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A Novel
by Krysten Ritter
A beautiful con artist insinuates herself into a wealthy socialite's life ... with deadly consequences, in this serpentine thriller about identity and obsession, from actress, director and bestselling author Krysten Ritter.
Liz Dawson weaves through a crowd with the ease of a tropical breeze, moving seamlessly through elite circles, sparking instant connections and making every new acquaintance feel like an intimate friend. She's clever, smooth, and confident—qualities that make her a brilliant serial con artist.
Isabelle Beresford is strikingly beautiful, obscenely wealthy, and the new owner of Casa Esmerelda, a fabulous villa on the Mexican coast—attributes that make her the perfect mark. When she offers Liz a job handling the installation of a piece of art in her otherwise vacant home, Liz can't resist the allure of a beach retreat. She longs for a reset, a chance to finally shed the grip of her addiction to the conning game.
But when Liz, with her lush dark hair and intense green eyes, is mistaken for Isabelle herself, Liz can't help effortlessly slipping into the socialite's identity. The transition is so easeful, it almost feels like fate. But just who is Isabelle Beresford really, and why does she seem to have abandoned this stunning life of hers?
As Liz insinuates herself deeper into the dazzling—and deceptive—world of the Punta Mita resort community, she draws closer to the dangers surrounding the real Isabelle. Dangers that may have already ensnared Liz, too. This might not be the con of her life—but the con that ends it.
"Ritter keeps things moving at an steady pace, but many of her plot twists are too predictable to shock. Suspense fans have plenty of better options." —Publishers Weekly
"A gripping next-read for fans of Darby Kane's What the Wife Knew." —Booklist
"A must-read for fans of the popular "rich people behaving badly" subgenre of thrillers. Those who enjoyed The Last Flight by Julie Clark and Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty will enjoy Ritter's new novel." —Library Journal
"Smart, sexy and wickedly fun: this is everything you want in a sun-drenched thriller. Ritter can really write - you'll race through Retreat in a day, rooting for its sparky anti-heroine (just try not to drop it in the pool at the jaw-dropping twist)." —Ellery Lloyd, bestselling author of The Club and The Final Act of Juliette Willoughby
"Multitalented Krysten Ritter is back with a sexy, breakneck thriller that immerses readers in the sometimes-glamorous and sometimes-deadly life of a con artist. Full of surprises and edge-of-your-seat scenes, Retreat is a wild ride." —Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author of She's Not Sorry
"Retreat is a knockout! With keenly observed depictions of elite society, Krysten Ritter takes us on a journey with con artist Liz Dawson when a new opportunity lands her in a world of trouble. A razor sharp and utterly shocking twist propels the roller-coaster ending. Fans of First Lie Wins will devour this clever, masterfully plotted novel. Not to be missed! This book has bestseller written all over it!" —Wendy Walker, bestselling author of What Remains
This information about Retreat was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Krysten Ritter is an actress, director, and author of the internationally bestselling novel Bonfire, which received a Publishers Weekly starred review and which Gillian Flynn called "a beautiful, haunting debut." She's best known for starring in Marvel's Jessica Jones, as well as the titular role in Don't Trust the B—In Apartment 23 and as Jane Margolis in Breaking Bad.
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