YOU CAN TRUST ME

4 stars out of 5

"I couldn't put it down" and "It's a little too contrived" typically don't co-exist in the same book review, but I have to be honest: Both descriptors are appropriate based on my experience. The couldn't put it down part was almost hypnotic (although not totally accurate - I did take time off to cook dinner and go to bed). But the story, and out-of-the-ordinary characters, did grab me from the start and didn't let go.

Even the main characters' names avoid run-of-the-mill: Summer and Leo (both female), an unlikely pair of friends who have bonded together while trying to escape growing-up years that were unsettling at best. They live off the grid, technically homeless and nonexistent to the "normal" world, in mostly sunny California - living on their wits and expertise with a variety of activities generally frowned upon by society, like picking pockets. Summer, the older of the two, pretty much dominates their money-making activities, but Leo is eager to even the score. It'll happen, she claims, after she hooks up with a technology billionaire and he showers her with gifts she and Summer can offload for a boatload of cash to share. Early on, she's off to a great start, using her many charms to finagle an invitation to his private island for the weekend.

Except that it doesn't quite turn out that way. In fact, Leo - who typically would be in almost constant touch with Summer - fails to check in. Worried that something's seriously amiss, Summer finds a way to do some finagling of her own - an invitation to visit the island as the guest of one of the billionaire's technology buddies. Problem is, everyone on the island - including the billionaire - deny ever knowing or seeing Leo. So what's a best friend to do?

Find her, of course - but that brings all sorts of problems since security on the island, which includes a top-secret research laboratory, may be even higher tech than what's being developed there. Cell phones are verboten, drones and human watchdogs are over and around every tree and every single person on the island has pledged undying loyalty (in some cases, dying loyalty) to the billionaire host.

Needless to say, there's more going on here than meets the eye - and if prying eyes should happen to see too much, well, there are consequences. Is Leo even still alive? If she is, can Summer find her before that's no longer true? It's a thrilling chase to the end, with a question every step of the way as to which characters, if any, will cross the finish line alive. Even with a few "you've gotta be kidding me's" along the way, I certainly enjoyed the trip, and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy.

You Can Trust Me by Wendy Heard (Bantam, June 2023); 304 pp.