Not So Perfect Strangers

Book Reviews

May 13

Not So Perfect Strangers
By: L.S. Stratton

“Right now, she and I are in a battle of wills, and she thinks she’s going to win, but she forgot that I was with a man for almost twenty years who tried to break me, to make me bend to his will. And even on our last day together, I still rebelled.”

This book is a bit twisted and keeps you hooked until the end.

How convenient would it be for two women (strangers) to murder each other’s dastardly husbands?

I was immediately invested in the story knowing the premise and reading the very first chapter. It begins at the scene of a crime, victims shot and house ablaze. Our main character has called the police to report the crime and confesses to being the perpetrator.

The first line of the book is this: “Guilty people run away from the scene of a crime, and that is what Tasha Jenkins was doing as the Gingells’ house burned.”

After that brief scene we are thrust back in time several months to figure out what has led up to this crime. And is Tasha really guilty?

Tasha is the victim of years of abuse from her husband. We don’t want to see her as a criminal! So there must be some sort of explanation to exonerate her even if she’s confessing, right?

Or is there more to Tasha than meets the eye? Could the right storm of circumstances cause a person to act so out of character?

We must find out! And to the author’s credit… we really don’t know the whole story of that night until the last few pages.

Despite the somewhat frequent swearing, I still found this book to be very engaging and suspenseful. It’s not an action-packed thriller, but the stakes feel high and the characters seem unpredictable. With short chapters you’ll find this book very hard to put down!

Brief Summary

This book is marketed as similar to Alfred Hitchcock’s movie, Strangers on a Train. I haven’t seen it, but I found a trailer for it and I can see the similarities.

Not So Perfect Strangers is the story of a happenstance encounter in D.C. between Madison, a rich white lady married to a lobbyist, and Tasha, a middle-class black lady married to a controlling and abusive man.

Tasha has just attempted to leave her abuser, only to have to return because her teenage son, Ghalen, wouldn’t leave with her when it came down to it.

Madison has just confirmed her suspicions that her husband is cheating on her with someone from work.

Madison accosts Tasha outside of a hotel as Tasha is leaving town and Madison is fleeing her husband, needing a ride to a ‘safe house.’ Seeing Madison as a version of herself, how could Tasha not help another woman in distress?

What she thinks was an innocent encounter turns Tasha’s world upside-down when Madison’s crazy comes out.

‘We both hate our husbands, why don’t we just swap murders. I’ll kill yours if you kill mine!’ is Madison’s proposition.

Tasha has suffered a lot of abuse, but arranging her husband’s murder is a step or two too far.

Except that Madison follows through and expects Tasha to uphold her end of the deal that she never technically agreed to. And if she doesn’t come through, Madison might just be crazy enough to come after her son to get her way…

Race and Gender Politics?

The blurb on Goodreads for this book says that it ‘flips the script on race and gender politics.’ I’m not really sure what that means and I haven’t decided if it’s accurate.

I mean… their husbands are scum and the rich white lady is taking advantage of the down-and-out black woman. That doesn’t seem like a unique situation in terms of race and gender politics right?

Perhaps there’s more to be said about this.

I guess there is the aspect that women helping each other may not always be the best course of action if one of them is a psychopath. Or there is the fact that domestic abuse and misogyny does not discriminate across different races or socioeconomic classes. Plus there is the idea that the females in the book are running the show, but this is fairly typical because most books with female leads function that way.

Personally, I was just here for a good story and I think most readers will read it without getting wrapped up in whatever script this book claims to be flipping. However, I can see how this may make a good book club pick if you’d like to delve into these issues further and dissect the tropes used or not used more deeply.

Abuse

I found the aspect of an abusive relationship interesting to read about in this fictional setting.

We are privy to some of the conversations between Tasha and her therapist. This book does a pretty good job of describing what an abusive relationship is like and what it often means or takes to leave an abuser.

It felt honest and transparent and pretty realistic.

I wonder what women who are in similar situations may think reading this book, if they would find it helpful in some ways?

I feel compelled to share a couple nonfiction books on this topic in case others may want some real-life resources:

Trauma Bonds by Alexis Taiwo (She shares her own story of abuse and desires to help women recognize the prisons they may find themselves in and give them courage to get out.)

In my review for Trauma Bonds I give links to a lot of other resources as well.

Is It Abuse?: A Biblical Guide to Identifying Domestic Abuse and Helping Victims by Darby A. Strickland. (This book comes highly recommended; it is on my TBR list so I haven’t read or reviewed it yet, but hopefully in the next few months I will)

Called to Peace Ministries is an organization that has helped hundreds of women across the country to navigate their situations and help and support them. Each woman who calls in is assigned an advocate who talks with them and can help them plan to leave.

Recommendation

If you can get past the swearing, I would definitely recommend this book. It is hard to put down and it’s a story that will probably stay with you longer than you’d think.

This blurb on the back of the book is accurate: “A gripping, twisted ride! You think you know what’s happening, but you don’t!”

Also this author has written books in other genres under a few different pen names (Shelly Stratton & Shelly Ellis), and I think I’m going to have to see what else she’s written! She knows how to weave a story and the writing style was very good.

[Content Advisory: somewhat frequent swearing; instances of physical and sexual abuse that are not overly descriptive]

**Received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

This book just released in March, 2023. You can order a copy of this book using my affiliate link below.