Finn Hunt, the protagonist of Kelsey Rae Dimberg's seductive debut novel, Girl in the Rearview Mirror, is a liar. But the novel doesn't reveal the extent of her lies until its thrilling end. Running from a working-class past, Finn is a nanny for the Martin family, which includes Philip, the handsome blond-haired son of an Arizona senator; Marina, Philip's beautiful but aloof wife; and Amabel, their gifted four-year-old daughter. As the novel unfolds, Finn snags them all in her web of lies, only to be found equally trapped by the family's dark secrets.
Set in Phoenix, Ariz., this superb novel proves that political thrillers don't have to take place in Washington, D.C. It's filled with clandestine meetings between Philip, his father and mysterious colleagues, all of whom have less-than-perfect pasts that threaten to thwart their ambitions. The story takes off when a young red-headed woman, who Amabel says has been following her, shows up on the Martins' doorstep. Philip and Marina are away, but Finn greets her at the stoop and learns yet another shocking truth about Philip.
As Philip's past is slowly revealed, so is Finn's, who proves to be an electrifyingly unreliable narrator. Told from her perspective, the story takes on a mirage-like quality. Dimberg's prose, meanwhile, zips along like a sand-kicking roadrunner, and the overall pace of the novel is adeptly timed. Gripping and glamorous, Girl in the Rearview Mirror is part political thriller, part domestic noir and 100% entertaining. --Amy Brady, freelance writer and editor