I enjoyed this dark noir of a crime thriller, despite the fascinating strip club element only being a backdrop, and not quite the focus, that I had hoped for. This seemed a bit of a cover tease to me.

However, we do get an intimate view of the strip club and its dancers, especially a main protagonist among many, in the first part of the book.

This served to hook me and to keep me when the narrative switched to more of a crime/police thriller.

The story contains palpable social elements of women’s pain and vulnerability. Whether it is examining a stripper’s humanity, gender issues, sexuality, childhood, motherhood, a woman’s sovereignty is fledging here.

This was my first Marie Rutkoski book, and I understand this was a new genre for her. I loved that she pulled from her experience as a former exotic dancer to write this story. I also found her almost masculine writing style compelling: vividly descriptive, yet delivered in short, propulsive. sentences and chapters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt books for this unique ARC.

What a unique and fabulous debut! This story is set in a Chicago strip club and it is gritty and dark and hauntingly realistic about the difficult lives these girls lead and the dangers that lurk for them. I will admit that I guessed the perp at about the mid point, but it was a wild guess, so the ending wasn’t a huge shock. And at about the halfway point there were a few extra characters being introduced that made me pause to figure out where they fit in. But all in all, this book is written very well with rich characterization. I had creepy, cringy vibes during my entire read, so this thriller did its job!

Thank you Netgalley, Henry Holt & Company, and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is my next book, so placing a hold review here on GR until I get through it! I'm looking forward to this one, and have heard a lot of great things about it.

Wow, the thought process that went into this book was amazing! I could not put this book down, easily read in one sitting. It kept me thinking I figured it out but then I would be completely wrong. Great Book! Amazingly written. Five stars!

The descriptions in this book easily placed me in the gritty atmosphere of a strip club (I can only assume it's accurate - I've never been to one!) The author did a good job of presenting the place and the characters in a way to provoke sympathy. My only complaint is that there were SO MANY characters!! It was hard to keep everyone straight sometimes - especially since the girls all had two names, their real names and their stage names.

There were a few shocking scenes in the book and plenty of sad ones. As for the mystery part, I did guess who the killer was fairly early but there were enough red herrings thrown in that I wasn't entirely positive - until the reveal.

I wonder if there will be a series with Holly and Victor.

Real Easy is a fast-paced thriller that was very hard to put down. At times, though, the story was a bit confusing because several characters went by multiple names so I would have to flip back to see who was who. Also just as I was getting interested in a character’s story, it would switch to a different point of view and never really circle back to that particular character. I would love to see a sequel focusing on the two detectives and further exploring their stories. Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book!

This was a twisty, turny, keep you on the edge of your seat book! These are the kinds I like because they aren't too gory. I liked the different perspectives of the characters. The writing is good and it's a very fast paced read.
Just when you think you know who it is, a wrench gets thrown in.

Thank you NetGalley for this copy!

Felt a little slow going. I am not sure if it’s because I listened too it but occasional I had trouble keeping track of who was who. The twist at the end was decent but overall didn’t love it.

Real Easy by Marie Rutkoski is a story that could be a TV serial. There are at least 14 characters who have some part in this story. From strippers, to a kidnapper, likely serial killer, to the Detectives trying to solve a murder and a kidnapping that takes place at the same time. The book mostly takes place at a strip club called Lovely Lady. The year is 1999, we are all preparing to die from Y2K and the end of the world due to computers failing all over the world. Samantha Lund is Ruby. She has a rare chromosomal disorder, lives with jealous boyfriend Nick Sullivan, treasuring the stepmother-daughter bond she has with his daughter, Rosie.

She's the top dancer who brings in the most cash. New dancer Jolene, who eventually switches her stage name to Lady Jade, is the least popular. Samantha feels bad for her and tries to give her tips to success. One day when Samantha (aka Ruby) is driving Jolene home after it appears that she's either taken drugs, or has been drugged, her car is deliberately hit by another, her companion found raped and dead, and Ruby herself disappeared.

Detectives Holly Meylin and Victor Amador both work the case and attempt to find out if Samantha is still alive, or if she is another sad casualty of a perverted and sick mind. Holly is a Harvard educated detective with a heartbreaking back story. She is determined to solve the case. As she follow the clues, it becomes apparent that they are dealing with a ruthless killer. With leads getting scarce, Holly wants another dancer, Georgia, to become a confidential agent. Georgia, I believe, is the only woman of color that has a prominent role in this story.

Georgia is drawn to the investigation she does everything she can to help, even if that means putting herself in harms way. Rutkoski, who states she was a dancer herself, depicts the world of the strip club and the women with authenticity and expertise. This is a dark environment where strippers are only good for their bodies, and not their minds. Chapters alternate through dancers and detectives, sometimes one for suspects as they come up, and sometimes jumping a couple of days into the past, compared to the previous chapter. I cannot express the heart break one felt after reading this story to the end.

Real Easy follows the story of a group of strippers, bound together not by a sense of sisterhood or any particular similarities, but by the fact that a man is determined to kill and has identified some of them as his prey. This is not a standard thriller, per say, focusing more on the individual histories and stories of both the women who are at risk and the men who could be the killers, with a sprinkle of the detectives involved as well. I wish I could say that I was as fascinated by the detectives' stories as I was by the women, but where the women were painted with such humanity and complexity (never sticking them into any one box), the detectives just seemed to be there to get the crime sorted out.

I won't spoil anything but the midpoint of the book really hits you directly in the stomach and adds to a sense of reality instead of focused entirely on hope. You can go into Real Easy believing that this is your standard thriller, but that is not what you're going to get. Instead, you're left with more of a character study and a resolution to a crime though even that does not let you forget all of the people who were victimized and who will never fully recover from the events of the novel.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Real Easy by Marie Rutkoski is a dark, moody police procedural about the abduction and murder of two dancers from the Lovely Lady strip club. The story is set in 1999 and centers around the cast of characters revolving around the club. Samantha (Ruby) is one of the highest earning dancers and she is well known among the patrons and dancers. When the newest dancer Jolene (Lady Jade) joins, Samantha takes her under her wing, and jumps in to help when something goes wrong for her at the club one night. In order to get her home safely Samantha volunteers to drive Lady Jade home, but their car is found in a crash and one is dead and the other is missing.

The book is told from alternating perspectives from the dancers, their families, the patrons, and the police detectives. The character exploration is fascinating coupled with the setting of the strip club.

Overall, I thought this was a well paced, interesting book. I guessed the ending early in the story which took away from the suspense but I really enjoyed the character development and relationship building. I loved the Strip Club lens, too, and any book that explores the lives of people pursuing sex work is a book I am interested in reading as I don't think it's a topic featured enough.

Thank you to Netgalley and Henry Holt & Company for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. Real Easy is available now!

Thank you Netgalley and Henry Holt & Company, Henry Holt and Co. for the copy of this book. I loved the premise of this book, but never connected to any of the characters, maybe because there were so many it was hard to keep them all straight. The strippers all had two names and the detectives were referred to by either their first or last names.
The writing was not great for me. So many events felt like they were just thrown in for no reason, which made the book feel overly long and added nothing to the story.
I liked the overall story though, and the inside view of the life of the strippers was great.

There were a lot of things I really liked about this book. First of all, I loved the cover. I saw this book all over Bookstagram and the cover kept drawing in my attention. I also loved how the main characters were strippers, and how empowering I found that. There was also one scene that was very disturbing to even someone like me who reads a lot of thrillers and indulges in all things true crime. I love when something still makes me squeamish.

There were also some aspects of this book that turned me off some. First of all, there were a ton of characters. So many that it was difficult to keep them all straight sometimes. Also add into that how each stripper had two names, her real name and then her stage name, and both names were used fairly interchangeably throughout. I also felt like a lot of the scenes were unnecessarily added into the story which left me feeling slightly disconnected from it all.

Overall I give this a 3.75 rating (rounded up to 4),

Real Easy will hands down be in one of my top 10 spots for book of the year in 2022. This book was everything I am always looking for in a thriller and rarely find. Old school creep vibe? Check. Took place in a strip club? In the 90’s? Check. A cast of diverse characters that you can’t help but be drawn to? Check. Difficult, intense relationships? Check. GAH! What else can I even say but I will be passing this book out to all the readers in my life.
Thank you, Marie Rutkoski, for writing this book from real life experience. It definitely shows and I cannot wait to pick up all of your future books!

5 glorious and wonderful stars if you couldn’t already guess that.

A big thank you to Henry Holt and Co. & NetGalley for allowing me to read an early copy of this book.

I rated this one 3.5 stars.

A murder mystery that takes place in a strip club with 90s nostalgia? Love it. The setting is dark, sexy and gritty and the author did a great job of transporting you to the Lovely Lady Strip Club. This time period was also fun to read about (we love a Tamagotchi reference).

There is a huge cast of characters and suspects all with their own background story and life issues, and I suspected each of them at point if another. But since each chapter switches between a different narrator (up to 14 in total) I found it hard to connect with all of the characters. Some background stories had nothing to do with the plot and left me confused about why this information was necessary. For that reason, the book dragged a little in the middle third for me.

I also appreciated the way that the author, a former dancer herself, portrayed the women who work at the strip club and how they weren’t all a typical stereotype of a stripper. None of it felt cliche and each of the women had their own layers to them which I enjoyed learning about throughout the book.

Thank you @netgalley and @henryholtbooks for the ARC. Review will also be posted to my instagram page @prose_beforehoes.

This is the first time I've been approved for an "advanced" reader copy after a book's publishing date, which seemed strange. Overall, this was a well-written thriller that immerses the reader in the 1999 world of a seedy strip club. Samantha has been dancing at the Lovely Lady for years despite the fact that her boyfriend disapproves. When she takes another dancer home one night, Samantha disappears and the other woman is found dead at the scene of a car crash. The ensuing search for the killer/abductor takes up the rest of the book. My frustration came from far, far too many viewpoints and names. There were POVs from two detectives on the case and multiple strippers, all of whom were listed with their given name and their stripper name. It just got bogged down and confusing, and I think the book would have benefited greatly from a tighter focus on just a few of these characters. Don't get me wrong, all of the characters were interesting with rich backstories, but it was just too exhausting to keep track of everyone. My other frustration was <spoiler>Samantha was a fantastic, well-developed character, my favorite of the book, and when she was killed halfway through I felt really cheated</spoiler>. Still, this is a solid novel overall and perhaps if I'd kept a cheat sheet of characters next to me while reading I would have enjoyed it more. Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for the digital copy.

Started strong for me but lost steam. The story centered around women who work in a strip club is unique. Interesting inside look at the world and lives of women who work in this setting. I was intrigued by the premise and the mystery of the missing person. Unfortunately the story stalled for me at about 40%. At that point the changing POV started to lose its appeal. There were at least 10 different POV that alternated without a pattern. It was hard for me to connect or care about any character with the POV changing rapidly. Fewer main storytellers would have kept me engaged. The mystery wasn’t compelling enough to pull me through the ever changing perspective. All of the characters seemed to have sad back stories too. Just emotionally draining.
I can see this book working for many people as it has a unique setting and complicated characters. Definitely a book for those who like character driven stories and like darker stories.

Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co. for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was really good. A great mystery told from numerous points of view. I can honestly say going in I knew nothing about strip clubs and , like most people, I had a preconceived impression of the place and the people who work there. So, the environment and the characters played a large part in keeping my interest. It’s a quick read and as always, kept me guessing until the end. Thank you #NetGalley #realEast @MarieRutkoski for the advanced copy.

Really enjoyed the perspective of this! Made it different from so many thrillers right now. I don’t know much about strip club life but I felt immersed in it. It was everything I wanted in a thriller!

This was an excellent and fast paced murder story. I was hooked from the beginning and I was left guessing who the killer was until the very end. I was a little overwhelmed at first at the number of perspectives, but actually really loved that this story was told through so many different people’s eyes. I really enjoyed this and would absolutely recommend it to people who love thriller/suspense novels! Thanks to @netgalley for this copy of Real Easy!