Valentine's Day. Three women, each waiting for a man. Each woman gets stood up — one for a breakfast date, one for a lunch date, one for a dinner date. A few chapters in, it becomes increasingly clear that they were all waiting for the same man.
What kind of a jerk is he? Who would stand anyone up on Valentine's Day, let alone three different women? Maybe, you think, the kind of jerk who would date three different women at once.
In "The No-Show," romcom queen Beth O'Leary ("The Flatshare") has produced another of her smart, fast-moving novels. As the book progresses, you find yourself rooting for all three women — overachiever (but insecure) Siobhan, tough-as-nails Miranda and, especially, the deeply wounded Jane, who is terrified of losing her heart again, since things went tragically wrong the last time.
But the more you read, the more the jerk grows on you, much to your annoyance. You start thinking that he seems very nice, just, maybe, mixed up. Gaaa! We don't like this kind of man. We don't like men who sleep around and stand up women. And yet ...
The beauty of "The No-Show" is in the plotting. Eventually the question becomes not so much who will each of these women end up with (and will any of them end up with the jerk?) but how is O'Leary going to tie all of this together? Nothing is what it seems.
The book is built like a Jenga tower — so many pieces, and each one crucial to its structure. It's a deliciously fun read and so fun to figure out.
Laurie Hertzel is the Star Tribune senior editor for books.
The No-Show
By: Beth O'Leary.
Publisher: Berkley, 352 pages, $16.
LOCAL FICTION: Featuring stories within stories, she’ll discuss the book at Talking Volumes on Tuesday.
