Review: Good as Dead by Susan Walter

Holly Kendrick’s husband is dead. Holly saw it all. In one violent moment, a hit-and-run accident turns Holly’s life upside down. Then a fixer for the high-powered guilty party approaches Holly with an offer she is in no position to refuse. Holly and her daughter, Savannah, will want for nothing, beginning with a luxury dream house—all for the price of their silence. But when their sudden appearance in privileged Calabasas, California, piques the curiosity of neighbours, the price becomes greater than they imagined. Because Holly and Savannah aren’t the only ones in the neighbourhood with something to hide.

Review

Good as Dead by Susan Walter has quite an interesting premise that makes you think about what you’d have done in similar circumstances. Holly lost her husband in a hit and run accident. Before she even laid him to rest, the guilty party’s fixer approached her with an offer that was difficult to refuse. In exchange for her silence and the deletion of the dashcam recording, Holly and her daughter would get a huge financial settlement. Holly and Savannah want justice. However, they are struggling financially and there is no telling how a legal suit would go. Would it drag out in court? How will the two survive during that time? The decision to accept the offer is easy to judge because yes, its wrong. However, I couldn’t judge the 2.

The story is focused on events that took place once Holly and Savannah moved into a new, affluent neighborhood as part of the settlement. Their neighbors are suspicious of them. In addition, the 2 are struggling with own guilt of having accepted the settlement. With such a huge secret and a number of people involved, I was curious to see if anyone would crack. I was also curious about guilty party and the entire deal. Of course, the nosy neighbours had me nervous too.

The narrative style is quite interesting with a number of narrators including Holly, Savannah, the Fixer, Holly’s nosy new neighbors and the guilty party. Worry not though, it was easy to keep track of all of the them and the story has quite an easy flow.

This was a fast-paced psychological thriller that had me at the edge of my seat up to the last page.