So Close (Blacklist Book One) by Sylvia Day

 

So Close (Blacklist Book One) by Sylvia Day.

Published 30th March 2023 by Michael Joseph.

From the cover of the book:

Widower Kane Black has been hollowed by grief.

Until he sees a woman with his wife Lily's inimitable beauty on Manhattan's streets. He whisks her up to his towering penthouse, nestling her in dark opulence.

Aliyah, Kane's mother, sees a threat. "Lily" has dangerous control over Kane and there can be only one queen on this throne.

Amy, Kane's sister-in-law, has been bloodied by betrayal. She's paid too high a price and now intends to claim what she's owed.

Three women, linked by buried secrets, circle the man who unquestioningly accepts the return of his beloved long-dead wife.

But Kane is happier than he's ever been, and he'll do anything to stay that way . . .

***********

Kane Black appears to have everything he desires - good looks, charisma, money, and women falling at his feet. However, Kane has been a shell of a man since the loss of his wife Lily in a sailing accident nine years ago. In the years since her death Kane has looked for traces of Lily in countless women that bear a resemblance to her, but none of them has been able to assuage his grief.

Then one afternoon on the streets of New York, Kane sees a woman who looks remarkably like Lily hit by a car in a hit and run. He gathers her up and takes her into his penthouse apartment to recover. She looks almost identical to the woman he remembers, right down to her distinctive tattoos, but she has no memory of the last few years, including their marriage.

Kane's dysfunctional family is rocked by the bizarre reappearance of the woman they have never met. His domineering mother Aliyah, his jealous half-brothers, his naive younger sister, and his troubled sister-in-law Amy, all feel uncomfortable with Kane's conviction that this is his wife returned from the dead. Aliyah's carefully laid plans are now in jeopardy, and Amy's long held desire to take Lily's place at Kane's side is suddenly dashed - both of them want nothing more than to see this mysterious woman gone, and will stop at nothing to achieve their separate aims.

But Kane finally seems happy, accepting 'Lily's' return as a dream come true, and he will do anything to protect her from harm...

So Close is a compelling story of obsession, desire, betrayal and revenge, set in the glamorous upper echelons of New York high-society. The story is told through the eyes of Kane's mother Aliyah, his sister-in-law Amy, the woman called Lily, and Kane's butler/man-of-many talents Witte who looks on everything as the 'outsider' in the family.

From the very beginning, it is clear that this is a story of people that appear to have an enviable life-style, but they do not play well together, and they are desperate to protect their secrets from prying eyes. None of the characters is particularly likeable apart from the uber-organised Witte, who really cares for Kane and has guided him through the pain of the last few years. Aliyah and Amy have their own very devious agendas, that you are soon party to through their narratives, and will stop at nothing to get what they think they are owed - especially if it involves a bit of family backstabbing in the process. This makes them great characters to get your teeth into, and Day goes to great pains to paint them in shades of grey over the course of the book, as you come to understand the experiences that have shaped them.

Intriguingly, Kane and Lily both remain shrouded in mystery for much of the novel, even though Lily's voice is threaded through the story. She is such an unreliable narrator that you are never sure if any part of her tale is true, and Kane is only ever seen through the eyes of others. How much they really know about each other, or whether they even accept each other's stories remains untold, but there is a powerful attraction between them that drives the plot relentlessly onwards.

There are many twists, turns, and secrets here, and Day drops her reveals carefully to keep you guessing all the way to the surprising caper at the conclusion. Her writing is very engaging, and there is plenty of action to keep you turning the pages. For the most part this book flows well and the level of spice is about right - although the beach house section would benefit from a bit of pruning, as the pace slows here in favour of too many steamy scenes that add little to the overall Kane-Lily dynamic. 

This book is packed to the gills with full-on Jackie Collins-esque entertainment. Day keeps you hooked with twisting plot lines stuffed with lashings of glitzy glamour, and delicious move-and-counter-move machinations that play out like old-school big-buck soaps of the Dynasty brand with a clever modern twist. It was such fun puzzling out exactly what was going on, and although some things are revealed over the course of the book, there are still many questions to be answered in the second part of the duology, Too Far, which is coming in October. I cannot wait!

So Close is available to buy now in hardcover, ebook and audio formats.

Thank you to Ed PR for sending me a proof of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Sylvia Day is the #1 New York Times, No. 1 Sunday Times & internationally bestselling author of over twenty award-winning novels, including ten New York Times bestsellers and thirteen USA Today bestsellers. She is a number one bestselling author in twenty-nine countries, with translations in forty-one languages and over twenty million copies of her books in print.