Exit Strategies

Rating:
Summary: As much fun as Susan Isaacs!
Review: 2-8-02

Keeping yoyr options open while living a laid back, but fast-paced life is the epitome of what we think of as the California style. "Exit Strategies" by Catherine Todd, who lives in San Diego, knows the territory.
Our heroine, Becky Weston, a single mother, has put herself through law school and moved from receptionist to associate in a small, but prestigious law firm in upscale La Jolla. In the first paragraph, the head of the firm is described as "Armani Adonis" so with this snappy economy of language we know that he cuts an attractive figure and that Becky has a bit of crush on him.
It is this well-crafted use of description and dialogue that gives all of the characters dimension so that the reader is interested in their daily trials and tribulations and how they react with one another. When Becky's ex dies unexpectedly, leaving his second wife as trustee, life becomes much more complicated.
The frantic pursuit of youthfulness and the medical machinations that take advantage of the gullible is one thread; having a shrink, and money hiding in offshore bank accounts are others. How Becky keeps all her balloons in the air without a misstep keeps the pages turning to the amusement and enjoyment of the reader. The book is a well-crafted, light-hearted, sophisticated romp along our Pacific rim.

Rating:
Summary: Adventures of Becky Weston
Review: Becky Weston is now a first year associate at the law firm of Roth, Tolbert and Anderson in upscale La Jolla after having worked her way through law school while working as a receptionist at the firm. She divorced her physician husband years ago and has raised two children while also caring for her elderly mother. In a cruel twist of fate, her ex-husband died and left his new spiteful wife as the executor of the trust fund upon which Becky is dependent for her son's tuition at a private college. When her mother falls and breaks a hip the delicate balance of her life starts to crumble. The trust fund payments are reduced, her younger daughter needs a prom dress, her son's tuition payments are overdue, and she must check her mother into an assisted living facility.

When Becky is chosen by a college friend, who is now a glamorous anti-aging guru, to be the lawyer for her firm everyone, including Becky, is amazed at this coup. She hadn't known Bobbie Crystol very well during school, and is puzzled by this appointment, but vows to do her best to represent the company's interests. Some of the rumors she starts to hear about the company concern her, and she is suspicious of the treatments and supplements that are offered at the spa to which she is invited as a guest.

Becky also meets again the man who had been her therapist during her divorce, and wonders what kind of relationship she can have with a man who already knows her innermost secrets and weaknesses. He seems too good to be true, but the balance is off, because he knows so much about her and she so little about him.

Throughout the book, Becky struggles with balancing her home and work life and questions the ethics of her profession and her associates at the firm. The expectations of a fledgling lawyer overwhelm her, and she wonders whether she can make the commitment to spending the rest of her working life as a workaholic.

I enjoyed and commiserated with the challenges faced by Becky and the way in which she faced them head-on and resolved them. I hope the author considers writing this wonderful, resilient character into the plot of future novels.

Rating:
Summary: As much fun as Susan Isaacs!
Review: I have enjoyed Ms. Todd's books for years, before she was writing this genre, and her sparkle and sense of humor make this an extremely fun and absorbing read. Highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly Enjoyable!
Review: Since her divorce, La Jolla, California's Becky Weston has worked hard to get where she is now. She partially supports her daughter and son, nurtured her demanding elderly mother, and attended law school at night while working as a receptionist at Roth, Tolbert & Anderson. Now a lawyer at the same firm, Becky is still at times assigned the tasks of a receptionist.

When her ex husband dies, his will causes havoc on Becky and their children as his second wife controls the trust funds. Her professional life begins to look up as Becky is assigned to legally represent current in-crowd guru Bobbi Crystol, proponent of an anti-aging program. However, just when her legal career looks upward, Becky notices that many participants in Crystol's program seem sicker when they leave. Knowing she needs her job, but fretting over her integrity, Becky struggles with what to do about her new client.

EXIT STRATEGIES is an insightful look at an optimist who has been down for the nine count on several occasions, but always gets up jabbing. Becky makes the story line as readers follow her trials and tribulations that probably make her feel as if she is part of Job's gene pool. The support cast mostly adds stress to Becky's life, but that enables the audience to observe her coping with one disaster after another. Catherine Todd provides an insightful look at a true survivor, who surprisingly never runs away from home though the thought is bouncing around her conscious electrons.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: If you like Jane Heller, you'll love this!
Review: Written in the same vain as Jane Heller, this novel portrays a middle-aged single mom, stuck in what we call the "sandwich generation." Alternately worried about her kids and her elderly mom, while trying to juggle a career as a newly-graduated corporate attorney, this novel is realistic in showing her struggles, but always with a keen sense of humor. Just enough love interest and intrigue to keep you going. A perfect novel, and I'll look for more of Catherine Todd's books.

Rating:
Summary: If you like Jane Heller, you'll love this!
Review: Written in the same vain as Jane Heller, this novel portrays a middle-aged single mom, stuck in what we call the "sandwich generation." Alternately worried about her kids and her elderly mom, while trying to juggle a career as a newly-graduated corporate attorney, this novel is realistic in showing her struggles, but always with a keen sense of humor. Just enough love interest and intrigue to keep you going. A perfect novel, and I'll look for more of Catherine Todd's books.