I was very intrigued by the premise of this book. I prefer literary thrillers to over the top, twisty thrillers as they tend to be more realistic. Unfortunately I found this book to be so boring, reading it became a chore. I stopped around 30%. I didn’t like the characters and struggled to keep the characters in the “now” chapters straight.

A tense, suspenseful novel about domestic violence, control, and how women try and overcome these things. Unfortunately not all can make it out to the other side.

A suspenseful story about a young woman who may or may not have committed suicide. This story explores physically and emotionally abusive relationships while switching from past and present while trying to solve a case.

Katie’s body was pulled from the river and thought to be a suicide, it seemed straightforward. She worked in a home for women who suffered domestic violence. The story went back and forth in time to uncover Katie’s life. Katie had met what seemed to be a really nice young man. But gradually he exerted more and more control over Katie’s life, until Katie just seemed to disappear inside herself. The story showed how easy it can be to be manipulated no matter how smart you are.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Keeper was intense. Gritty and compelling, this debut novel is told in dual perspectives- then and now. In the “then” narrative, we follow Katie, the main character who is found dead, apparently of a suicide and we learn her story leading up to that time.

The now is told from the perspective of the detective investigating the case and her history.

The novel is very well written, though I would categorize it as less of a thriller and more as a fiction/dark fiction. It’s a psychological story for sure but not so thrilling in a sense. Definite trigger warnings for suicide, sexual abuse and domestic violence.

I went into this book thinking it was going to be a murder mystery and it was to some extent that. What the main focus of this story was, though, was about domestic violence. The story teeters back and forth between then and now, and the perspectives of Katie and the detective assigned to her murder. This story is powerful, but if you go into this book expecting a thriller, you will be disappointed. The detective's perspective and "now" chapters felt ultimately unnecessary for me. I enjoyed Katie's "then" chapters a lot more. There was more depth and intensity to them.

This mystery was a very easy quick read. I really enjoyed the story line. However, there is some content included in this novel that could be triggering to some readers. At times it was a bit heavy but did a great job of bringing to light issues of abuse in relationships.

The story uses multiple perspectives to navigate through the presumed suicide of Katie Straw. A woman who, upon investigation has no past. Using a then and now storyline the reader jumps through time lines trying to figure out why this woman would end her life. The end will leave readers shocked.

This was a hard one to read, but I had to read it. I needed to know what happened to our Katie Straw that night on the bridge. Just enough twists and turns to keep you going, but not too many to make it unbelievable.
An intense story that's not going to be easy to recommend to just anyone, but a well-written story none the less.

Who is Katie Straw? That is the question we are left with. Just as we think we know who she is, we learn more. As I was reading, I really had no idea where this story was going to take me. Each time I thought I had figured out what had happened, I was wrong. This book is able to spark so much emotion in the reader regarding domestic violence, as well as bring awareness to the issue. I did have to pay close attention to each chapter and which character's point-of-view it was coming from, but that wasn't an issue. May be a bit tough to read for someone who has experienced domestic violence. Overall, I really enjoyed this book.

Atmospheric and intense, but in that way that creeps up on you so you're genuinely surprised. Reading about female abuse, especially when the prose are so earnestly imagined is hard. This book is not for the faint of heart.

This book was received as an ARC from PENGUIN GROUP Penguin in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

Every page, every word, and every chapter of this book I absolutely could not get enough. Reading this book was like eating a good meal or tasting a tasty drink for the first time and you could not get enough. This book also reminded me of the book Now You See Her with the tie ins of alternate lifestyles and discovering that a victim that you thought you knew isn't really who she seems to be. The book starts in discovering thew dead body of Katie Straw in the lake and when examining the body and working the case, Detective Dan Whitworth and his team uncover long kept secrets that changed not only the case itself but their lives themselves. I could not stop reading this book and I can not wait to tell everyone in our library community about it.

We will consider adding this book to our Mystery collection at the library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

After starting this and reading other negative reviews, I’ve decided to skip this one and move on to other books that appeal to me more.

Atmospheric and intense, but in that way that creeps up on you so you're genuinely surprised when it's 4am and you really only meant to read one more chapter.

Katie is found dead in the river. Police are sure it’s a suicide, but the women she worked with know better. Katie was murdered. Katie helped women who were victims of domestic violence, women who are hiding out in a safe house with security cameras and extra locks on the doors. They know that Katie had run into the same type of man they are hiding from. Then police uncover some unsettling things about Katie, a woman who had her own dark and troubled past