckily the main voice was good.

[Amber Rothermel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whew what a long winded story! I personally think the storyline was good enough that all of the extras were not necessary. The ending of what happened to Mary (to not give spoilers) should have been the end. Why the extra chapters when that all could have been wrapped up? It just made it feel unnecessarily long for me. And the length of time that Mary was “trapped” also seemed so long winded.

Other than that, the story was entertaining. Mary was so beyond naive, but she was likable enough.

Overall, it could be a very entertaining read. Just have to skip some parts.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one kind of went off the rails. Mary seemed very naive. Yes, she was depressed after her husband left and yes she felt she needed someone in her life but Ruby was so clingy. I sort of resented the narrator referring to Ruby who is 56 as "elderly."

[SueCanaan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Dreamscape Media, Netgalley and Cole Baxter for providing me with an advanced copy of this audiobook releasing May 3, 2022.

Although the paper/ebook/kindle version of Trust a Stranger by Cole Baxter released in 2020, Dreamscape Media now has an audio version narrated by Angie Kane. I hadn’t read the paperback, and this review will focus primarily on the audio, along with some book commentary.

I’m 57 years old and began listening to audio books on cassette tape 40 years ago, so I feel comfortable in stating I love this medium and have experienced a ton of narrators. As a reader (listener for those who argue the two are different), it is sometimes difficult to separate bad writing from bad narrating. Baxter wrote a solid book – the main character, Mary, escapes from an abusive marriage, seeks therapy to deal with self esteem and trauma, meets Ruby by chance on a train, helps Ruby during a medical emergency, an instant friendship develops then something dark starts to happen. It’s interesting. In a world where people need people, it’s not hard to imagine fast friendships with strangers and, sadly, people aren’t always what they appear to be at first glance.

So, read the book. I plan to try more Baxter works as this author is new to me with an expansive catalog of material already in print.

If I could choose a single thing to change in the audio version it would be the voice used for the character Ruby. In the story, the women are separated by decades. Mary is 32 and Ruby is 56. I’m 57. So perhaps my view of the character is skewed by my own persona, but I could not get past the fact she sounded like a frail, geriatric 70 something with a child’s high pitched voice. I actually stopped listening at one point to go to the web and find the ages of the women because I was sure I’d missed something. It was the internet that confirmed 56. Baxter refers to this woman numerous times as aging, elderly, older. The age difference was an important part of the story and the narrator’s voice, along with adjectives I would not use for a 50 year old, were distracting. The New York accent and high pitch of Ruby’s voice, her previous career as an actress, talk of a projector to watch one of her performances…..it was confusing enough that it impacted the story.

Once I accepted that the voice was the voice, and I let go of my exasperation of the portrayal of a 56 year old as geriatric, I enjoyed the book very much. It’s a fast listen and hopefully a way to introduce the author to a different set of readers.


#netgalley #audiobook #advancedreaderscopy #ARC #audio #psychologicalthriller #suspensethriller #colebaxter #dreamscapemedia #trustastranger #trustastrangerbook

[Janalyn, the blind reviewer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is about Mary, her husband leaves her for a younger girl and even sneers at Maori and says “you’re just old!“ She’s 32. Then one day when she’s on the subway an older lady start having a seizure and everyone on the subway car is either laughing or looking away, except for Mary and thanks for being a good citizen she finally has a new friend or does she? At first her new friend showers her with gifts, nights out on New York City and Mary is enjoying all of it. Things are finally looking up since her jerk of a husband left. Until she does something for new friend doesn’t like and little by little she sees a new side to this woman, but by the time it’s over her new friends change of attitude isn’t her only problem.
I listen to the audio version of this book in the first thing is I thought the main character responded and on logical ways. The second thing is the narrator made the older lady sound elderly when she was only in her mid-50s. I also found it hard to get into the book and a lot of it I didn’t find to be logical. Like when her husband left it said she was left penniless yet the next day she moved into a one bedroom apartment in New York City and yes they said it was a tiny rundown apartment, but it’s still in New York City and the other things but I won’t bore you with the details. Her friend was supposed to be a fabulous over-the-top type of lady but I couldn’t equal that to the voice that was given by the narrator. Having said that I thought the narrator had a great voice if only she would understand being in your 50s does not equal elderly. I gave this book 3 stars because I found it hard to get into, the inner dialogue was too long and a lot of the scenarios were on logical. I was given this book by not Kelly and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Please forgive any grammar or punctuation errors as I am blind and dictate my review but all opinions are definitely my own. #NetGalley,#Thriller, #ColePorter, #Audiobook

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary is married to Nick, an abusive control freak. He has Mary completely isolated and downtrodden. He comes home one day to tell Mary he is leaving her for a 19 year old. Mary gets counselling and is trying hard to get her life back on track. Travelling home after a session, Mary comes to the aid of Ruby, a has-been actress, who is having a medical emergency. It looks like the start of a beautiful friendship, but nothing could be further from the truth. Mary is warned that not everything is as it seems with Ruby, but she is so grateful to have a supportive friend that she ignores all the warning signs. Ruby becomes unbearably clingy. The more Mary finds out about Ruby and the more distance she tries to put between them, the more dangerous her friend becomes, until it’s a matter of life and death. Even then, the horrors continue.
I really liked how realistic Mary is portrayed. She has a lot of residual issues left over from many years of abuse. All the red flags were there with Ruby, they were easily spotted, but it was just as easy to see why Mary ignored them until it was too late. Understanding still didn’t stop me from cursing her stupidity. It was good to see her growth as a person and I was happy to see her get police assistance as soon as she did.
This book is a roller coaster of a read. I highly recommend it and I am excited to read more Cole Baxter books!
This book could be triggering to anyone who has been in an abusive relationship or has dealt with a narcissist and all that entails.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Melissa McGovern · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audio ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Mary is a lonely, 30-something woman who is newly separated from her husband, living in NYC. The 14 year marriage has left her with some scars and emotional baggage so she regularly sees her therapist to diffuse all of her anxiety and woes. One day she is on the train and a woman behind having a seizure, she looks around and no one offers any help. She calls out for a doctor again in panic and still no one comes. So Mary stays with her until she can get her help.

The elderly woman, Ruby, is determined to pay her back in every way possible. Lavish lunches. Shopping sprees at the best boutiques. Elaborate parties. It all starts to feel like too much when Ruby wants too much of Mary’s time, or should I say all of Mary’s time. She calls every day, multiple times a day, stops by unannounced, and gets furious when Mary isn’t there exactly when she wants her to be.

One day Mary vents that she wishes her ex was dead, a few days later his body is found. It has to be a coincidence right? Red flags are popping up all around Ruby. Mary had managed to free herself of the abuse of her ex husband, but can she free herself from Ruby’s grasp?

This is my first book by Cole Baxter and I was not disappointed. He has a skill for writing the internal dialogue of a woman in such a realistic and believable way. This book had me on the edge of my seat and I did not see the twist coming at all, my heart was pounding multiple times throughout. I highly recommend this book and this author.

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book: Trust a Stranger
Author: Cole Baxter
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Recommend: Yes
Genre: Thriller

I listened to this book on audio and I wish I would have physically read it. I was not a huge fan of the narrator and I probably would have liked it more if I didn't listen to it. This was definitely a book that I didn't want to put down as it really kept you on the edge of your seat. Overall, it was a good book and I look forward to reading more of Cole Baxter's work.

Synopsis: Mary is a lonely woman with an estranged, abusive husband. When Mary is on the subway one day, an elderly woman starts seizing so Mary helps her as no one else on the subway is willing to.

The elderly woman, Ruby, is grateful for Mary staying by her side and wants to make it up to her. Ruby takes her to expensive lunches, shopping sprees, and to extravagant parties. Ruby becomes obsessed with Mary by calling her multiple times a day and showing up to her house unannounced and gets very upset with Mary if she doesn't answer or return her calls.

When Mary's estranged husband shows up drunk at her door, she gets scared and calls Ruby to come help her. Mary jokingly tells Ruby that she wishes he was dead and a few days later, his body is washed up in the river.

Mary starts noticing a bunch of red flags when it comes to Ruby leaving her wondering who she really is.

Now that Mary has escaped her abusive husband, can she escape her clingy friendship with Ruby?

Thank you @netgalley and @dreamscape_media for this ARC in return for an honest review.

#trustastranger #netgalley #netgalleyarc #ARC #colebaxter #dreamscapemedia #thrillerswithtibbs #bookobsession #bookstagram #booksmakemehappy

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape Media for this advance listener copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was a great book. This is the second book from Cole Baxter that I've read and they were both great. Very good, edge of your seat thriller. I loved Mary as a character. I could relate to her and I empathized with her many times. She was authentic and realistic as a protagonist. All the characters were perfectly developed and Ruby was great as well. Baxter has good character development in his stories. The plot was great too. And, one thing I really like about Baxter's writing is that he doesn't try to over do it with twists. Too many thrillers try to throw twist after twist in the book and it ends up getting muddled. Baxter does not do this in his books.

Mary befriends Ruby after Ruby has a seizure on the subway and Mary helps her out. Mary quickly realizes that you can never truly know someone. Especially someone you just met.

To be clear, I give the book itself an enthusiastic 4.5 stars. However, the audio was TERRIBLE. I hope to never listen to that narrator again. Her voice for Ruby sounded like a child. It drove me nuts. Since this review is of the audiobook, I have to knock it down a full star. The narrator will likely cause some people to DNF this book. I would recommend it in print, not audio. 3.5 stars for the audiobook.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary is an abused wife, down beaten and mistreated by her husband, until he sweet talks a 19 yr old and walks out, leaving Mary with an empty bank account. She has no family or friends to confide in, who could help and offer advice, except her therapist.

An elderly lady, Ruby, is having a seizure on the train one day and Mary is the only one to help her. They become fast friends and Mary is happy to finally have a friend and someone she can become close to. Ruby is an aging theater actress with money to spend and seems a generous soul. She wants to spend all her time with Mary and that works for a while. Mary's husband gets dumped, tracks her down and blames Mary. The husband turns up dead, the police are involved and it becomes clear that things are not as they seem with Ruby.

This was a good page turner with some suspenseful surprises, and some easy to predict outcomes. I liked how Ruby developed, and how Mary had more support that she realized. Mace, was a nice addition that wrapped the story up nicely.

[Tiffany | bookshelf. at .tiffanys · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this audiobook ARC in exchange for my honest review. (Pub Date: 05/03/2022)

Mary is in her 30s, her husband has left her for a younger woman and she is feeling all alone in the world. By chance, she meets an older woman on the bus named Ruby. The two become fast friends and begin spending most of their time together. Ruby is a retired actress to whom money is no object. She enjoys spoiling Mary - going out to eat, throwing parties, buying her clothes... Eventually, Mary feels comfortable enough to confide in Ruby about her marital problems, and Ruby offers to take care of Mary's estranged husband. Suddenly, there are a ton of red flags about Ruby that Mary starts to see. Is she really who she says she is?

This is my second Cole Baxter audiobook and I am definitely not disappointed! I really enjoyed listening to this, the narrator was pretty good and I loved the storyline. Some things were a little predictable, but there were plenty of events that I did not see coming and that's a huge plus for me. The only reason I gave this 4 stars was because the ending seemed a little rushed to me. But all in all, I would definitely recommend this book!

[Eva Edge · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐⭐
Trust a Stranger by Cole Baxter is, OH GOSH, hell of the story! The storyline is good but mad! Action! Abuse! Manipulation! Activity! Many topics were covered.
This book can be even used as a therapy session!
The only reason it's 4 stars - it was a bit too long. Some parts felt too long stretched and could be easily cut down without affecting the main point of the story!

Mary's life is complicated inside out! If there is trouble out there Mary will find it! Mary thought her life would get better once she separated from her abusive husband. But it didn't happen. Even though Mary was attending regular therapy sessions she didn't pay attention to the red flags around her and landed in trouble where her previous life was like a walk in the park!

It's slow and felt long beginning and speed started to pick up around 35% into the book so for everyone who needs an action straight away - just a little bit of patience!

One more book that waited on my TBR list for years is ticked off!

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story builds upon itself and the reader slowly learns about the extreme levels of stalkers as well as a diabolic twisted storyline. The characters are well developed and border on crazy, while the plot twists and turns keep your head spinning. Mary is in a very toxic marriage to Nick, a controlling, mean bastard. When he leaves her for a younger woman and cleans out their joint bank account, Mary is left with no choice but to move to a smaller, cheaper apt. Mary is traveling home on the subway and already having a bad day when a woman starts having a seizure and no one helps her. Mary steps in and when the older woman, Ruby, starts to recover does not want any medical attention but allow Mary to help her home. This starts a friendship and the road to something much darker as time passes. Abusing husband leaves Mary, leaving her self esteem really low. Ruby, it seems, has a past and it takes a while for it to come out.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media, Netgalley and Cole Baxter

[AlwaysAudreyReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trust a Stanger is the story about Mary who is plagued with loneliness and self doubt after her abusive husband left her for another women.
When Mary sees an older women, Ruby, having a seizure on the subway she jumps in to help and the two quickly become friends. The friendship quickly produces many red flags, but due to Mary's issues with self-doubt she overlooks them.
While I did find myself wanting to shake Mary at times for ignoring those red flags, I also found her kindness and vulnerability incredibly likeable. There were several twists and turns throughout the story, some that I guessed, others that surprised me.
I found myself hooked into this story because I wanted to know more. I really enjoyed the way that this book ended.

I'm excited to look up this authors backlist and read more.

On a side note, I'd love to read a story about the life of Ruby before she met Mary.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media LLC for this audiobook.

[Peggy Epperson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok so I am a huge reader, I read all types of books but thrillers are my favorite. However, this book was pretty good, it was a story that in theory; was fantastic but in reality was drawn out way too long and way too much. It was a struggle to get through it. What made it worse was the woman who narrated it. Angie Kane is the narrator and I have listened to many books she has narrated in the past and have really enjoyed them. This was painstaking to listen to. Her attempt to voice the character of Ruby is awful and just not done in a realistic way. It sounds at times as if a child is reading a loud to a group and is nervous at times. Her attempt of voicing the co conspire to Ruby is awful.
The only reason why I kept listening is because I wanted to find out what happened & how. I tried renting the non audible version of the book but it was not available. I recommend ONLY reading this book, it will be much better that way.

[Lindsay Nixon · Rating 3 out of 5]

😐 initially I really loved this book and the plot was both unique and interesting… the story and characters felt fairy well developed… then once the “reveal” happened it became totally unbelievable and any sort of development was gone. It didn’t make sense, it didn’t work. One glaring thing for me was how the “bad person” was able to finance everything. Nevertheless, I kept on reading to see how it shook out.

I really loved the narrator here, though the one voice was a very 1920s NY, which was confusing since this took place in modern day. I kept being surprised when another character would use the internet or iPhone… the story would have worked better pinned down in an earlier time period. I also had trouble with the womens ages.

This is my third book by the author and all I can say is it’s very free kindle book vibes. There is potential, though.

Thanks netgalley for my ARC

[Teresa Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ruby is the friend that in the beginning you enjoy but then it becomes too much work to maintain the friendship. Mary needed someone in her life to help her through the end of a difficult marriage and to Mary she felt Ruby was that person. UNTIL Ruby’s true self and the relationship takes a horrible turn. I would not call this book a psychological suspense thriller but still a good read. There were parts that caught me off guard, others were predictable and some just downright unbelievable.

My ONE issue with this book is the age the author gave to Ruby. It did not fit her character at all.