Book Review: Keep You Close by Karen Cleveland

Karen Cleveland writes BRILLIANT thrillers… I reviewed her first novel, Need to Know, last year and couldn’t wait for her to release another. She has a gift for crafting compelling, believable, strong women who aren’t perfect and don’t need to be – they are instead real, and that is infinitely more readable…

This is another book about secrets. Cleveland is (apparently) obsessed with secrets: the ones we keep, the ones we spill, the ones we uncover, the ones we misunderstand. That obsession is translated into marvelous suspenseful novels that weave together complex story lines, emotions, and rationalizations. The result: fantastic tales that are easy to read, wholly engaging, and startling in their presentation of the baser nature of humanity.

A particular area of focus for her is family and the way that lies undermine (and often, underpin) the relationships between family members, be they spouses, children, or parents. I love that she works espionage into that mix; the blend should probably feel odd but it never does somehow. I chalk that up to her writing, which is as crisp as a spring morning and just as glorious. If that wasn’t enough to grab your attention, she manages to work contemporary global and socio-political issues into her narratives in a way that makes them feel not only current but spot-on timely. And she does so without ever feeling like she’s forcing them in or using them as props to garner attention. Her touch is infinitely more subtle than that, and the result is marvelous.

If you’re not familiar with her work, you should be – the stories are fabulous, full of characters that often seem brittle or fragile but have a core of steel that comes through at just the right moments.

My review copy was provided via NetGalley. The book releases in the U.S. on May 28, 2019.