Mary Kubica’s novel, She’s Not Sorry, is her ninth contribution to the thriller genre since The Good Girl was critically and commercially acclaimed ten years ago. (Apparently, this is one woman without writer’s block). For those familiar with her other books, Kubica’s latest effort is strong when comparing it to her repertoire, earning a star from Booklist and Library Journal.
She’s Not Sorry opens with the main character’s–Megan’s–terrified reaction to a phone call demanding a ransom in exchange for the safe release of her teenage daughter. It then swings to the ICU, where Megan is nurse. A young woman, the victim of a terrible fall, has been rushed in, her survival uncertain. Megan is eventually assigned to the woman’s–Caitlin’s– care, where she learns of her life through bits and pieces shared by family members and others who appear. Not all of it is positive, and perhaps not all who visit Caitlin are well-wishers.
Meanwhile, at a divorce support group, Megan encounters an old friend from high school. Nat is still beautiful, but she’s traumatized in her attempt to part ways with an emotionally and physically abusive husband. Megan takes Nat under her wing, worried that the domestic abuse could spiral into something tragic. She’s haunted from a prior experience where, during her job as a nurse, she’d encountered a victim of domestic abuse; she hadn’t acted, and the husband eventually killed the woman. In an attempt to right the past, Megan opens her home to Nat and shares her own secrets, urging her old friend to let her help her.
Contemporaneous with this action is the everyday danger of walking the streets of Chicago. A man has been attacking single women, and Megan is on-guard, particularly as she has a daughter to protect. Her days at the hospital are long, and she often finds herself walking home late at night. On several frightening occasions, it appears she might not be alone.
These three storylines–the woman in the ICU, Nat, and the street prowler–eventually intersect, and the story barrels on to a satisfying ending. Megan is a complicated yet good person, and Kubica’s portrait of her as the protagonist is a big reason why this ending succeeds. Megan’s story is dark, multi-layered, and the reader empathizes with her on every level.
And then there’s the setting. Kubica is a good writer, and we experience the full creepiness of the setting of the hospital and the dark streets of a dangerous city. I wouldn’t expect anything less of Kubica–she’s capable of beautiful writing, which can be rare in the thriller genre. In particular, She’s Not Sorry is wonderful in its sense of place.
Kubica is also one of those writers who always manages to throw in a crazy twist that readers don’t see coming but makes perfect sense in hindsight. She blindsides readers not with a cheap gimmick (she’s too good for that), but with a revelation supported by bits and pieces thoughtfully planted all along. (The term, “hidden in plain sight,” comes to mind). She’s Not Sorry is not an exception to this modus operandi, and readers will delight in Kubica’s carefully-crafted twistiness.
And–for those who are Mary Kubica fans–here’s a fun story about the woman herself. I’m a writer whose debut thriller shares a birthday with She’s Not Sorry. During my awful process of contacting writers to ask them to write a blurb for my book–and having no connections within the writing community–Kubica was one of the biggest names I approached. Yet, she was one of the only ones who bothered to respond.
It was such a little thing–a quick email–but little things matter. Mary Kubica is a classy lady. So, buy her book.
Sarah Reida is the author of NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH, a dark comedy thriller about a killer targeting the morally bankrupt residents of an upscale neighborhood, which will be out in April. Click here to learn more about Sarah, follow her on Instagram, and click here to enter to win a copy of her novel on Goodreads.
