A review by brennanlafaro
The Debt by Natalie Edwards

dark tense fast-paced

4.0

When I hear as many good things about an author as I’ve heard about Natalie Edwards/TC Parker lately, good luck keeping their work out of my bookmail. Word of mouth regarding Edwards as a terrific author and human being made this an easy choice for Ladies of Horror Fiction’s “Ladies First 21” campaign to get people to make their first read of the new year a book by a woman.

My typical read these days is around 200 pages or less, and even though The Debt comes in at double that, it moves fast and like any good thriller, doesn’t feel anywhere close to its length. Edwards has created an outstanding and nuanced lead in El Gardener, only enhancing how intriguing the reader will find her by surrounding her with a supporting cast, each presented with enough depth to lead their own story. In the early pages I worried about having the big main cast, mixing up some of the women, but Edwards gives each one their own distinguishing strengths, traits, fears, and even sprinkles in backstory sparingly to assist the reader in not only keeping them straight, but become individually invested.

The story has an Ocean’s Eleven flavor to it, and even though Ocean’s Eight might be more apt due to the all-female cast, the 2001 version of the movie had a cleverness to it that the others never seemed to match. The interplay between what the reader knows and what each character knows as the threads unravel make for a compelling, and at times surprising story. Edwards included a truly despicable, yet believable villain who we love to root against, only exacerbated through his direct involvement in the story.

There are two more books in this series, and after being drawn into The Debt, I’ll be making them a priority. This book is fast and fun with deep, compelling characters and leans into all the best aspects of a heist movie.