Wow, this is a chiller thriller that had me on the edge of my seat, looking over my shoulder and checking all my home security was intact! A story from two perspectives; Madison Rivera, the intern of the title, young, ambitious, and a seemingly respected lawyer Kathryn Conroy.
Madison reveres Kathryn and is stoked when her intern application is successful and she goes to work in the judge's chambers. But all is not as it seems. With a complex plot that takes Kathryn's past and weaves it into the present day narrative ensnaring Madison in a convoluted web of deception and corruption this story is the proverbial page turner. There are several facets to the plot that have mysteries requiring solutions before everything dovetails towards a conclusion.
The suspense is so cleverly tuned to tingle the nerve endings of the unsuspecting reader. With a cast of characters, many of whom are of dubious integrity, the readers joins them all in a game of cat and mouse that seems to be hurtling headlong into disaster. It is a legal thriller in part but so much more.
Sometimes I felt that Madison was a tad too naive, too trusting. Kathryn comes across as a strong character but to admire her seems wrong in the light of her nefarious dealings. There are family dynamics aplenty at play here from both protagonists' points of view, Madison's brother, Danny arrested and later missing, Kathryn's parentage, which offer us insights into their personalities.
I believe Ms. Campbell has a legal background and she puts it to good use here. She is also an experienced author and her ability to further the novel with each chapter, peeling off onion like layers to move the reader forward was quite intoxicating.
If there were elements of implausibility at times they tended to dissolve into the wider circle of the fiction. There are many twists some of which could be anticipated, others that came as a shock but all orchestrated in such a way that the reader's attention is engaged and you just have to read on and on.
This is the first of Michele Campbell's book I have read but it has put her firmly on my radar.
My thanks to HQ stories at Harper Collins for my copy that I won in a giveaway.
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