The Keeper: A Novel

I truly enjoyed reading The Keeper because of its serious subject matter of women experiencing domestic abuse. I found each woman’s story to be interestingly different yet with a common thread throughout. The story toggles its chapters between then and now. In it, the main character Katie Straw is either alive or dead. In the chapters that she is alive, she is dating a man named Jamie, and the book takes you from the day she meets him until she is in a rather unhealthy relationship with him. Ironically, her life parallels the lives of many of the women she works with at the domestic abuse center. This part of the book is quite frustrating as you want her to see Jamie for who he really is and to throw him to the curb. As Detective Whitworth and his partner work gather the information that starts to lead to Katie’s case being considered a homicide rather than a suicide, they interview all of the women at the clinic where Katie worked. The book was written well but at times fell a bit flat and then picked up again. The end has a major twist, so if you decide to pick up a copy, just know that it is one of those books that has thrown you for a loop for the duration of the entire book.