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Crime by the Book

A girl investigates crime fiction from around the world, by the book.
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the cbtb blog

One girl's ongoing investigation of the crime fiction genre.

Her Three Lives Cate Holahan.jpg

Book Review: HER THREE LIVES by Cate Holahan

April 18, 2021

HER THREE LIVES by Cate Holahan

Grand Central Publishing; 4/20/21

CBTB Rating: 4/5 

The Verdict: a paranoia-inducing “popcorn thriller”

Cate Holahan is one of my personal must-read, hidden gem suspense writers—an author I can always count on to deliver unique, cleverly-plotted, deliciously entertaining suspense stories. Whether exploring the world of a writer whose new novel begins to blur the lines between fact and fiction in Lies She Told, or taking readers on a luxurious vacation to a summer house where a murder is about to occur in One Little Secret, the books of Cate Holahan’s that I have read have delivered wholly unique and highly entertaining reading experiences. The same can also be said of Cate Holahan’s newest psychological thriller HER THREE LIVES, which will be published this coming Tuesday. In HER THREE LIVES, Holahan weaves a domestic suspense tale of distrust and manipulation. When Jade and Greg’s home is subject to a home invasion, their house isn’t the only thing shattered. Trust between the couple quickly erodes, as both Jade and Greg begin to suspect that their partner may have had something to do with this violent attack. Whose suspicions are correct, and who is to blame? HER THREE LIVES tells a paranoia-inducing tale that will keep readers on their toes until the book’s final pages. Pick this one up for an engrossing vacation (or staycation!) read this spring. 

Plot Details: 

Her public life

Jade Thompson has it all. She’s an up-and-coming social media influencer, and she has a beautiful new home and a successful architect for a fiancé. But there’s trouble behind the scenes. To Greg’s children, his divorce from their mother and his new life can only mean a big mid-life crisis. To Jade, his suburban Connecticut upbringing isn’t an easy match with her Caribbean roots.

Her private life

A savage home invasion leaves Greg house-bound with a traumatic brain injury and glued to the live feeds from his ubiquitous security cameras. As the police investigate the crime and Greg’s frustration and rage grows, Jade begins to wonder what he may know about their attackers. And whether they are coming back.

Her secret life

As Greg watches Jade’s comings and goings, he becomes convinced that her behavior is suspicious and that she’s hiding a big secret.  The more he sees, the more he wonders whether the break-in was really a random burglary. And whether he’s worth more to Jade if he were dead than alive.

Her Three Lives Holahan.jpg

HER THREE LIVES may be one of the most perfectly-titled books of the year. In this page-turning domestic suspense novel, Cate Holahan delves into the three layers of protagonist Jade Thompson’s life: her outward-facing life, her personal life with her fiancé, and her inner life, where she has hidden the darkest secrets of her past. Jade Thompson seems to have it all. A prominent social media influencer, Jade has built a massive online following with her lifestyle blog, where she shares her Caribbean American culture with her followers. Her Instagram feed is filled with photos of her stunning interior design work, the mouth-watering food she loves to cook, the new home that she shares with her fiancé, Greg, and the massive engagement ring that Greg has recently given her. In a world where your follower count is its own kind of currency and your Instagram feed tells the world who you are, Jade seems to have it all. But as is always the case, there is so much more to Jade’s story than what she shares online. In Jade’s personal life, things aren’t quite what they seem. Jade’s fiancé, Greg, was married once before, and Greg’s ex-wife and children have been none too supportive of Greg and Jade’s relationship. Tensions run high between Jade and Greg’s daughter in particular, the latter not-so-subtly insinuating to Jade’s face that she believes Jade to be a gold-digger. And then there is Jade’s inner life, where she has buried deep some of the darkest secrets that define her. Years ago, a member of Jade’s family was involved in a tragic event, a moment which marked this person’s life, and the life of Jade’s entire family, forever. In HER THREE LIVES, Cate Holahan delivers a deep-dive into the many facets of protagonist Jade, all set off by a shocking event that threatens to bring Jade’s carefully-constructed life crashing down. 

HER THREE LIVES is a delicious blend of “popcorn thriller” entertainment value and ever-building paranoia that will keep readers on their toes. Jade and Greg’s perfect life is shattered one evening when masked men invade their home, attacking Greg and robbing Jade. During the chaos, Jade, who is pregnant, is injured, and suffers a miscarriage. In the aftermath, Greg is recovering from a traumatic brain injury sustained during the attack, and becomes obsessed with securing his home against future invasion. Installing a high-end security system affords Greg some much-needed peace of mind… and it also gives him the opportunity to spy on his fiancé as she goes about her day-to-day life, through the security system’s network of cameras installed around the house. The more Greg watches Jade, the more he begins to suspect that she is hiding something from him. Meanwhile, Jade herself begins to wonder whether she can really trust Greg as much as she thought she could. Could Greg be caving to pressure from his ex-wife and daughter to cut ties with Jade? Cate Holahan expertly ratchets up the tension between our story’s central characters, doling out little hints and suggestions that one—or both—of these individuals may be less trustworthy than they first appeared. Who orchestrated the home invasion that upended Jade and Greg’s life together, and why? In order to answer this question, both Jade and Greg will have to dig into the secrets that they have been hiding from one another… and they might not like what they find. Over the course of this story, I’m pretty sure I suspected every single character of being the mastermind behind the book’s central act of violence—everyone, that is, aside from the person who actually did it. I loved this book’s ever-developing sense of paranoia and suspicion; so much of the entertainment value found within HER THREE LIVES comes from the author’s ability to keep you not trusting anyone until the book’s villain is ultimately revealed. 

Her Three Lives_Cate Holahan.jpg

There’s something uniquely sinister about stories centering around a home invasion: the thought of what should be your safest space, your home, being violated in such a violent way is enough to set any reader on edge. Cate Holahan expertly uses this frightening concept as a launching point for a thoroughly engaging and unique story of domestic suspense. HER THREE LIVES explores the destruction of spaces that should be safe: your home, and your relationship with your partner. This is a story that pushes the bonds of loyalty between a couple to its breaking point, and gives readers a front-row seat to the fallout. If you can’t trust your partner, who can you trust? While not necessarily a “twisty” thriller, HER THREE LIVES is nevertheless a gripping and page-turning one. This is not a book defined by massive plot twists, but rather by an ever-intensifying sense of distrust and anxiety that leaps off the page. HER THREE LIVES falls squarely within what I like to call the “popcorn thriller” genre: a genre of suspense books that steer clear of super-dark or gory subject matter, and instead lean into drama, lighter suspense, and entertainment value. While HER THREE LIVES certainly touches on dark topics, the overarching tone of this book remains lighter and highly binge-worthy. Occasionally this story veers into over-the-top drama that requires a touch of suspension of reality from readers, but if “popcorn thrills” and juicy, dramatic entertainment value sounds like your cup of tea, HER THREE LIVES delivers exactly that. Readers looking for a beach read that will keep you on your toes, suspecting everyone and trusting no one, will love HER THREE LIVES. 

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. All opinions my own. 


Book Details: 

Publisher : Grand Central Publishing (April 20, 2021)

Language : English

Paperback : 352 pages

ISBN-10 : 1538736349

ISBN-13 : 978-1538736340

Crime by the Book is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This in no way affects my opinion of the book(s) included in this post. 

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