Back in 2017, I gave four stars to Karen Cleveland’s Need To Know, a thriller featuring a strong female protagonist. Happily, thanks to Random House-Ballantine and NetGalley, I was given the opportunity to read an advance copy of Ms. Cleveland’s next book, Keep You Close, in exchange for my honest review.
Once again, we have a strong female protagonist, this time a single parent named Steph whose long days (and nights) on the job as an FBI agent have made her focus more on her work than on her son, Zachary. One day, as she is cleaning Zach’s room, she comes across a loaded gun hidden in his room. That same day, another agent shows up, accusing Zach of being associated with a radical anti-government group that is apparently planning mass attacks. Stunned, Steph has to decide whether to believe her son or the agency that has been her primary focus in life for twenty years.
And interesting plot, with fairly well-drawn characters. Steph’s constant second-guessing of herself was a bit much, but necessary to the plot. There are some shocking twists, and an ending that I found very unsettling — also plenty of domestic drama, and it’s a solid four stars.