cover image EXIT STRATEGIES

EXIT STRATEGIES

Catherine Todd, . . Morrow, $23.95 (304pp) ISBN 978-0-06-095348-5

More soap opera than suspense, this hardcover debut from Todd (Making Waves; Staying Cool) introduces Becky Weston Pratt, a woman swimming upstream with her adolescent daughter, college student son and ailing mother in tow—and with sharks nipping at her from every side. Todd has given her heroine all kinds of obstacles to overcome: her ex-husband has died and left his spiteful new wife in charge of the kids' trust fund; Becky has risen from the position of receptionist to become a first-year associate at a law firm, though the partners still treat her more like a gofer than a fellow lawyer. Even her big break—a hugely successful anti-aging guru chooses Becky to represent her—comes with baggage, beginning with the fact that they were less than friendly in college. And Becky's mother is having behavioral and medical problems that tax both her pocketbook and her patience. Between domestic crises and professional demands, Becky hardly has time to do more than dream about a personal life. A lot of possible shenanigans further distract her—abuse of the trust fund, lawyerly backstabbing, the questionable medical ethics of her new client. Todd infuses Becky's determination to overcome all these difficulties with a self-deprecating humor and plenty of mordant observations on the foibles of her social and professional "betters." Todd's characters have little depth, but they glitter quite nicely as she sets them spinning and makes Becky navigate through them to a safe harbor. Agent, Denise Marcil. (Jan. 8)