THE GIRL IN THE VAULT

3.5 stars out of 5

My feelings about this book are very mixed, I'm afraid. Oh, not that it wasn't engrossing; in fact, I stayed up 45 minutes past my bedtime because I didn't want to wait till morning to see how it turned out. It's just that the plot seemed so contrived that at some points it was borderline silly - and having read other of this talented author's books, it was a bit of a disappointment overall.
 

Faye Walker, a dirt poor gal from the South, has "made it" to New York City as a summer intern at a Wall Street bank. She's just one of several interns - all unpaid - who are vying for a couple of full-time slots come fall. Her math-inclined brain and near eidetic memory is serving her well, and her chances of making the final cut are excellent. Needless to say, she has very little free time, but she's managed to find the love of her life - an immigrant who's anxiously awaiting his Green Card and driving a carriage around Central Park.

But as the internship nears the end, Faye makes a discovery that convinces her the deck is stacked against her; no matter how hard she's worked, she won't be picked. That, in turn, not only infuriates her, but makes her want to get even. She hatches a devious plan, finds a willing cohort who also has an axe to grind and sets out to get not only vengeance, but several million bucks.

To say her plan is complex would be an understatement; at a few points along the way, the details got lost on me and I just tried to ride it out till the goings on turned back to reasonably coherent (I mean, I've been to New York City and ridden the subway, but the concept of counting support posts and dodging third rails kind of left me scratching my head). Still other details of the plan made sense, but it was hard to believe that even a person as smart as Faye could ever have anticipated every possible glitch and pulled off a caper of this magnitude. The ending wrapped things up with a few twists, but of course I'm not about to offer any hints. All told, it was an enjoyable ride (really!!) even if it fell a little short of my expectations and defied credibility. I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy.

The Girl in the Vault by Michael Ledwidge (Hanover Square Press, November 2023); 315 pp.