Please Join Us

I finished reading Catherine McKenzie's novel called Please Join Us. This is a complex mystery story about a 39 year old lawyer named Nicole and her husband Dan. Nicole and Dan rent out beloved Aunt Penny's apartment in Manhattan. They might loose their apartment when Aunt Penny dies and they are worried about that. Plus Nicole got a warning from her boss at work that her billable hours are down and she had better shape up. Then Nicole gets an email asking her to join a women's group called Panthera Leo. She is invited to a 5 day workshop in Colorado to be initiated into the group.  Dan thinks this is probably a cult but Nicole goes anyway. Nicole ends up in Colorado in a remote area. Each of the six women in this group get a private lodge. They eat delicious meals and are asked to do strange exercises such as jump naked into a freezing river or gut a dead deer. I would have never made it in this group. Nicole gets through the week and goes back to work. Immediately things appear to get better for her. Her new friends at Panthera Leo get her an important client. Another friend rents her a luxury apartment for the same price they are paying now at Aunt Penny's place. Nicole is a curious person and she keeps asking questions which annoys the women at Panthera Leo. Eventually it clicks into her head that this group is actually a cult. Nicole isn't sure she is going to be able to leave. All the double crosses, lies, gaslighting, and deceit made my head spin at times. Panthera Leo is equivalent to the "Good Old Boy's" club. I enjoy stories about educated successful women. I was definitely not cut out to be a corporate lawyer in Manhattan. I would never want to work that long nor that hard.