Keep No Secrets

I think the last book review I did was for Tell No Lies, wasn't it? I have been slow with the reviews because I didn't think you wanted to hear my take on The Multinational Corporate Experience. Am I right? Well, I am excited and ridiculously late to tell you about Julie's new book Keep No Secrets! It is the sequel to Tell No Lies. And what can I say? Julie has done it again.

I don't even know where to start! Well I guess I should tell you that I love legal thrillers. The last legal thrillers that I read were by Jillian Hoffman. Also an ex-attorney but not as beautiful, cool and awesome as Julie. Okay, that last part was stretching it because I totally don't know Jillian.

So yeah, Keep No Secrets. Um, I found myself thinking about Jenny, the chick that kicked off the drama in Tell No Lies. Wondering how she was doing, what she was up to, who she was taking advantage of and all that. This book answers my questions.

This time around, Jack is still trying to redeem himself after his little torrid affair with you-know-who. Things are crazy at home what with a teenage son who remembers what happened. He also struggles a bit in the public eye. He is afterall, the district attorney.

Things are going generally good except for the fact that Michael, his teenage son, is dating someone that is the spitting image of Jenny. Can you imagine you walk into your house one day and see the look-alike for the woman your husband had an affair with? But, that's another story for another day. Where was I?

Ah yes! Jack. Working. Getting back to his old standing, etc. etc. etc. One night he hears his son and his girlfriend, Celeste, getting handsy downstairs. He comes down and finds them on the couch and drunk. You know what they were doing! Long story short, he had to take Celeste home because Michael was too drunk to drive. Now, I could've told you that something was going to happen here and I kept yelling at my screen but did Jack listen?! NOOOO!

Then, the next day he's walking home from the library and who pulls him aside in a tunnel and gives him a kiss? JENNY! No lie. It's been like 4 years since she ran off after people wanted to question her about the murder of her former client who also happened to be the woman who had an affair with her dad and might've possibly gotten her family killed. There she is, standing there asking Jack to help her.

NO, JACK! Don't do it! These were my words as I was reading the book. Seriously, this was an emotional rollercoaster ride for me.  Jenny's all, I need your help and he's all not sure about whether or not she committed murder but still attracted to her. And here I am, wondering why men are so dumb! But, I digress.

As if Jenny's return wasn't enough, guess what happens next? He gets asked to come down to the station to answer some questions. Apparently Celeste has accused him of sexual assault! The son's girlfriend, y'all! Who else is stressed right now?

The rest of the book is filled with twists and turns. Sad moments when it comes to Jack's relationship with his wife. The implications of what happens to two people when the trust is broken. The slow heartbreak that takes place, the outside influences that we maybe see as supportive in those cases and how they can turn us against what we might be working towards.

Then Jenny: how Jack still has those feelings for her, the issues with Celeste, Jack's refusal to give up on his relationship with his son even when it seems he wants nothing to do with his father.

Thriller does not being to describe it. I mean it doesn't. I will stick by my original "rollercoaster ride of emotions" description.  Julie weaves a story that's full of emotions not far from our own which is why I think that we so readily identify with the characters. I say we because you will too once you pick this one up.

With the expertise of a storyteller years in the making, Julie gives us a story so well defined not just as a legal thriller but as a psychological one that it leaves us breathless. Wanting no more and not being able to get enough as we turn the pages and see Jack's life unravel from the tapestry that he has known, loved and fought for to a new one that holds the same threads as before but with a completely new image.

If you are not already running to get this book, I don't know what to tell ya. You can buy in paperback but just grab it for your Kindle and call it a day. Let me know what you think when you're done!

About my girl:

Julie Compton is the author of Tell No Lies, a legal thriller set in her original hometown of St. Louis; Rescuing Olivia, a romantic, contemporary thriller set in Florida; and Keep No Secrets. Her novels combine the suspense of thrillers with the drama of human relationships. An attorney by profession, she now writes full-time from her home near Orlando, Florida. Visit julie-compton.com to read the first chapters of her novels and for more info.

Oh and she's HAWT! Don't you think?