In their prior suspense novels, Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen have explored the potential toxicity of women’s relationships, particularly where they involve envy and power imbalances. They pick up and build on these themes again in their third novel, YOU ARE NOT ALONE, possibly their most intense collaboration to date.

At the opening of the book, protagonist Shay Miller is spinning her wheels. She’s doing temp work after losing her job as a data analyst, and living with her best friend (and secret crush) --- even though he breaks her heart every day with his serious girlfriend --- because she can’t afford to move anywhere else in New York City. And then, as if things aren’t bad enough, Shay witnesses a young woman, about her age, commit suicide by leaping in front of a subway train.

"As Cassandra and Jane tighten their stranglehold around Shay, readers will be cheering for Shay to see through their illusions and champion the facts she values so much."

Shay is more than a little shaken by the experience --- she can no longer ride the subway, among other things --- and is increasingly curious about what could have led the woman to take her own life. Shay, who likes to jot down statistics and data points in her so-called Data Book, soon learns that the woman’s name is Amanda. Without really knowing why, she decides to attends Amanda’s memorial service.

There she is taken under the wing of Cassandra and Jane Moore, beautiful sisters who were close friends of Amanda’s. They seem to take a keen interest in Shay, and when they run into one another again a few days later, they strike up a friendship with her. Shay, who is more than a bit lonely, is immediately flattered by the attention and grateful to the sisters for their many kindnesses to her. What’s more, friendship with Cassandra and Jane appears to bring Shay luck. First, a well-paying job lands, seemingly out of the blue. Then, her online dating prospects start looking up. And finally, she finds the perfect apartment --- and one she amazingly can actually afford. As readers learn, however --- and as Shay herself will abruptly discover --- there’s more to Cassandra, Jane and Amanda’s other friends than meets the eye.

In Hendricks and Pekkanen’s narrative, chapters alternate viewpoints among Shay, Cassandra and Jane, and the other women in their friend group. Readers also gain instinct into their backstories --- including Amanda’s final days --- and the circumstances that brought them together. At times, the secondary characters’ voices lack individuality, though readers will come to differentiate all the characters more readily as the story progresses. As Cassandra and Jane tighten their stranglehold around Shay, readers will be cheering for Shay to see through their illusions and champion the facts she values so much.