"A disturbing peek into the world of privilege. Someone Had to Do It is a tense page-turner that had me yelling out loud at the characters." Lucinda Berry, bestselling author of The Best of Friends and The Perfect Child
"Amber and Danielle Brown’s debut is a juicy, brilliant treat of a thriller that combines sexy fashion-world glamour with salient points about privilege, racism, and the corrosive effects of extreme wealth. Somehow, Someone Had to Do It manages to be both a scathing critique of our late-stage capitalist hellscape, and the perfect mental escape from it. I couldn’t put it down!"-Layne Fargo, author of They Never Learn
"SOMEONE HAD TO DO IT has everything. A dark and riveting page turner that has the allure of pulling off the perfect crime with an intelligent twist."—Nadine Matheson, author of THE JIGSAW MAN and THE BINDING ROOM
10/01/2022
DEBUT Sister team Amber and Danielle Brown bring their own experiences of the fashion industry into this fast-paced and intriguing thriller. Brandi Maxwell is finally following her dream. She has landed an intern position with the famous designer, Simon Van Doren. But her dream job is not everything she imagined. She spends her time running errands, cleaning puke off of couture dresses, and dealing with being the only Black woman in sight. When she gets the opportunity to meet Van Doren and his daughter, Taylor, at a fabulous party, Brandi overhears something she shouldn't have and is suddenly thrown into a dangerous game of deceit and terror. Brandi is a well-developed protagonist who will be admired for her resolve and ambition. While most readers will foresee how the story wraps up, it is still delightfully satisfying when it does. VERDICT Fans of Alyssa Cole and Zakiya Dalila Harris, whose characters navigate the issues women of color face in the workplace, and of psychological thrillers like Paula Hawkins's The Girl on the Train will enjoy this one.—Carmen Clark
2022-09-28
A fashion intern overhears a shocking secret about her employer, with disastrous consequences for all.
Things are looking up for Brandi Maxwell; an intern at her favorite New York City fashion company, she has a professional-athlete boyfriend, Nate, who loves her, and she lives rent-free in their nice one-bedroom apartment. It's a far cry from growing up an orphan in foster care. Brandi is ambitious and unwavering in the pursuit of her goals, and when her internship is threatened, she gets herself invited to a charity ball at the home of her employer, Simon Van Doren, so she can pitch herself as the perfect employee to take on an important trip to Milan. Their meeting goes well, but her luck comes to a screeching halt when she overhears Simon's daughter, Taylor, a famous model and influencer, plotting to kill her father so she can inherit his fortune before he marries his much-younger fiancee. Taylor is still reeling from her mother's death and has developed various addictions she can't refrain from long enough to pass a drug test and regain access to her trust fund. She also has eyes for Nate, whom she dated in high school and is still in love with. After she figures out, a little too easily, that Brandi overheard her plotting to kill her own father, she gets Brandi fired from her internship and goes about trying first to bribe her, then to destroy her life. This is where the plot becomes hard to believe; despite knowing that a stranger who dislikes her is now aware of the plan, Taylor plots her father's murder anyway—and not very carefully, either. Switching the point of view between Brandi and Taylor destroys any remaining tension, because the reader is always steps ahead of the characters, most of whom are riddled with clichés. Simon, who only shows up to yell at Taylor, ignore her, or ogle his new fiancee, barely feels like a person. Taylor is shallow and greedy, and her decisions make her appear frustratingly stupid; at the same time, she thinks she's outsmarting everyone merely by talking her way out of things. The fact that other characters often believe her makes them seem to lack intelligence, too. Though a bit too naïve, Brandi is the most interesting character, and her relationship with Nate is the best part of the book.
An easy read but lacking in depth.
