I don't normally read mysteries, thrillers, crime novels, etc. but it was a freebie from Amazon so I figured I would try it. It was a rough start for me trying to fit the pieces together but once I got into it then I was hooked. It wasn't terribly exciting but there was enough intrigue there to keep me turning the page for a light to medium read. The little bit of insight shared into the cosmetics as pharmaceuticals industry was quite interesting; retinol, looking younger, facial plastic surgery, etc. ( )

Anna hated her life. She was 56, had just gotten fired from a job she loved, and knew no one would hire her because of her age. Just when things started to look bad, she was offered a contract with Pierre Barton, owner of BarPharm, a huge pharmaceutical company. The contract offered her millions, relocation to London, and a new identity. It didn’t take Anna long to decide, and blissfully headed off to London and her new life.

At first, working for BarPharm seemed absurdly easy. All she had to do was become a human guinea pig for a skincare line, which promised to take 30 years off her life in a few weeks. Anna loved looking and feeling young, but soon realized things at BarPharm weren’t as they seemed. As people disappeared, and she began to feel as if she was being followed, more than the fountain of youth seemed to be at stake. The closer Anna gets to the truth, the closer she comes to meeting the fate of those who recently had mysterious deaths. Will she be able to figure out what’s going on before it’s too late?

Russian spies, murder, intrigue and romance all come to a head in Munshower’s tale, which will keep readers on the edges of their seats. I couldn’t put it down, and neither will you.

Recommended for Adults.

Book review link: https://shouldireaditornot.wordpress.com/2017/06/19/younger-suzanne-munshower/ ( )

*Book source ~ Kindle First

Anna Wallingham is in her 50s and runs a moderately successful ad business in the cosmetic industry when her largest client suddenly dumps her. Spending beyond her means to keep up appearances in LA means she’s now desperate for additional clients and the prospects are beginning to look very grim when Pierre Barton hands the drowning Anna a lifeline. If something looks and sounds too good to be true then chances are it is. But Anna takes the unusual offer without much thought about the hows, whys and wherefores. Which is why she ends up running for her life. Can she outthink and outrun a trained killer? But more importantly, who can she trust in this game of murder and industrial espionage?

The whole concept of looking 10, 15, 20 or more years younger is a fascinating one on the surface, but as Anna goes through the process, she learns the disadvantages. Yes, there are some, but I’ll not rehash them here. This book made me think about whether I’d want to look younger. Maybe not so much look younger as fix the damage the sun has done to my skin. I grew up in a time where sun damage down the road wasn’t thought about especially for blondes like me who loved a nice glowy tan. While I’m not 50, I’m not far from it. So yes, maybe if there were a cream to fix that 100% I’d go for it.

Anyway, the plot, while stretching the bounds of believability just a touch, is still a great thrill ride. Anna’s journey from a 50-ish to a 20-ish woman is quite interesting. I enjoyed the present day and flashback scenes as well. The only thing that I really didn’t enjoy is all the damn shopping. Seriously? I don’t give a shit about what brand of…well, everything she bought was. Or what color every single item was. Just tell me she purchased some pants and shirts and be done with it. All the clothing descriptions could probably have knocked off like 50 pages. Ok, I’m not positive that’s correct, but it seems like it. LOL All-in-all though I enjoyed the story and every time I put it down I couldn’t wait to get back to it. ( )

Picture this -- you're a 50-something women who's been working in pharmaceutical PR for years when suddenly your position is eliminated. Or maybe you're fired. However you want to look at it, you no longer have a job, and you know it's because of your age. Because young, beautiful women are in, and you're not. Suddenly, you get a vague, somewhat shady-sounding job offer from someone you'd never met who feels like you'd be "perfect" for a job that just opened up. The only catch is that you can't tell your friends or family that you have the job, you have to move to another country, and you must agree to a battery of medical procedures and sign a non-disclosure agreement. But don't worry -- once you sign that non-disclosure agreement, your obscenely large salary will be deposited into a secret bank account.

Do you do it? Personally, I'd walk. I'd apply for something else. But Anna? Our main character, Anna, well. She just goes for it.

This is the premise of Younger, a thriller involving a medical-grade anti-aging cream that can literally take decades off your appearance. Well, sort of. You also have to engage in the rather risky behavior of applying intensive retinols twice a day while having your whole face lasered off, a process so involved that it requires twilight anesthesia, it seems. (As someone who's worked in dermatology for three years, I would implore you to please not ever use retinols, intensive or otherwise, before having your face lasered. That is a recipe for disaster. You should also be wary of any laser treatment that requires anesthesia. Anyway, moving on.) For your face to match up with your new skin, you'll need a little Botox here, a little filler there. A new wardrobe, a new haircut, some classes on how to walk and talk like a youngin. A whole new identity provided by the British government. You know, the usual when it comes to starting a new job.

The problem with this book is that, despite the odd premise, it could have been good. Give me some corporate sabotage. I want to see the cut-throat pharmaceutical industry snuffing out competition. I want to see Anna struggling with the side effects of this miracle cream. I want to see the twists and turns that I've come to expect from a thriller. But that's not what we get. We get an offhand mention of possible spies. A vague mention of a predecessor who may have killed herself, or may have been murdered. We're told that someone's trying to murder Anna, but all we really see is her running around foreign countries in various wigs, basically making a fool of herself as she tries to outwit this unnamed evil.

There is, somehow, simultaneously too much going on and absolutely nothing of interest. A haphazard love story is thrown in, one that I couldn't get on board with. Anna's boss shows up dying at her doorstep on the first page, but I couldn't have cared less. That's the problem with this book -- I really couldn't have cared less what was going on. For a thriller, this left me remarkably bored.

I received a free copy of Younger through Amazon Prime's Kindle First program. ( )

This book was a fast and easy read. Built around the vanity of (primarily) American women, a revolutionary beauty product promises what so many desire: youthful looks. With an interesting cast of characters and many turns of events, it is hard to know whom Anna should trust. Her name has been changed twice, she has a variety of passports, an ironclad nondisclosure agreement, and she keeps running into an MI6 agent. Oh, and is it her imagination, or is she being followed?

Tapping into the truth that we all must face aging, the constraints that society puts on older women, and the exceptional lengths that some will go to to retard that process, this is a very timely and relevant book, aside from the mystery and intrigue of the story.

A compelling story with a twist at the end, this is highly recommended. ( )