Perfectly Famous
From the USA TODAY bestselling author of Pretty Revenge—a “gripping tale of subterfuge, betrayal, and retribution” (Liv Constantine, bestselling author of The Last Mrs. Parrish)—comes the story of a journalist obsessed with finding a crime novelist who disappears after a deadly attack on her beloved daughter.
As a mother and a famous author, Ward DeFleur has it all. She lives in a beautiful estate in picture-perfect Connecticut, along with her teenage daughter, Stevie, where nothing can go wrong. Until, one night, when Stevie is brutally murdered and Ward’s entire world is shattered. Consumed by panic and grief, Ward vows never to put pen to paper again.
Enter Bree Bennett.
Bree is a recently-divorced, former-journalist-cum-housewife, desperate to fill her days with something other than Pilates classes and grocery shopping. So she decides to start writing for the town newspaper. What begins as Bree’s effort to tell Ward’s tragic narrative turns into a fixation with finding her favorite author. Unfortunately, Ward doesn’t want to be found. Even worse, Stevie’s killer is still on the loose…
This harrowing tale of one woman’s infatuation and another woman’s fear is full of explosive surprises, perfect for fans of The Night Olivia Fell and Then She Was Gone.
As a mother and a famous author, Ward DeFleur has it all. She lives in a beautiful estate in picture-perfect Connecticut, along with her teenage daughter, Stevie, where nothing can go wrong. Until, one night, when Stevie is brutally murdered and Ward’s entire world is shattered. Consumed by panic and grief, Ward vows never to put pen to paper again.
Enter Bree Bennett.
Bree is a recently-divorced, former-journalist-cum-housewife, desperate to fill her days with something other than Pilates classes and grocery shopping. So she decides to start writing for the town newspaper. What begins as Bree’s effort to tell Ward’s tragic narrative turns into a fixation with finding her favorite author. Unfortunately, Ward doesn’t want to be found. Even worse, Stevie’s killer is still on the loose…
This harrowing tale of one woman’s infatuation and another woman’s fear is full of explosive surprises, perfect for fans of The Night Olivia Fell and Then She Was Gone.
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Community Reviews
As the book opens, Laura Whitney, aka Ward DeFleur, is about to meet Bree Bennett, a fan who has read all of Ward's books and attends a book signing at which she promptly bursts into tears upon meeting Ward. Bree and her husband, Jeremy, had decided to separate just two days earlier. Bree doesn't forget Ward’s kindness and the conversation in which they engage just before Ward is informed that her daughter is missing and whisked away by her assistant. It was the fateful night when Ward's only child was abducted and murdered. And the last time Ward was seen in public.
Six months later, no one knows where Ward is. Her telephone number is disconnected and emails are returned as undeliverable, even to Ward's agent and editor who are concerned about the additional book she is contractually obligated to deliver. Only one person -- her stepmother -- knows where Ward has taken refuge. She is unable to write, in part because the police believe that Stevie's attacker was a crazed fan who staged the crime like a scene out of one of Ward's early books. As she explains in her first-person narrative, "He'd created a cliche out of my daughter. That, I did not appreciate."
Meanwhile, Bree describes, also via a first-person narrative, her need to find new purpose in her post-marital life. Her relationship with Chloe has been strained since Jeremy moved out of the family home. Chloe is testing her mother's patience by coming home after her curfew, drinking, and spending time with a boyfriend that Bree neither knows nor trusts. Fortunately, Jeremy is supportive, but Bree resents that Chloe is gravitating toward him after Bree gave up her career and devoted herself to raising the girl.
Bree strikes a deal with the editor of the small town newspaper to write articles about matters of local interest. As happy as she is to be writing again, the work is not satisfying because Bree wants to pen an expansive expose. She wants to find Ward and commences an all-out search for her. So she pitches the story idea to her editor, as well as Ward's exasperated agent. Both are enticed and green-light the project.
Meanwhile, Laura is residing in the small town where she grew up and when she runs into one of her oldest friends at the local supermarket, she is reunited with the group of friends who knew her best. That includes Alex. Everyone assumed that Laura and Alex would end up together. Now that he is in the midst of a divorce, their reunion reignites old feelings. Laura has "the powerful feeling that Alex was supposed to be the one. My one."
Through alternating chapters, Liebert describes the women's journeys. Laura remains in hiding, confident that her trusted friends will not reveal her whereabouts or any other details about her present-day life, while Bree follows leads and clues in her effort to find Ward and convince her to permit Bree to write her story. Even though Bree receives warnings about her activities that lead her to believe she is in danger, she forges ahead with her investigation.
Both Bree and Laura (Ward) are compelling characters. The two women have much in common. Both are devoted mothers, writers, single, and independent. Each struggles to balance their own needs and desires while managing the stresses in her life. But Laura has secrets she does not want uncovered and Bree becomes obsessed with discovering them. Liebert keeps the story moving forward at a steady pace and the women's inner dialogues are engrossing and believable. When Laura realizes that Bree is searching for her, she takes steps to protect herself and her privacy, confiding in Alex because she finds it "so comforting to have another person in my life who I can trust fully. There are so few of them these days."
Liebert indeed injects surprises and unexpected plot twists, and intensifies her characters' discomfort as Bree inches incrementally closer to discovering the shocking truth. Savvy readers may correctly guess aspects of the story, but Liebert's revised ending is deftly set up and jaw-droppingly explosive. And controversial, not only because it appears to come out of left field. It can be argued that it is gratuitous and contrived, included solely for shock value, while detracting from the ending that readers were expecting and would have found satisfying. However, in Liebert's defense, her narrative does include subtle clues and foreshadowing . . . that could easily be overlooked by readers whose attention is focused on other plot developments.
Despite the contentious conclusion, Perfectly Famous is an entertaining, cleverly constructed thriller.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
Six months later, no one knows where Ward is. Her telephone number is disconnected and emails are returned as undeliverable, even to Ward's agent and editor who are concerned about the additional book she is contractually obligated to deliver. Only one person -- her stepmother -- knows where Ward has taken refuge. She is unable to write, in part because the police believe that Stevie's attacker was a crazed fan who staged the crime like a scene out of one of Ward's early books. As she explains in her first-person narrative, "He'd created a cliche out of my daughter. That, I did not appreciate."
Meanwhile, Bree describes, also via a first-person narrative, her need to find new purpose in her post-marital life. Her relationship with Chloe has been strained since Jeremy moved out of the family home. Chloe is testing her mother's patience by coming home after her curfew, drinking, and spending time with a boyfriend that Bree neither knows nor trusts. Fortunately, Jeremy is supportive, but Bree resents that Chloe is gravitating toward him after Bree gave up her career and devoted herself to raising the girl.
Bree strikes a deal with the editor of the small town newspaper to write articles about matters of local interest. As happy as she is to be writing again, the work is not satisfying because Bree wants to pen an expansive expose. She wants to find Ward and commences an all-out search for her. So she pitches the story idea to her editor, as well as Ward's exasperated agent. Both are enticed and green-light the project.
Meanwhile, Laura is residing in the small town where she grew up and when she runs into one of her oldest friends at the local supermarket, she is reunited with the group of friends who knew her best. That includes Alex. Everyone assumed that Laura and Alex would end up together. Now that he is in the midst of a divorce, their reunion reignites old feelings. Laura has "the powerful feeling that Alex was supposed to be the one. My one."
Through alternating chapters, Liebert describes the women's journeys. Laura remains in hiding, confident that her trusted friends will not reveal her whereabouts or any other details about her present-day life, while Bree follows leads and clues in her effort to find Ward and convince her to permit Bree to write her story. Even though Bree receives warnings about her activities that lead her to believe she is in danger, she forges ahead with her investigation.
Both Bree and Laura (Ward) are compelling characters. The two women have much in common. Both are devoted mothers, writers, single, and independent. Each struggles to balance their own needs and desires while managing the stresses in her life. But Laura has secrets she does not want uncovered and Bree becomes obsessed with discovering them. Liebert keeps the story moving forward at a steady pace and the women's inner dialogues are engrossing and believable. When Laura realizes that Bree is searching for her, she takes steps to protect herself and her privacy, confiding in Alex because she finds it "so comforting to have another person in my life who I can trust fully. There are so few of them these days."
Liebert indeed injects surprises and unexpected plot twists, and intensifies her characters' discomfort as Bree inches incrementally closer to discovering the shocking truth. Savvy readers may correctly guess aspects of the story, but Liebert's revised ending is deftly set up and jaw-droppingly explosive. And controversial, not only because it appears to come out of left field. It can be argued that it is gratuitous and contrived, included solely for shock value, while detracting from the ending that readers were expecting and would have found satisfying. However, in Liebert's defense, her narrative does include subtle clues and foreshadowing . . . that could easily be overlooked by readers whose attention is focused on other plot developments.
Despite the contentious conclusion, Perfectly Famous is an entertaining, cleverly constructed thriller.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
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