The Herd is an innovative coworking space just for women. Its founder, Eleanor Walsh, has tapped into a powerful need for women to have their own business and creative space, and women from all over New York and San Francisco are clamoring to become members.
Eleanor, along with her two best friends from college, Hana and Mikki, have made the Herd into a phenomenon, and it’s truly on the verge of greatness. Yet on Eleanor’s biggest night, the night of a major announcement, she disappears.
Hana and Mikki, devastated and angered by Eleanor’s disappearance, can’t figure out what might have happened. Sure, she and the Herd had their detractors, but it all doesn’t make sense. The two friends, along with Hana’s younger sister, Katie, an investigative journalist, start to look into the disappearance, and discover Eleanor's life wasn't as pulled together as it appeared. But then again, the three of them are also hiding major secrets.
The Herd is an interesting, twisty mystery that takes a while to build up steam, but keeps moving fast once it does. I really like the way Andrea Bartz writes (check out her last book, The Lost Night), and found the interpersonal dynamics among the characters here pretty fascinating.
One thing I don’t love about books is when everyone has a secret but no one will talk about them yet, they get referred to constantly. ("We can't say anything about that night.") I’d almost rather find out about these secrets by myself than have a ton of foreshadowing with little delivery until the story is coming to a close.
This is a solid, compelling read and it is a thought-provoking look at the barriers women experience when pursuing success. I’m definitely a fan of Bartz’s work and look forward to her next book.
No comments:
Post a Comment