"Die
for You" by Lisa Unger; Crown/Shaye Areheart (368
pages, $24)
———
Smart
women can do dumb things, especially when they are in
love, especially when they trust their partner,
especially when a life together seems so perfect.
Isabel
Connelly, a best-selling novelist, is shocked out of her
complicity in Lisa Unger's gripping, if at times
melodramatic fourth novel. When Isabel's husband, Marcus
Raine, doesn't come home one evening, she gets mad —
the one flaw in their marriage was an affair he had a
year ago — then she gets worried. When she goes to his
Manhattan office the next day, she's attacked and ends
up in the hospital. Marcus' co-workers have been killed,
their home has been ransacked and their joint bank
accounts wiped out.
Her
husband wasn't the successful video game designer that
Isabel thought he was, nor was Marcus Raine his real
name. As the insightful N.Y.P.D. detective Grady Crow
leads the investigation, Isabel tries to find out just
who was this impostor as she copes with the realization
that her five-year marriage was a sham. The search will
take both Isabel and Grady from Manhattan's myriad
neighborhoods to the heart of Prague.
Unger
keeps the emotional level high and the concern for
Isabel strong in "Die for You." Although the
novel occasionally dips into Lifetime movie of the week
territory, Unger keeps the plot centered on Isabel, a
personable, intelligent character who makes more than
her share of mistakes. Her determination to find Marcus
is understandable, even if the truth destroys her. While
women will shake their heads in disbelief at how Isabel
paid such little attention to her finances after her
marriage, Unger parallels Isabel's predicament to that
of her mother and sister.
While
the plot is filled danger and intrigue, "Die for
You's" personal story about one woman makes the
stakes that much higher. Any woman can relate to this
story and emphasize with Isabel's costly decisions.
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