Review: Woman on the Edge by Samantha M. Bailey

Title: Woman on the Edge

Author: Samantha M. Bailey

Published: E-book: November 2019/Paperback: March 2020, Simon Schuster (these are US Dates)

Format: ARC Paperback, 272 pages

Source: Author

Summary: 

A moment on the subway platform changes two women’s lives forever—a debut thriller that will take your breath away.

A total stranger on the subway platform whispers, “Take my baby.”

She places her child in your arms. She says your name.

Then she jumps…

In
a split second, Morgan Kincaid’s life changes forever. She’s on her way
home from work when a mother begs her to take her baby, then places the
infant in her arms. Before Morgan can stop her, the distraught mother
jumps in front of an oncoming train.

Morgan has never seen this
woman before, and she can’t understand what would cause a person to give
away her child and take her own life. She also can’t understand how
this woman knew her name.

The police take Morgan in for
questioning. She soon learns that the woman who jumped was Nicole
Markham, prominent CEO of the athletic brand Breathe. She also learns
that no witness can corroborate her version of events, which means she’s
just become a murder suspect.

To prove her innocence, Morgan
frantically retraces the last days of Nicole’s life. Was Nicole a new
mother struggling with paranoia or was she in danger? When strange
things start happening to Morgan, she suddenly realizes she might be in
danger, too.

Woman on the Edge is a pulse-pounding,
propulsive thriller about the lengths to which a woman will go to
protect her baby—even if that means sacrificing her own life.

My thoughts: I love a book that starts off so intense that I feel I am already holding my breath and I’m only a few pages in…then I know I am in for an unforgettable, totally binge-worthy read and that is exactly what I got. I read this in two sittings, and it probably would have been one had I not had to get off a plane in the middle of reading this!

This book pulls you in right from the start – that first line haunts you the entire story. And the mini cliff-hangers that happen periodically at the end of some chapters will keep you frantically turning those pages as you desperately try to work out just what is going on. The characters are all well-drawn and I was suspicious of everyone and I loved that…I definitely did not see the ending coming.

I loved the way this story was told, alternating between Nicole and Morgan’s point of views and going back and forth between the present (Morgan’s POV) and the past (Nicole’s POV) so that we could get a better picture of what led to Nicole taking the steps she did. You really feel the pressure that Nicole was under and come to understand some of the motivations behind each of the characters. There is a frenetic energy that comes off the page and as the pace of the story moves fast, this only adds to that energy. The author really plays to the characters’ flaws in an effortless way, making you all the more invested in them. 

This book is intense! It is equally heartbreaking and shocking as you dig into the layers that surround the mystery of what is really going on. Because believe me, nothing is as it seems here and that is part of the fun of this book. It’s an addictive, binge-worthy read that you will not stop thinking about once you finish reading it…but be warned…it’s also one that once you start,  you won’t want to put down! I cannot recommend this book enough and I cannot wait to see what comes next from this talented author…Samantha M. Bailey is definitely going on my must-read list!!!