A Voyeuristic Journey into an Unstable Mind

Fatal Attraction set in the era of Facebook: fiery, passionate, engrossing, unsettling, manipulative, and graphic--a debut novel written as one woman's letter to the married man who has just dumped her, and upon whom she exacts a terrifying revenge

When her five year affair with the sexy television personality Clive Gooding brutally ends on a dime--his dime--Sally Islip is devastated. But with Sally, Clive has made on fundamental mistake: he has chosen someone who has less to lose than he has, and Sally will have her revenge--no matter what the cost to the people around them.

The cat-and-mouse tale that follows is told through the journals Sally's therapist has told her to keep. Sally, whose mental state is gradually unraveling, stalks Clive online and off, keeping him on an agonizing knife-edge of fear of exposure. In return, he mobilizes his underworld contacts against her. How far is he prepared to go to silence the woman he once loved "more than life itself"? What form will Sally's obsessive revenge eventually take? Who actually has final control, and who will end up losing everything?

I recently read The Mistress’s Revenge by Tamar Cohen, which I won in a Goodreads giveaway. As this was an ARC copy, I will be careful to be unspecific about the things I read as parts may have been edited or cut before release. The entire story is told through the journaling of the mistress. It is an interesting point of view, and Cohen pulled it off well. Not an easy feat, I am sure.

At times, it can be difficult to follow. This is due to the fact that we are reading the journal. We only hear the thoughts of the main character, Sally. But even then, we only hear the thoughts she wishes to share with Clive, whom she is ultimately writing the journal for. The difficulty to follow is not a bad thing in this book. It lends credibility to the deterioration of Sally’s mind as time progresses.

I was shocked and appalled by some of the things Sally confesses to doing. There were times I wanted to reach into the book and shake her myself. Cohen did an excellent job of showing how others were being affected by Sally’s decline, while maintaining the journalistic aspect and keeping it somehow obvious that it wasn’t front most in Sally’s mind.

Just when you think you know what will happen next, or you are sure that she won’t do what you think she is about to do, Cohen pulls another surprise from her bag of tricks. The ending was something I never saw coming. In all my predictions, in all the lead up, you will never guess where it all ultimately leads to. Cohen pulled it off smoothly and perfectly.

The Mistress’s Revenge is an excellent read for anyone who has loved and lost. All the times you’ve dreamed about hurting them the way they’ve hurt you. Follow one woman’s journey as she struggles to overcome a loss so great she feels she will never be whole again.

~Tiffany A. Higgins, children’s author