DARK CIRCLES

4 stars out of 5

This book pulls from hot topics of the day - an actor's coattail-riding father, a controlling manager, podcasts and conspiracy theories - to weave an engaging story that kept my page-turning Kindle finger busy.

The overbearing but highly efficient manager, Jessica, imposes her "guidance" over Olivia Reed, who's trying to salvage her reputation and renew her previously successful acting career after a tabloid-worthy disaster. Jessica comes up with the perfect solution: Send Liv to the House of Light in upstate New York, a spiritual center that touts personal growth and renewal. Liv isn't happy, but she trusts that Jessica has her best interests at heart and reluctantly agrees to give it a go.

Almost from the time she passes through the front door, though, Liv begins to question what's really going on. Those questions intensify when she meets Ava, a local woman who pops in and out of the HOL when she feels the need for rejuvenation - and who tells Liv about the mysterious deaths of a handful of women who've been associated with the facility. Although the deaths have been ruled either accidents or suicides, Ava - and now Liv - aren't believes in coincidences.

As it turns out, Ava is a podcast fan, and she convinces the eager-for-public-attention Liv to start one related to the disappearances. Using some of her old connections, Liv hooks up with a capable production team, starts nosing around and recording her findings. When the first podcast drops, it goes viral - and in that regard, the rest is history. So, too, is her stay at the HOL, from which she's unceremoniously thrown out, as well as her love-hate relationship with Jessica. Turns out the former manager is "Liv"id that her protegee would even consider a podcast without her long-time manager's approval and involvement - and she's even more distraught when Liv refuses to stop.

As Liv's investigation grows legs - with help from a retired cop who unearths a possible personal connection - action heats up all the way to the end, which brings a twist I admit I didn't see coming. All told, while I can't say I ever truly warmed up to any of the characters, it's an entertaining story - for which I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the privilege of reading and reviewing. It's got "beach-read" all over it and at least in my neck of the woods, the season's almost here - go for it!

Dark Circles by Caite Dolan-Leach (Ballantine Books, May 2022); 384 pp.