April 24, 2023
Heard (The Kill Club) smartly engages with questions of gender, privilege, and accountability in this rousing thriller. Pickpocket Summer, deserted by her mother as a teen, picked up fellow grifter Leo one day while both were panhandling. In the five years since, they’ve traveled around California running scams on rich marks. Leo hopes to convert the billionaire philanthropist Michael Forrester’s interest in her Instagram account into a cash cow, but when Leo fails to contact Summer after her and Michael’s date, Summer cozies up to one of Michael’s confidants so she can gain access to his private research island and search for her missing friend, turning up potentially deadly secrets in the process. Heard follows the women separately, on slightly different timelines, peppering in flashbacks to their early lives without breaking the real-time tension of the main plot, and ably balances an anxious sense the women are in over their heads with satisfying moments highlighting their resourcefulness, all integrated into a story that packs more surprises than the setup initially promises. Readers will want to ride with Summer and Leo all the way to the end. Agent: Lauren Spieller, Triada US Literary.
May 15, 2023
Summer and Leo are young, beautiful grifters living on stolen credit cards, fake IDs pickpocketed in nightclubs, and other small acts of thievery. Summer has never known any other life after being abandoned by her mother as a teenager, but Leo is running from a tragedy that seems to haunt her at every turn. Leo cannot believe her luck when her current mark, billionaire Michael Forrester, invites her to his private island, where surely she can collect enough loot to pad their coffers for quite some time. The island has secrets of its own, and Summer, worried after not hearing from Leo for a few days, makes her way there on a desperate search to find her friend. What the women learn on the island will thrill and surprise readers, with their journey twisting and turning to find the truth, and each other. You Can Trust Me has strong characterization and pacing, and is a good recommendation for fans of Ruth Ware and Catherine Steadman.
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June 1, 2023
The bonds of fierce friendship are evident from the first pages of this novel by YA thriller author Heard (We'll Never Tell). Summer and Leo have learned to live on the streets and survive by relying on each other and making their way as a pickpocket and a con artist. Each has worked to overcome her past. Summer was abandoned by her mother; Leo has become her only family. While Summer is satisfied with their life in California, Leo longs for travel and adventure and sees the chance to escape through billionaire Michael Forrester. But during a weekend getaway with Forrester, she disappears. Summer follows Leo's trail to Michael's remote island, but no one has heard or seen Leo. When there's no way off the island, Summer fears she's lost her friend. However, the island holds more secrets beyond the guarded gates and silent staff. VERDICT Readers who enjoy an on-the-run thriller such as Adrian McKinty's The Island or Wanda M. Morris's Anywhere You Run, mixed with a dash of seduction, suspense, and twists, will enjoy this compelling tale.--Kerri Copus
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