Cover image from Goodreads.com

Jane and Dan go out to a ridiculously expensive restaurant to celebrate their nineteenth wedding anniversary, one Jane feels is their last. Neither expected to be smack dab in the middle of a crime – or to be taken as hostages – for the evening. As events unfold, Jane notices the crime plays out eerily similar to the novel she published six years prior. At the same time, Dan realizes one of the hostage takers is their daughter.

The novel highlights the stagnant feeling that can happen in long term relationships, especially with children on the cusp of leaving home. Jane feels underappreciated and anchorless, unsure of what she wants in life after having devoted two decades to parenting and being someone’s wife. Dan, also needing an outlet of his own, takes on a new hobby, one which Jane assumes is an affair.

I enjoyed the narrative voice. Mostly told through Jane’s pov, the voice is humorous with a dash of frustration. Jane wants change in her life but doesn’t know what that change is, exactly. She takes the apparent affair as a launching pad for divorce, thinking that by separating from Dan she’ll be able to find herself again.

Overall, this is a light read, the author ties up all the loose ends, and Dan’s new hobby even helps save the day.