The Secrets You Keep: A Novel

I enjoy a good suspense story and The Secrets You Keep filled the bill for me. Bryn Harper is a self-help author whose self-help books have made her a famous person. She is married to the love of her life and they have decided to have a restful summer outside of Manhattan. They have rented a Victorian home in Saratoga Springs, NY.

Bryn especially needs to take a step back. She has been in a devastating car wreck and is suffering from not only nightmares about the wreck but from writers block.

Bryn and her husband Guy have been married for two years in a commuter marriage. She stays in Manhattan and Guy stays near his job in Saratoga Springs. Renting the home in Saratoga Springs marks the first time that they have lived together since their marriage. Needless to say, both of them need to get used to living together full time.

Once they are moved in together, Bryn thinks that Guy is becoming somewhat impatient with her because she has not jumped back completely from the car wreck. Bryn is suffering from severe aftershocks and nightmares about the wreck. What are her dreams trying to tell her? Is she missing something about the wreck?

This book is a fast paced story about a young woman who finally faces her fears and solves the mystery of her dreams. I liked it and recommend for a good beach read or summer evening reading.

Sometimes a writer is savvy enough to grab the reader with the very first sentence of his or her work. This is what Kate White does in THE SECRETS YOU KEEP. Bryn Harper is the main character and narrator of her story. She is married to Guy, who is "a fixer, a solver, a person undaunted by problems that can frazzle many of us" and who can "talk to a skittish donor."

Bryn is a successful self-help author who is recovering from a devastating car accident that killed the driver, her friend, when the vehicle burst into flames. She is healing well but is haunted by strange dreams in which she is surrounded by fire and hears a man's voice telling her to wait. She is getting help from a therapist who has taught her some coping skills.

As the narrative opens, Bryn is preparing for a dinner party for two of Guy's donors and their wives. The whole evening is being catered by one of the best known services in Saratoga. Unfortunately, the owner of the company is not very friendly and quite rude to Bryn. This is not a good way to begin an evening of entertaining. She has brought two waiters with her to handle the cooking and serving; they, too, are on the mean side.

At the last minute, another guest is added to the party list. Journalism professor Derek Collins said he preferred to come alone, and so he does. The morning after the party, which was a mix of small talk and jibes from one of the wives, Bryn goes to her office to retrieve $60 she put in her desk drawer. However, the money is gone, and a bunch of burned-up matches are in its place. This freaks her out, and she immediately thinks that one of the waiters must have taken the money. She hurries down to where Eve Blazer has her catering business to confront her about the money and the matches.

As the narrative continues to unfold, two murders are committed. One of the victims is Eve, and the other is Guy's executive assistant and confidant, Miranda. Both women were hit with a heavy object, in Eve's case a hatchet. Bryn finds her body, which triggers more nightmares about Paul's death in the car accident. She confides to a friend that she is having a hard time writing her next book proposal, which is overdue. Should she call Stephanie, Paul's widow?

When Guy tells Bryn that he had a drink with Eve and she "came on" to him, she is shattered. But he explains that nothing happened, and he is not interested in any other woman. Bryn is in a virtual bind. As the secrets about her husband slowly emerge, she finds herself in a very scary place. Her first book was a bestseller about making choices in life: "I've never pretended to be an expert on making choices, only someone fascinated by the decisions people make and how those decisions shape their lives." But if she tells what she now knows about Guy, how will that impact her career? She decides to confront him but is conflicted by this choice: "I know Guy's deceived me, and yet I'm not sure of anything beyond that." She hopes he is "just a liar" and nothing worse. Little by little, as secrets emerge, trust rapidly evaporates.

Kate White ratchets up the suspense by not revealing the identity of the killer until the very end. It is quite a shocker, making THE SECRETS YOU KEEP a riveting psychological thriller that shows White, the former editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine, at the very top of her game.

Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum

I was definitely in the mood for a good psychological thriller when I picked up The Secrets You Keep. I had really enjoyed Eyes on You, so I was hoping to be in for a great read. The story revolves around Bryn, who is a self-help author. She is recovering from a car accident and living with her husband full-time for the summer. Up until the accident, theirs had been more of a commuter relationship. She beings to feel like things aren't quite right with her husband. When a local caterer is murdered, she becomes the number one person of interest.

For the most part, I liked this book. I'm not going to really talk plot, because there are a lot of twists, red herrings and surprises. Would I say that this was a psychological thriller? Not really. But it is definitely a good solid mystery. I didn't call the ending and that is always a bonus for me. I thought the plot was well laid out and is told through Bryn's eyes. I enjoyed finding things out along with Bryn as it kept me engaged. Despite all of that, I never really had the sense that Bryn was in serious danger throughout most of the book.

I would recommend this one. Just don't go into it expecting a fast paced seat of your pants thriller.

* I received a free copy of hte book from the publisher.

This was an easy read, though not necessarily quick at almost 400 pages. It's a good "beach read", although I read it at my house overlooking a lake. It was raining all weekend and this suspenseful book was perfect for the weather. Bryn was annoying at times, sometimes she was a little crazy in a manic way. I think her "detective" work was a pretense not to work on her book proposal Sometimes I was wondering where she was going with her detecting. However, the more I read, the more I enjoyed the roller coaster plot and the twist ending. The plot lines all came together nicely. The setting was like a cozy mystery set in a small town, but this book was one of those "domestic thrillers", with the danger being close to home. Let it be a lesson to all young ladies out there to make sure you know very well the guy you are going to marry and not to jump into matrimony too soon. I hope Bryn eventually will find happiness in her life.

The main character in this book is constantly doubting herself and her perception of her interactions with her friends and husband. The murderer is revealed in a scooby-doo like fashion- like- "Yeah! It was me the whole time!!! And here's how and why I did it!!! Now you're next!". Certain questions never get answered - What the hell is up with Kim? and Is the protagonist being drugged/ why does she pass out on her front porch every other chapter? What will our protagonists eat for dinner tonight? (Just kidding, every meal and drink is described in excruciating detail)

The secret is out about Kate White’s "The Secrets You Keep” — a spellbinding psychological thriller about love, lust, loss, lies, and the compelling power of passion and survival. White’s superb story-telling skills paint intriguing characters, deliver juicy details, and craft page-turning plot twists that will keep you racing through the chapters and on the edge of your seat. (By the way, have you locked your front door?!) The riveting scenes unfold in Upstate New York’s picturesque Saratoga Springs, where Bryn Harper, a successful NYC self-help author, has rented a summer home with her new husband in order to help heal from a recent life-changing shock, only to discover — as women she meets are ghastly murdered — that many of those people closest to her can’t be trusted. Deceptions and dalliances abound. Harper built a career on helping others and now feels helpless as stealthy curveballs and falsehoods are thrown her way. How will she find a solution out of this smoke-and-mirrors nightmare? My attention was captured throughout! Snap up this book!

I was looking forward to the release of this book and I was NOT disappointed!! This is the first book I have read by Kate White and it won't be the last. She is a great storyteller and did a fantastic job keeping the story moving throughout the entire book. It's a gripping tale of best-selling author, Bryn Harper, who is a survivor of a fatal car accident. She suffers from debilitating nightmares and memory loss and due to her injuries she chooses to spend the summer in Saratoga Springs with her husband, Guy, whose job keeps them in a commuter marriage until now. The caterer her husband hires for a dinner party ends up murdered and Bryn quickly becomes a person of interest. She feels so alone as she soon discovers there is no one in this small town she can trust, including her husband.

I'm totally undecided what to say about this story. Several years ago I read a book by this author, and I can't say this book was really any better. It was OK. A couple real mysteries are involved here, neither of which are quick to unravel. What really annoyed me the most was all the editing errors. My goodness. What are the children learning in school these days. I'll say the ending was logical after all poor Bryn has been through, so it wasn't all for nothing. Making a mental note not to go here for another story though.

Kate White has written an extremely addictive read here. Bryn, an author is recovering from an accident in the care of her husband with whom she has only ever had a long distance relationship. Everything she believes starts to unwind when firstly money goes missing after a dinner party and then the chef who catered for the dinner party is murdered. The twists and turns in the story keeps the book flowing and made it hard to put down. Definitely recommended.

I am not exactly an overwhelming fan of this book. It was marginally entertaining but that is about the best I can say. I mostly found the main character to be unlikable. She would not be someone I would even what to know in real life as she pretty much whined through the whole story. The other characters were a bit more interesting, but little focus placed on most of them. I would have liked to see a bit more character interaction than the main character frequent "woe is me" chatter to the reader. There were sub-plot lines that started to be developed and then were dropped until the end almost as an afterthought as if to say, "ok, I'm at the end so i better say what happened with so-and-so". The story line itself is interesting, so that is why I am giving it 3 stars.

I had never read anything by Kate White before, and I'm looking forward to reading more of her books after reading The Secrets You Keep. It was well written and kept me guessing until the end. It reminded me of Clue in a way because it kept me guessing who the murderer was as well as what actually happened to this woman in her accident. It's a great "who done it" mystery.

I enjoyed this tense thriller with its fast pace and unpredictable twists and turns.
The characters were likeable, if not a bit paranoid but it all added to the story.
I found this novel easy to read with understandable language and a way with words that kept me wondering where it would all end.
Overall a good psychological thriller.

This novel kept me guessing who murdered a successful caterer until close to the end. I thought it was suspenseful and was glad that the heroine finally discovered what was really going on in her life. I enjoyed this book and the escape it provided. I will read another by this author.

I started this book yesterday morning and finished it in the late afternoon. Wow! It moved, it kept my attention, it was an excellent plot (I didn't get who done it until the end) and I am thrilled to discover a new author who has written other books. I'll be sure to read them, too, as Kate White is a real find.

I have stayed up reading "The Secrets You Keep" until 3 am the past two nights because I simply must find out who dunnit! I can't remember the last time I enjoyed reading a book so much--unless it was Kate White's last one. Earlier this morning, say around 2 am, the main character was alone in her home and I found myself getting really frightened for her, as if I could actually picture the action--that's how vivid and compelling the writing is. I'd write more about how terrific "The Secrets You Keep" is...but I can't wait another minute to return to reading the book.

In The secrets You Keep, Kate's ability to create pages of suspense, wonderful characterizations and mindful contemplation of transparency create a page turning thriller that is fun, intelligent and brilliant! You won't want to put it down. Enjoy! I certainly did!

Kate White has written an extremely addictive read here. Bryn, an author is recovering from an accident in the care of her husband with whom she has only ever had a long distance relationship. Everything she believes starts to unwind when firstly money goes missing after a dinner party and then the chef who catered for the dinner party is murdered. The twists and turns in the story keeps the book flowing and made it hard to put down. Definitely recommended.

The main character in this book is constantly doubting herself and her perception of her interactions with her friends and husband. The murderer is revealed in a scooby-doo like fashion- like- "Yeah! It was me the whole time!!! And here's how and why I did it!!! Now you're next!". Certain questions never get answered - What the hell is up with Kim? and Is the protagonist being drugged/ why does she pass out on her front porch every other chapter? What will our protagonists eat for dinner tonight? (Just kidding, every meal and drink is described in excruciating detail)