Tyler Karras is an honest man, a transplanted Brit living the American dream, but his charmed life takes an unexpected turn when his brother, Nick, is coerced into joining ranks with San Francisco’s Russian mafia. Ty intervenes to secure Nick’s freedom, yet only succeeds in incurring their wrath. With no choice but to accept Nick’s new life, Ty returns to his own, but his dreams are dashed when his wife—pregnant with their first child—is killed, the victim of a reckless crime.

Despondent and bitter, Ty macerates his grief in alcohol. From the depths of the bottle screams a voice, howling for vengeance. His target is a stranger, the woman who drew his wife toward her death. He doesn’t know her, but he’ll find her, and when he does, he will make her pay, for a deal has been struck with Nick’s Russian associates, enslaving her into a life of bondage. But as Ty moves forward in a cloud of alcohol, he mistakes the wrong woman for his intended victim and now all his plans have gone straight to hell.

With his eyes made clear by the stark reality of his mistake, Ty is driven, compelled by remorse and a relentless sense of guilt to make amends and protect Hannah Maguire, the innocent woman whose life he has derailed. He vows to keep her safe and out of the Russians’ hands, but they’re holding Nick as leverage to force Ty to complete their deal and turn over the girl. Once again, he must fight to free his brother, miring all three lives in further jeopardy. But Ty can’t do it all: Save the girl, his brother and his own soul. One of them must make the ultimate sacrifice.

My Review:

First and foremost, I should point out that despite the description above, this book is romantic suspense, not just suspense.  I didn't realize that at the outset, and it threw me a bit when more of the romantic elements took the lead (especially toward the end).  That said, some of the romance in the book worked for me.  I loved Tyler and Jillian's relationship--I thought it was fun and "real", for lack of a better word (they loved each other deeply, but they had their flaws).  The tragedy surrounding Jillian's death was heart-wrenching, and Ty's extreme grief and need for vengeance is palpable.

Tyler and Nick's relationship is also very well illustrated.  It changes dramatically throughout the course of the novel, as they navigate around Nick's irresponsibility and Tyler's need for control.  It makes for a complex and thoughtful look at the push-and-pull between two brothers.

Thompson also did a great job building suspense throughout the novel.  This was the biggest plus for me.  The scene when Tyler and Hannah first meet had me at the edge of my seat.  There are also some interesting twists towards the end that I did not see coming.  Thompson makes good use of multiple narrators (the chapters jump between Tyler, Jillian, and Hannah's POV)--this allows for a richer view of the story, and amps up the thrills as you wait to hear from each character.  Good suspense needs to leave me biting my nails at times, and it needs a certain level of unpredictability--check and check!

However, there were some things in this novel that threw me.  The biggest issue I had was with Hannah.  Hooooooey, does this woman have the world's biggest case of Stockholm Syndrome or what?  Tyler nearly brutalizes her, and then she spends the rest of the novel lusting after him.  I had a very, very hard time reading those scenes, and I just couldn't get behind Hannah's emotions at all.  This made the ending (which was a little too perfectly-tied-up) difficult for me to swallow.  Maybe it's because I was a Family Studies major in college, but I just wanted to yell, "GIRLFRIEND, GET THEE TO A THERAPIST!" for the majority of the novel.  It's hard to feel sympathy for such a weak female lead.

There were also a few details throughout the book that just didn't fit..  Some of them weren't huge plot points, but it's always tough when you're wrapped up in a story, and then you suddenly have to stop the flow of your reading to consider why a certain piece of the action seems out of place.  For instance--there are several times when Tyler binge drinks (we're talking entire bottles of tequila, plus beers, in one sitting), and then does things like drive (fully alert, and noticing the well-manicured lawns) to Hannah's house, or shoots an intruder dead-on in the forehead.  I've seen too many episodes of Intervention to find this realistic.  There was also his single-handed rampage in a Russian warehouse near the end, where he takes out tons of Russian mobsters despite having no previous fight experience.  It was hard to believe he was able to do it with only the anger in his blood.  These events weren't believable.  It made for a choppy reading experience.

As you can see, my review of this book falls all over the map!  But my summary is this: if you like solid suspense with a dash of romance, and you want complex characters with a rich variety of POV, The Mistaken will provide that in spades.  However, you'll probably have to suspend your sense of reality at some points...and be okay with Hannah's awkwardly needy persona.  3 Goodreads stars

*I did also note a favorite quote from this book:
through memories that haunt and torment—that is sweet. Not the act itself. The act is vile and bitter."