DESCRIPTION:
When Alana Shropshire’s seventy-six-year-old father, Ed, starts dating Kelly, his twenty-eight-year-old nurse, a flurry of messages arrive from Alana’s brothers, urging her to help “protect Dad” from the young interloper. Alana knows that what Teddy and Martin really want to protect is their father’s fortune, and she tells them she couldn’t care less about the May–December romance. Long estranged from her privileged family, Alana, a hardworking single mom, has more important things to worry about.
But when Ed and Kelly’s wedding is announced, Teddy and Martin kick into hyperdrive and persuade Alana to fly to their father’s West Coast island retreat to perform one simple task in their plan to make the gold digger go away. Kelly, however, proves a lot more wily than expected, and Alana becomes entangled in an increasingly dangerous scheme full of secrets and surprises. Just how far will her siblings go to retain control?
Smart, entertaining and brimming with shocking twists and turns, The Opportunist is both a thrill ride of a story and a razor-sharp view of who wields power in the world.
“The rich are different and Elyse Friedman brings the receipts in this twisty story of familial double crossings. The Opportunist is a visceral joy to read and Friedman's storytelling has more levels than a superyacht. She never hides from the staggering truth that money, in fact, changes everything.” — Emily Schultz, author of Little Threats and The Blondes
“The Opportunist is a wry and unsettling novel featuring one of the most conniving families ever committed to paper. It’s a dark Highsmithian treat about love and greed and murder, and it will make your screwed-up family look like the von Trapps. I devoured it in one sitting. Highly recommended.” — Michael Redhill, author of Bellevue Square
“In The Opportunist, family brings unavoidable dangers. So does money. So does our memory of who we used to be. For her part, Elyse Friedman brings wit and pace and plenty of surprises to a novel you think you’ve figured out at least three or four times, but each time you’ll be thrilled when proven wrong.” — Andrew Pyper, author of The Residence and The Demonologist
Author: Elyse Friedman
Publisher: MIRA
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
Format: Kindle ARC
No. of Pages: 336
Date of Publication: December 6, 2022
My Rating: 4 Stars
Ed is 72. Kelly is 28. The pair are soon to marry. In this domestic drama by Elyse Friedman there are some unhappy people. They are Ed’s two sons and also his daughter. Ed’s sons Teddy and Martin seem to have a good relationship with their father and each other. Daughter Alana is distanced from all of them. In fact, this book is primarily written from her perspective.
Martin and Teddy have one major thing in common with their father - they are very comfortable financially. On the other hand, Alana has always struggled to make ends meet. Her brothers have a plan to stop the upcoming wedding, especially before their father’s will can be changed to remove themlm from any inheritance, which would ultimately be in the millions for each of them. Reluctantly, Alana agrees to help her brothers to sabotage the wedding.
None of the three adult children believe for one second that Kelly loves their father. In fact, they consider her to be a gold-digger. What is more, there are lies, deceit and betrayals going on currently. Alana was the most likable of the siblings, and her character was that of “every woman”. Someone easy to relate to, as her circumstances were difficult, all while struggling to do the right thing. Conversely, it became clearer and clearer that Martin and Teddy would go to any extreme to line themselves up to receive their father’s tens of millions upon his death.
With more than one twist and a jaw dropping surprise in this well-written book, this was one book very worthy of the one-sitting read.
Many thanks to MIRA and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.
Please enjoy my YouTube video review -
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Social Links:
Twitter: @elysefriedman
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