Riley is desperate for a job. Living out of her car, she answers an ad seeking a live-in caregiver for an elderly widow. The house she arrives at feels frozen in time, filled with the conveniences of the 1960s but seemingly untouched by the decades since. Its owner, Betty Sadler, is confined to a wheelchair but remains remarkably sharp. Riley can't help but notice the stack of résumés from applicants who seem far more qualified than she is. Yet an unexpected connection over a cup of Earl Grey tea leads Betty to offer her the job on the spot.
As Riley settles into the home, she begins to wonder why she was hired in the first place. Betty doesn't seem to need much care at all. She moves comfortably through the house, washes her own dishes, and even mixes nightly cocktails for the two of them to enjoy together. Betty insists she hasn't left the house in years, a claim her neighbors readily confirm. In fact, they tell Riley she's the first visitor they've seen since Betty's husband died. So why is Riley really there? What makes her different from everyone else who applied? As the secrets of Betty's past begin to surface, Riley realizes she wasn't hired to be a caregiver at all. She was brought there for a very different reason.
Sarah Pekkanen has become one of my most reliable sources for popcorn thrillers, routinely delivering a new one each summer. This year is no exception. Her latest, The Women in White, brings everything Pekkanen does best to the forefront, creating the kind of page-turner I blew through in just a few hours. Shifting timelines and perspectives, long-buried secrets, and a steady stream of twists keep the story moving with relentless momentum. In short, it's a heck of a read.
Pekkanen alternates between Riley's present-day story and flashbacks to Betty and the other titular women who participated in a series of mysterious experiments conducted by the enigmatic Dr. Trimble during the 1960s. His unsettling tests explore the bonds between the women through increasingly bizarre parapsychological experiments that blur the line between science and something far stranger. It makes for a trippy, thoroughly entertaining ride that kept me guessing right up until the final reveal. If that's not a great setup for a thriller, I don't know what is.
Sure, the novel gets a bit over the top at times, but I was more than willing to go along for the ride. My only real complaint is that the other women never feel quite as fully realized as Betty. Even so, that's a pretty minor quibble in the grand scheme of things. The Women in White is another immensely entertaining summer thriller from an author who's become one of my most dependable sources for a good read.
For more information, visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads.
(2026, 60)
Oh, this sounds different and intriguing!
ReplyDeleteThis is one of her stronger books, largely because of how different/original it is from her usual stories.
DeleteReading that she was a part of some experiments was not how I envisioned the story going when I first started reading your review. Now I'm intrigued.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't expecting it either!
DeleteNot perfect, but at least it was entertaining. That's the most important thing to me in all honesty.
ReplyDeleteI'm okay with imperfections in a popcorn style read.
DeleteI stilllll have this ARC on my Kindle. Might have to bump it toward the front if you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteIt was a fun thriller that was very different from what she's written before. I say give it a go!
DeleteI wish there was more closure in regards to Dr. Trimble, like justice! I agree, the other women were not as well-fleshed out, but I did enjoy the story overall.
ReplyDeleteI agree! It wrapped up a bit quickly.
DeleteI keep saying I should try one, I should give the library a hint
ReplyDeleteYou should!
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