Bestselling Swedish crime fiction queen Camilla Läckberg abandons her mystery series for revenge drama and migrates her characters from the now-famous fishing village of Fjällbacka to sophisticated Stockholm.

The protagonist of this psychological suspense novel is Faye, the unhappy wife of entrepreneur Jack Adelheim, whose company, Compare, was launched with her help 10 years earlier. Flashbacks show her as a girl growing up in Fjällbacka with an abusive father who is now serving time for unspecified crimes. Moving to Stockholm, she gets a scholarship to business school, but leaves to help Jack start his company with best friend Henrik.

"How [Faye] manages salvation and revenge in the final pages of the book is totally unrealistic, if nevertheless oddly satisfying."

Jack is portrayed initially as a golden boy --- handsome, charming, intuitive --- but once the couple marry, he becomes controlling. Although she acquiesces to a supporting role for a while, it’s clear that Faye is capable of more, and scenes from her past illustrate her ability to use any means toward the wished-for end. So when Jack betrays her, it’s only a matter of time before she comes after him.

To prepare herself for this epic battle, Faye decides to make radical changes, becoming a sexy vamp with a startup cosmetics company called, aptly, Revenge. Her investors are mostly successful women (sisterhood is a theme that runs throughout), and before long, she’s ready for her now-ex, who has since moved in with his pregnant lover. They share custody of seven-year-old Julienne, Faye’s daughter with Jack, who shuttles between the two parents and is used as a bargaining chip by both sides.

But as the denouement approaches, Jack’s parenting lapses give her more reasons to distrust this man who is now painted as a cruel, arrogant, delusional caricature. There is nothing that Faye won’t do to save her child, even as her thirst for vengeance consumes her. How she manages salvation and revenge in the final pages of the book is totally unrealistic, if nevertheless oddly satisfying.

Still, even as Faye revels in her triumph, it’s hard not to wonder how all of her actions are without consequence, while those of her tormentors come back to haunt them.