Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SPOILER ALERT!

I also wondered if Ryan might actually be Mr. Smith. Earlier in the book, the main character commented that Ryan and George sounded like they had known each other for a long time and that it sounded like Ryan was the superior over George. Mr. Smith seemed so intelligent, and always a step ahead of everyone, it would be an interesting ending for Mr. Smith to have set up George to get caught for Mr. Smith’s wrongdoings and Mr. Smith at the same time arranged a situation where he could be the main character’s husband. Mr. Smith indicated that he was attracted to the main character when he commented about how much he liked her blue hair.

Anyway, I think the ending is purposefully somewhat vague, so it leaves room for interpretation as to whether or not Ryan is really just Ryan or if he could actually have been Mr. Smith or even a relative of Mr. Smith’s, who took over Mr. Smith’s business at some point.



Do you think George ( the guy who went to the bank and was hauled away by the mob people) was actually Mr. Smith or was Mr. Smith the husband? Do they call her Miss Smith in the end because she takes over the operations or bc her husband was the real Mr. Smith?

Oh! I might have been too naive to pick up on those possibilities.

I thought Mr. Smith was an entirely different person. I thought there was some reference to George going off and not being involved in the scams anymore. And I took Ryan at face value. I thought they took over operations and maybe calling her Miss Smith is a joke. IDK, though!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you believe the simple denouement that George is Mr. Smith, then you've been duped by the obvious, just like the losers searching for Ralph Tate's ugly painting. Ryan is Mr. Smith, forced into assuming this role along with all the other nefarious businesses when his grandfather, the original Mr. Smith, died. Evie (Lucca) always wanted the sweet house and the husband, and Ryan fit the mold. Ryan wanted out of the Mr. Smith-business, so he slowly and selectively eliminated the "employees." By setting up the fake Lucca Marino and killing her off, he thought he could keep the real Lucca, with whom he was falling in love, from ever being able to leave him and return to her past identity. But as in all things, Lucca lied first, convincing Ryan that she loved him by changing his stolen business accounting turned over to "Mr Smith" to make his business look unworthy of takeover. Then she made him believe she "caught" George as the real Mr. Smith, so Ryan could exit that con game for good. Devon went to Ryan's home in Lake Forbing (see chapter 21) to set up the whole tech room so Lucca could assume the role and run it as Miss Smith, completely separate from Ryan. And with that, author Ashley Elston has set us up for a sequel.

Whoa!! Thank you for writing this out/carefully explaining!! This makes the most sense to me. A twist within a twist...very interesting!

But then again...wait...Mr. Smith had people killed, I don't think RYAN would do that or that Lucca would love him given that. It had to be George was Mr. Smith.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This book was ok but don’t think it should be called a thriller and have sinister in any description. I did not consider it a “page turner” and I don’t love going back in time then present day. Not super easy to keep straight but like I said, it was ok.

+1. Way too convoluted and at the end George is running a criminal enterprise but also the messenger guy himself. Dumb book. I think o gave it two stars on Goodreads.

Anonymous wrote:This book was ok but don’t think it should be called a thriller and have sinister in any description. I did not consider it a “page turner” and I don’t love going back in time then present day. Not super easy to keep straight but like I said, it was ok.

Anonymous wrote:So is Evie/Lucca sticking to the criminal world and now a” bad guy?!”

Anonymous wrote:If George isn't Mr. Smith, what's with the whole convo in the bank vault at the end where everything he says indicates that he is Mr. Smith?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you believe the simple denouement that George is Mr. Smith, then you've been duped by the obvious, just like the losers searching for Ralph Tate's ugly painting. Ryan is Mr. Smith, forced into assuming this role along with all the other nefarious businesses when his grandfather, the original Mr. Smith, died. Evie (Lucca) always wanted the sweet house and the husband, and Ryan fit the mold. Ryan wanted out of the Mr. Smith-business, so he slowly and selectively eliminated the "employees." By setting up the fake Lucca Marino and killing her off, he thought he could keep the real Lucca, with whom he was falling in love, from ever being able to leave him and return to her past identity. But as in all things, Lucca lied first, convincing Ryan that she loved him by changing his stolen business accounting turned over to "Mr Smith" to make his business look unworthy of takeover. Then she made him believe she "caught" George as the real Mr. Smith, so Ryan could exit that con game for good. Devon went to Ryan's home in Lake Forbing (see chapter 21) to set up the whole tech room so Lucca could assume the role and run it as Miss Smith, completely separate from Ryan. And with that, author Ashley Elston has set us up for a sequel.

Whoa!! Thank you for writing this out/carefully explaining!! This makes the most sense to me. A twist within a twist...very interesting!

But then again...wait...Mr. Smith had people killed, I don't think RYAN would do that or that Lucca would love him given that. It had to be George was Mr. Smith.