Pretty Things

Carrie: This is your respectable beach read, because it is excellent thriller with lots of layers of complexity and morality. Nina Ross is a grifter along with her boyfriend Lachlan. They are sort of modern-day Robin Hoods who target rich, flashy idiots and steal and re-sell items they might not even miss (jewelry, antiques, etc.) "Wealth was a band-aid, not an inoculation," is the kind of insight that gives the story an added layer of credibility. In fact Nina has a degree in Art History and an antiques store which is a front, though she had good intentions of living life on the up and up until her mother (also a con) was diagnosed with cancer and needed major money for her med bills. Nina targets society girl and social media influencer Vanessa Liebling and her Lake Tahoe home, Stone Haven for her next big heist. This one is personal. Nina lived in Tahoe as a teenager and was involved with Vanessa's kind, down-to-earth brother Benny in high school until the snooty Liebling family put a stop to it. Nina and her mother were essentially ousted from Tahoe and this becomes a pivotal moment for her. Vanessa is vapid, superficial and gullible. Posing as Ashley, the yoga instructor, and Michael O'Brien the English professor from Portland, the con couple rents the caretaker cottage from Vanessa in an attempt to get close to her and the cash. Vanessa starts to fall for it, but gets tipped off about Nina/Ashley. Now the con changes hands and directions. This happens several times with surprising outcomes and revelations - it's books within books and by the end, I didn't know who to root for, but I liked being along for the ride. It kept me guessing through the final chapter and the epilogue ended everything smoothly, but with just a little seed of doubt. Gotcha!