Trust Me: A Novel

Ashlyn Bryant is accused of murdering her beautiful three-year-old daughter, Tasha Nicole. When little Tasha went missing, Ashlyn insisted she did not know anything about her daughter's fate, claiming she last saw her with she left her with a babysitter named Valerie. But Tasha's body was found stuffed into a garbage bag, Ashlyn was charged and held to stand trial. Now the trial is a gruesome spectacle with the District Attorney claiming that "only Ashlyn" had the means and motive to harm Tasha, even though no physical evidence links Ashlyn to the heinous crime.

Mercer Hennessy knows about loss. Two years ago, her own three-year=old daughter, Sophie, was killed, along with Mercer's husband, in a horrific vehicle accident. Since then, Mercer, a journalist, has been mired in grief.

When Mercer is given the assignment of following Ashlyn's trial and writing a true crime book about it, she struggles to emerge from the wreckage of her own life. Watching the trial each day, Mercer is convinced that Ashlyn is guilty.

The surprise outcome of the trial throws the two women together. Theirs becomes an unlikely alliance and dangerous game of cat and mouse as Mercer attempts to elicit the truth from Ashlyn and grows increasingly dubious and afraid for her own safety. Before long, Mercer finds herself questioning every detail about her life and relationships, including the marriage she thought was a happy, faithful one, and the circumstances surrounding the death of her beloved husband and daughter.

Trust Me is based upon a unique premise. While the characters are fully developed and their repartee intriguing, the book's momentum stalls mid-way, with scenes seeming to repeat themselves without advancing the storyline. The book would have benefited greatly from some judicious editing. Nonetheless, it is a chilling tale about the powerful hold the manipulations and machinations of a psychopath can have on a rational, intelligent individual, especially if that individual has already been rendered vulnerable. It is also a story of triumph over despair and the application of reason to outsmart a formidable, but ultimately flawed, psychopathic opponent. And for those reasons, it is entertaining and worth reading.

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