Ruby’s Revenge

A woman grapples with her husband’s infidelity in the delightful debut novel from Gallagher (The Divorce Party Handbook). Ruby Bixler is making spaghetti carbonara for her newscaster husband, Brad Diamond, when she answers his cellphone. It’s a receptionist at a hotel, announcing that Brad left his watch there earlier that day. At first, Ruby believes Brad’s lies, but when irrefutable proof emerges that he’s having an affair with his 25-year-old assistant, Natasha, Ruby transforms from people pleaser to diabolical enforcer of marital justice. After her husband forces her out of their home, Ruby goes ballistic, sneaking back into the house to hide shrimp in curtain rods and dump dirty cat litter on their bed. She also seduces Brad into sex, which she secretly films with a nanny cam, planning to share the footage with Natasha (“Ruby knew that she had in her possession a nuclear bomb, a powerful weapon which must not be squandered but must be implemented with great respect”). At times, Gallagher leans a bit heavy on exposition, but she keeps the reader on Ruby’s side with wicked humor and playful irony, as when Ruby sees a billboard advertising Brad as “the newsman you can trust.” Readers are in for a treat. (Self-published)