SILVER TEARS

Faye Adelheim returns to defend Revenge, her cosmetics company, from a hostile takeover. As she searches for the name of her opponent, can she also protect her daughter and find true love?

Läckberg’s second novel about the brilliant economist who overcame a stifling marriage certainly draws on the strengths of the first: The plot careens at breakneck speed through steamy sex scenes, startling revelations, and flashbacks to Faye’s very dark childhood riddled with rape and murder. What the story lacks in believability (there are poorly planned murders, successful executives who spend inordinate amounts of time drinking without any repercussions, and a heroine who fails to learn from her own mistakes), it more than makes up for with soap-opera–level drama and fireworks. It all begins with Faye having set up house in Italy with her mother and her daughter, Julienne. Faye had framed her ex-husband, Jack, for killing Julienne, though Julienne is secretly still alive, and now Jack has escaped from jail. Meanwhile, a shadowy figure has begun buying up shares of Revenge from Faye’s investors—women who have been loyal up to now, because everyone in Faye’s circle sees the company as a way to strike back at oppressive men. What could possibly be inducing them to sell? As Faye sets out to investigate, she meets David, an angel investor in a bad marriage, and soon the sexual sparks fly. Always ready to support women who need a helping hand, Faye picks up a few new employees along her journey, including Ylva, another smart economist and Jack’s former mistress, and Alice, the ex-wife of Henrik, Jack’s former business partner. Although Faye has a few blind spots that prevent her from recognizing her nemesis, the women band together to save the company and commit some mayhem of their own.

A scandal-filled page-turner sure to delight the beach-read crowd.