What would you do if escaping one dangerous man meant putting your trust in another?
The Waitress opens with a death and the unsettling revelation that the deceased was a liar and a cheat who tried to destroy the narrator’s life. From there, the story rewinds to show how Alicia became trapped in an increasingly dangerous web. She’s being coerced by one man who threatens her family if she doesn’t get him what he wants, while at the same time spying on him for another man with his own motives. Caught between two controlling figures, Alicia’s only real goal is survival and keeping her family safe.
The premise is strong and immediately intriguing. Watching Alicia attempt to play both sides against the middle was the hook that kept me reading. The tension comes not from action-heavy scenes, but from the constant sense that one wrong move could have devastating consequences. Alicia isn’t reckless or naïve, but rather someone reacting under pressure with limited choices. Even when I questioned her decisions, I understood the fear driving them.
However, while the setup suggested a fast-paced psychological thriller, the execution felt much slower than I expected. The pacing is deliberate, and although all the threads eventually come together, I never felt a strong sense of urgency to reach the conclusion. Crucial motivations behind Alicia’s situation aren’t fully explained until the final quarter of the book, and spending so much time wondering why everything was happening made it harder for me to stay emotionally invested. By the time those answers arrived, my interest had already started to fade.
Content warnings include references to domestic abuse and a controlling partner, which are important to note for sensitive readers.
Overall, The Waitress is a solid psychological suspense novel with an engaging concept and a sympathetic main character, but it didn’t deliver the tension or momentum I look for in a thriller. On my rating scale, I’m giving it a 3 out of 5: a decent read that kept me mildly interested, but not one I’d recommend to readers seeking a high-stakes, fast-moving thriller.
I would recommend this to fans of slow-burn psychological suspense who prefer character-driven tension over rapid pacing.
A special thank you to Bookouture for providing this book for review consideration via NetGallery. All opinions are my own.
