Takes One to Know One: A Novel

by Susan Isaacs

Overview

In this whip-smart suburban mystery from New York Times bestselling author Susan Isaacs, a retired FBI agent turned Long Island housewife taps into her investigative past when she begins to suspect that her neighbor is harboring criminal secrets.

Just a few years ago, Corie Geller was busting terrorists as an agent for the FBI. But at thirty-five, she traded in her badge for the stability of marriage and motherhood. Now Corie is married to the brilliant and remarkably handsome Judge Josh Geller and is the adoptive mother of his lovely 14-year-old daughter. Between cooking meals and playing chauffeur, Corie scouts Arabic fiction for a few literary agencies and, on Wednesdays, has lunch with her fellow Shorehaven freelancers at a so-so French restaurant. Life is, as they say, fine.

But at her weekly lunches, Corie senses that something's off. Pete Delaney, a milquetoast package designer, always shows up early, sits in the same spot (often with a different phone in hand), and keeps one eye on the Jeep he parks in the lot across the street. Corie intuitively feels that Pete is hiding something—and as someone who is accustomed to keeping her FBI past from her new neighbors, she should know. But does Pete really have a shady alternate life, or is Corie just imagining things, desperate to add some spark to her humdrum suburban existence? She decides that the only way to find out is to dust off her FBI toolkit and take a deep dive into Pete Delaney’s affairs.

Always sassy, smart, and wickedly witty, Susan Isaacs is at her formidable best in a novel that is both bitingly wry and ominously thrilling.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780802149411
Publisher:	Grove/Atlantic, Inc.
Publication date:	08/18/2020
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	342,973
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Susan Isaacs is the author of thirteen novels, including As Husbands Go, Long Time No See, Any Place I Hang My Hat and Compromising Positions. A recipient of the Writers for Writers Award and the John Steinbeck Award, Isaacs serves as chairman of the board of Poets & Writers, and is a past president of Mystery Writers of America. Her fiction has been translated into 30 languages. She lives on Long Island with her husband.

Hometown:

Sands Point, New York

Date of Birth:

December 7, 1943

Place of Birth:

Brooklyn, New York

Education:

Honorary Doctorate, Queens College

Website:

http://www.susanisaacs.com

Editorial Reviews

07/29/2019

Every Wednesday, 38-year-old freelance literary scout Corie Geller—the heroine of this breezy suburban suspense novel from bestseller Isaacs (As Husbands Go)—meets for lunch with other Shorehaven, Long Island, self-employeds. Unbeknownst to her neighbors, Corie was an FBI agent before she wed widowed federal court judge Joshua Geller and retired to help raise his young daughter, so when she senses something hinky about group member Pete Delaney, she starts digging. His background checks out, but if Pete is nothing more than a packaging designer, why does he constantly switch cell phones, have no personal social media presence, and pay for everything with cash? Her best friend maintains that she’s fixating on Pete because she’s bored with her own life, but Corie trusts her gut and partners with her father, a former NYPD detective, to investigate. Despite the predictable plot and a climax lacking punch, Isaacs amply compensates with vibrant characters, snappy dialogue, and an arresting first-person narrative. Readers in search of a stylish beach read will be satisfied. Agent: Richard Pine, Inkwell Management. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Takes One to Know One:

“[Isaacs] has us chasing Corie all over the map, charmed by this motormouth sleuth’s snappy wit and awed by her courage.”—New York Times Book Review

“Ms. Isaacs is a witty author, but comedy gives way to terror as Corie’s inevitable confrontation with her dangerous quarry nears. All the foreshadowing and presaging pays off in spades, and the scenes that tie up loose ends are a pleasure to read.”—Wall Street Journal

“What is it that makes Susan Isaacs' books so delicious to read? She’s funny, for starters. And that humor combined with romance and old-fashioned murder mystery tickles every feel-good bone in our bodies. Her characters are whole and flawed and lovable, and you want only the best for them, even as you ardently wish to find them in danger — repeatedly — along the way.”—Newsday

“There are so many layers — and thrilling twists and turns — that you won’t want to put it down.”—InTouch

“The inimitable Susan Isaacs, master of sardonically witty observation and genre-bending suspense, is back with Takes One to Know One, her first standalone novel since 2012. . . . With shades of Agatha Christie and “Law & Order,” blended with the high drama of a conventional suspense thriller and a generous portion of Isaacs’ signature wry and brainy observational humor, Takes One to Know One will be catnip to longtime Isaacs fans and new readers alike.”—BookPage

“Isaacs has written numerous best-sellers, beginning with her debut, Compromising Positions, but this is her first full-length novel since 2012's Goldberg Variations, and it's a good one. …Turns out, [ex-FBI agent turned suburbanite] Corie’s still got it, but it leads her straight into a deadly trap. Corie’s combat skills and investigative prowess are still up to snuff, but her snarky commentary and hilarious interactions with her father are the real page-turners here.”—Booklist

“[A] stylish beach read…[with] vibrant characters, snappy dialogue, and an arresting first-person narrative.”—Publishers Weekly

“When a new Susan Isaacs novel comes out, her fans take notice...As the suspense builds and builds, we can't put the book down. As in all of Isaacs' work, we truly like the protagonist and are happy to go along on this adventure with her step by step. Read this combination character study/action novel slowly. Get to know Corie, because Isaacs' website informs us that Takes One To Know One is the beginning of a series. Rest assured that all of us will want to read more of Corie Geller's excellent adventures.”—Bookreporter.com

“Isaacs’ writing is clever and funny, with laugh-out-loud moments and strong character development. …Highly recommended for anyone who likes fast-paced storytelling, quirky and interesting characters, and a plot that keeps you guessing right along with the protagonist.”—New York Journal of Books

“Isaacs’s latest suburban novel starts out as a low-key story of a wife looking for a diversionary project for herself and her father, a retired cop, then escalates into action requiring all of her skills as a trained FBI agent. For fans of Kate White and the movie True Lies.”—Library Journal

Praise for Susan Isaacs:

“Nobody does smart, gutsy, funny, sexy women better than Susan Isaacs.” —Washington Post

“I can think of no other novelist—popular or highbrow—who consistently celebrates female gutsiness, brains and sexuality. She’s Jane Austen with a schmear.” —NPR’s Fresh Air

“[Susan Isaacs is] a witty, wry observer of contemporary life.” —New York Times Book Review

“The women who inhabit Isaacs’ books are smart, sexy, a little snarky, and filled with some serious chutzpah.”—Rachel Martin NPR’s “Weekend Edition”

"A master of the genre.”—O, the Oprah Magazine

"Issacs is a master of witty fiction with an undercurrent of emotional truth.”—USA Today

"Always sassy, smart and wickedly witty, Susan Isaacs’ novel is both hilariously funny and a moving tale of family, faith and reconciliation.”—Book of the Month Club

[A]smart-alecky whodunit/surprisingly sweet love story...Isaacs brings it all together in this fast and furious ride through wanton greed, fragile relationships, and love worth fighting for." —Publishers Weekly (starred review), on As Husbands Go

"Isaacs does it again: skewering the pretensions of upscale suburbanites and in a tender, funny romance."—Kirkus (starred review), on Long Time No See

"Isaacs delivers witty, wicked satire from begining to end.” —Entertainment Weekly

“I love [Susan Isaacs]…I don’t think she’s ever written a heroine I wouldn’t want to be friends with. And I think she’s really brilliant in a Jane Austen way about social strata and place. She nails all the details.”—Jennifer Weiner, Miami Herald

"Biting and funny.”—New York Daily News

From the Publisher

2019-07-15
A former FBI agent, planning to settle down and be a normal person on Long Island, smells a rat at her weekly lunch group.

When she met widowed hunk Josh, a top lawyer-turned-federal judge, and his now-14-year-old daughter, Eliza, Corie Geller thought she knew what she wanted. Instead of flying around the world interrogating terrorists for the government, she would marry Josh, become a wife and mother, and use her language skills to vet books in Arabic for U.S. publishers. That's how she landed at La Cuisine Délicieuse in Shorehaven, Long Island, lunching every Wednesday with the suburban self-employed. A landscaper, an eBay reseller, a low-end speechwriter, a photo retoucher, an internet data expert…but there's one guy in the group who sets off her internal alarms. Pete Delaney sits in the same chair every week, won't take his eyes off his car, keeps changing phones—it's just weird. Even if he does check out to be what he claims to be—a freelance packaging designer—his many three-day out-of-town trips don't quite make sense. So she and her dad, who's retired NYPD, launch a sub-rosa investigation. Following up every hunch, lead, and inkling she has about this guy is a full-time job. A full-time job for the reader, too. While the investigation goes on and on, often straining credibility, other possible plotlines in the book suffer. Josh's dead wife, whose stuff is still all over the house. The daughter, whom Corie supposedly loves to pieces but who barely speaks a line of dialogue. The ex-boyfriend she still has the hots for. The boring husband she's not so sure about. These characters and storylines are sketched in but languish as the Delaney investigation inexorably proceeds in excruciating detail. Still, Isaacs (A Hint of Strangeness, 2015, etc.) never forgets the need to charm the reader. Corie keeps up the nonstop sarcastic patter, and she really is a hoot. Her in-laws' house: "they bought it from Mrs. Havisham then added indoor plumbing." Pete Delaney's pants: "strictly old-guy—the baggy kind that make men look as if penises hadn't yet been invented."

Isaacs' wit and wisecracks can't save this one.

Kirkus Reviews