The Personal Assistant: A Novel

Author Kimberly Belle describes The Personal Assistant as a story about happens "when online threats turn real" and says her inspiration for the story came from her experiences as an author. "One of the job requirements is to put myself out there on social media," she notes, "which means I’m constantly walking a fine line between sharing snippets of my life and holding back on personal, private moments." It is impossible to predict with certainty how followers will react to photographs and captions. "One wrong word can blow up in ways you don’t always anticipate which got me thinking," Belle observes. "What if the people on the receiving end of these posts don’t have the best of intentions? What if the animosity on Instagram and Facebook turns all too real?"

Indeed, as The Personal Assistant opens, Alex has an unbelievably bad morning. She has a raging hangover after spending the prior evening celebrating a significant milestone with tequila shots: one million followers on her Instagram account, @UnapologeticallyAlex. Admittedly, she developed her online persona accidentally. One post urging women to "live unapologetically" went viral and other women began looking to her as an example of living live one's own way instead of striving to be a perfect wife, mother, friend, lover, hostess, etc. After that, Alex "wanted a piece of the Instagram pie" and secured it by monetizing her account. Ad placements, brand ambassadorships, and an auction for a book proposal rendered her devoted husband, Patrick, amazed and somewhat perplexed by the power of social media. After years as a single mother, struggling to raise her twelve-year-old twin daughters, Gigi and Penelope, without any support from their father, Alex met and married, Patrick, the money guru of Atlanta, Georgia. On a local television station, he dispenses financial advice, assuring viewers that, like him, they can become financially independent. A self-made millionaire since he was in his 20's, Patrick is generous, loving, and adores the girls as though they were his own biological daughters. Alex and her family live happily in a stately, historic home with Patrick and the twins starring, along with Alex, in carefully curated Instagram posts about creating and maintaining a perfect life.

But with internet fame comes at least a few trolls who spew negativity on Alex's account. She is accustomed to the occasional naysayer who criticizes Alex's posts. But as she peruses the notifications popping up on her phone, she is horrified to see many hate-filled comments originating from account names she recognizes. Alex has a hard-and-fast rule: she does not post until her trusted personal assistant, AC, has reviewed a draft. And she never posts when she has been drinking. She has no recollection of posting a video to her account the previous night, but . . . A video was reposted to her Unapologetically Alex account from the account of an actress, accompanied by commentary from Alex critiquing the young woman's appearance, partying, and talent (or lack thereof), and calling her vile names. The message is wholly inconsistent with Alex's brand and philosophy, and her followers are quick to deem her a hypocrite. Even though Alex is confident "there's not enough tequila in the world to make me upload a post that damning," it is rapidly going viral. And the vitriolic post sounds eerily like the opinion Alex actually voiced . . . within the privacy of her own home. Did AC surreptitiously record Alex's commentary and post it? Why would she sabotage her employer? Or could Alex's account have been hacked? Her career is evaporating as quickly as the number of views of the video climb and many of those one million followers abandon her. Patrick advises her to simply delete the post, but Alex knows the damage cannot be repaired that easily because posts can be downloaded and preserved via screenshots. "Perception is reality, Patrick. No one understands this better than an influencer."

"Mayday, mayday," Alex texts to AC. But she neither responds nor appears, and hours tick by during which Alex's unanswered messages become more desperate. After hiring AC, Alex quickly became dependent upon her to manage nearly every aspect of Alex and her family's lives. Alex granted her unfettered access to their home, electronic devices, and digital accounts, even though Patrick has never been fond of AC but has never explained why in terms that make sense to Alex. Patrick insists that the last time he saw AC was the prior night when she left in the Uber her summoned for her. But disturbing footage of Patrick and AC arguing was captured by a security camera on the property.

Alex's fast-paced first-person narrative is one of several, including that of Anna Claire, a young woman employed as a hotel maid in rural southern Georgia. When a truck forces her dilapidated Honda off a narrow country road onto the narrow shoulder, shredding one of the car's rear tires. She has no spare tire, so her only option is to begin walking the five miles between her and the hotel, upset that she will not only be extremely late to work. She cannot afford a new tire because she has not finished paying the local junk yard for the last used tire she purchased. Just then, her savior appears in a sleek black sedan, handsome and about twenty years older than her. He offers her a ride to the hotel . . . and much more. Is she AC? If not, who is she? How is her story connected to what is happening to Alex?

Belle quickly reveals that Patrick has secrets and they involve AC. In his first-person narrative, he frets, "I can't think of anything but AC. what she's doing here, how she found me, how to get rid of her when she's attached herself to my wife like a barnacle." Was Patrick the handsome older man who offered Anna Claire a lift?

The Personal Assistant is a compulsive and very cleverly imagined mystery populated with fully developed and fascinating characters. At the center of the story is Alex, a woman who is devoted to her children and determined to protect them. She is also very much in love with her husband, Patrick, as well as their success, the opportunities they have been afforded, and the life they have created. When AC does not materialize -- and Alex discovers the body of a murdered woman in the cottage that serves as her office -- Alex gradually realizes that she and her family are in danger. She is determined to discover the source of the threats, the truth about AC and how she came to apply for the job as Alex's assistant, and the real reasons why Patrick has always been uncomfortable around her. She wants to salvage her career as an influencer but learns that exposing the details about her own life, and her family's, is a risky endeavor and once information has been disseminated, security measures are of limited value. She will not be deterred, however, until she not only understands all of the events and players that led her to this point in her life, and once all secrets are revealed, she exhibits tenacity and courage. Patrick is a complicated and somewhat ambiguous character. Belle wisely leaves it to readers to draw their own conclusions about his motivations, ethics, and emotions. Belle's depiction of prepubescent Gigi and Penelope, and their angst about being unwilling inhabitants of their mother's online universe, as well their fear about the fallout from the unfortunate viral video, is credible, believable, and at times heartbreaking.

Belle deftly injects clues about Anna Claire's identity, as well as how and when her path intersected with Alex's family, at judiciously timed junctures. But she keeps readers guessing, slyly withholding key pieces of the mesmerizing puzzle, as she accelerates the narratives' pace and the dramatic tension, right up to the shocking conclusion of her tautly constructed and engaging story.

Unlike My Darling Husband, which Belle drafted during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, she recalls having a tough time drafting The Personnel Assistant because she found it difficult to concentrate on a tale about an Instagram influencer while the world was shut down and the virus continued claiming victims. Because she grew up in a small Tennessee town, Belle says Anna Claire's voice came to her the most naturally. So even though her aspect of the story is the most tragic and wrenching, Belle found it the most enjoyable to write. The rest of the book fell into place once Belle conceptualized the moral of her characters' struggles, "the whole point of the story. When Alex’s world becomes a dumpster fire, it puts things for her into perspective. It forces her to stop and adjust, to reassess her priorities. People. Her family. As Alex learned in her story -- as we learned in ours -- the rest is just noise and fluff." Belle's telling of Alex's journey to that realization is riveting, entertaining, and emotionally compelling. It is also likely to make readers -- especially parents -- think carefully and consider the potential consequences of sharing personal information on social media.

Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.