Feckless female on parade. 🤦🏼‍♀️ ⭐️⭐️

⏰ 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫: Beth is going through a lot – empty nest, marriage dissolving, loss of a coveted work position, but she’s convinced she is solving her case locating an elusive Iraqi intelligence operative called “The Neighbor” even though it’s no longer her case. Beth uncovers nothing but mystery in her quest to find “The Neighbor”, but perhaps “The Neighbor” is closer than she thinks…

💡𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬: I’m disappointed because of my biggest pet peeve (my review readers know this) – weak, inadequate, female protagonists. I felt soooo disconnected from Beth. At 40% I was already 100% annoyed with Beth – how she was hired or worked for the CIA is beyond me. She holds no patience, no common sense, is inept, impulsive, and totally irrational – and I understand her life is upside down, but it’s the cliché of clichés: women are ruled by emotion. This woman is too “emotional” to do her CIA job. (Sigh)… so yet another “professional” woman who doesn’t act like a professional under emotional stress (Unless “nitwit” is a new profession?)

The book had so much potential, opportunities for red herrings, a great wealth of characters to make it a guessing game of possibility, but the frazzled, off-kilter Beth made me feel like I just needed a muscle relaxer and a shot of Jack to get her anxiety away from me.

The book salvaged a star and stayed in the “just ok” category because Cleveland does tell a good story, it’s just not for me.

𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗮𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆𝗠𝗮𝗴𝘀.𝗰𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

📚𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Mystery/Domestic Fiction

😍𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨: If the feminist pet peeve of mine doesn’t bother you, you’re good!

🙅‍♀️ 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨: Those who abhor weak female protagonists.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for my advanced copy in exchange for my always-honest review and for knowing how I roll and appreciating my honesty.