When I saw this book advertised I was immediately intrigued. The author combination is not one I would necessarily have expected to see and I was curious to see what they had created together.
The prologue immediately captures your interest and I was desperate to know how the protagonist had ended up in the situation described. She is immensely likeable - a grifter, talented, unafraid of hard work, but with an innate insecurity and vulnerability about her that makes it very easy to see why people are drawn to her. Some because they want to help her achieve her dreams, others because she is an easy target to exploit.
It becomes clear early on that there is something in her past that is dangerous - what that might be isn't explicitly stated, but the threat is evidently very real and this becomes a more major part of the plot as the narrative develops.
The main characters are likeable and their personal stories come to the fore as the story winds its way forwards, but the information is drip fed and perfectly paced to keep the reader engaged at all times and the back stories never distract the reader's attention from the main plot. As all good thrillers should, the pace picks up towards the end and everything is tied up neatly by the end of the book. I must confess to having galloped through the last few pages so quickly that I had to go back and re-read them to make sure I'd got everything straight in my head!
I haven't yet had a chance to listen to the songs Dolly Parton created for the book, but my advice would be to listen to the album as the songs appear in the book. Although James Patterson is more well known as an author, it seems to be Ms Parton's influence which is the driving force of the book and it felt very much like one of her songs - vulnerable, but feisty heroine at risk from those around her and determined to chart her own course in life. If you're a fan of the music, I have no doubt you'll be a fan of the book too!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.