If you want a book that make you cheer for the semi-evil, amoral, revenge minded protagonist, you must read Jane Doe. Jane, the female protagonist is a sociopath, or so she believes herself to be because of her horrible upbringing. She fakes emotions and reactions, although there is a small beacon of humanity that comes in the form of her best friend and college roommate Meg, who kills herself because of a man- her boyfriend Steven, the self-righteous, egotistical, pretends to be a god Christian, but thinks women are below him SOB. The entire plot of Jane Doe is avenging Meg, the one person she loved, and making Steven suffer. The joy in reading this book is watching Jane plot and plan Steven's downfall with such delicious intent. Also Jane has a cat she just calls cat.

Being privy to Jane's thoughts and ideas is the ultimate joy in reading Jane Doe. You cheer her on as she takes on many roles to suit the situation. She plays the doormat for Steven to invade his life in a way that is very sneaky, and somewhat cautious. She wants to make him suffer, not just for a small period in his life, but forever. She has murderous thoughts about offing Steven, but what would be the fun in that?

Jane has less than two months to bring Steven down, which seems to be a heavy prospect, but Jane is up to the challenge. Soon enough Steven falls for Jane's fake persona. Even his father falls for Jane, which is his biggest mistake because he will suffer also.

Jane is not a typical villain who chills you to the bone with her actions. She's the type of character you sympathize with, and may even want to be friends with. Her emotions and feelings are complex because she does have a soft spot for her cat, Meg's mother and a former boyfriend she meets again while trying to bring Steven down. She used sex as a weapon and also finds incredible joy in food. She shows the world what they wants to see and believe, proving Jane is a master manipulator who rules over the chess board because everyone around her is playing checkers.

The last few chapters are intense and will make your jaw drop, as well as applaud has Jane wins.

Jane Doe would have been a 5 star read for me, but I wish I had more insight on why Jane connected with Meg on such a deep level. Jane tells us Meg is such a good person, but it was more telling and showing. I wanted to see more of that connection in flashbacks and why Jane was so bereft over Meg's death.

Victoria's writing here is very different from her historical romances under Victoria Dahl. Writing as Victoria Helen Stone is the next step in her career, and very welcomed. Jane Doe may start a new trend with her Jane, and one I welcome. Jane Doe would be a great movie that will have you cheering as Jane stalks and tortures her victim, Steven, much like a serial killer would do. So wickedly delicious. A must read.

Just excellent. It really speaks to the author's writing ability that I was actively rooting for the sociopath to take out half the characters. Interesting, captures your attention, and I did not want to put it down. Definitely worth checking out, and I don't even typically like thrillers/suspense like this!

Thank you NetGalley, Victoria Helen Stone and Lake Union Publishing for the free ebook in exchange for an honest review!

Jane is an intelligent woman living and working in Malaysia but comes back to the US with the purpose of revenge. Jane takes a position much below her to get to know a coworker named Stephen. Stephen is a very religious, controlling and chauvinist pig who preys on young, native women. Jane is a master at the game of manipulation and an expert at playing with men’s emotions. Jane is prepared to destroy Stephen one way or another, but why?

This is an immersive thriller that I found very fast-paced and I couldn’t put it down because I just wanted to know what Jane was going to do next. Even with what Jane is doing, I found her a very likeable character that I wanted to be my own friend and someone who takes nothing from nobody. I liked her attitude and the lengths to which she goes too to right a wrong that she feels was done. I found it very easy to hate Stephen, because who likes a guy who belittles women just to be able to compliment them a little and make them rely heavily on him for everything.

I found the story so easy to follow and I read this novel in about three hours because I couldn’t stop turning the pages. This is definitely a must read from me and I enjoyed how it was so totally different from a lot of the other novels out this summer. The ending was such perfect for this book, I was thrilled by it and I felt it did the justice that Jane was looking for. Also, there is nothing I love more than a strong woman character living her life the way she wants to! I would love to see a sequel to this book because I am dying to know what is next for Jane!

Out now and I highly recommend you go pick it up!

A really really well done thriller. Jane is out for revenge against Steven and she goes to great lengths to get it. I never thought I would root for a sociopath but she's got her reasons to do this and.... no spoilers. Stone has given her a great voice, sarcastic, direct, urgent. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This is a very good read.

I received this ebook from Netgalley and I did not read anything about it first but had seen it around on bookstagram.
I really really enjoyed this story. I loved the characters, I actually really liked Jane, I wanted to keep reading to find out what she was going to end up doing and you found yourself rooting for her!
It is also the kind of story where you can imagine yourself in that position. The author does a great job at painting the picture of what is going on, the backdrop, the emotions.
I will be putting this one high on my recommendation list. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book!

Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone is a straight forward thriller featuring a self proclaimed sociopath. Jane has taken a job at an insurance company in order to get close to the manager of the company, Steven Hepsworth.

Steven is the man that stole everything from Jane in the blink of an eye. How do you ask? By breaking Jane’s best friend’s heart. In that moment Jane knew that she needed to do to Stephen just what he did to her to make him pay.

Picking up Jane Doe I didn’t realize that Victoria Helen Stone was actually such a well established author under the name Victoria Dahl or I might have suspected that this would be really great writing going into it. Instead I was more than pleasantly surprised to find myself quickly pulled into the story and completely engrossed in Jane’s revenge.

Now as the story went on Jane was always there to remind us that she is a sociopath out for revenge but quite honestly I actually found myself rooting for her the entire way. Normally one would be cringing at the dark character in a book like this but nope, it was go Jane go! When finished I’d definitely recommend this one to those that enjoy a more straight forward thriller where you sit back in anticipation waiting to see how far it will go.

I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

This book grabbed me from the first page!!! Jane is a self proclaimed sociopath whose out for revenge for her best friend and only friends suicide meg. Jane blames Steven for megs suicide for always saying she wasn’t good enough calling her a whore and just making her feel worthless. So Jane decides to hook Steven in and completely destroy his life! I eagerly turned each page and stayed up late just to find janes next plan I rooted for her and wanted to Steven to pay he was just horrible and thought woman “needed him “ to help them become a proper woman but at the same time use them for his needs honestly he was a pig ! I loved this book highly recommend!

Wow! This book is a sit down and devour every page to find out what happens book. I don't recommend it when you have serious distractions from reading: like a job or a life. Jane is the person I think I want as a friend. I say I think, but she is scary too. In a good way? Jane is someone who can be brutally honest, as least with herself and the reader gets to see that in Jane Doe. She calls herself a sociopath... but is she really?

Jane is here for one reason only...to get revenge on the man she believes is responsible for her best friend, Meg's death. I confess I was not able to look away (I mean stop reading) and how to keep going until the satisfying finish!!! Jane creates a brand new tame identity for herself on her top secret mission as a boring data entry job for an insurance office. This job is the key to getting to meet her target: Steven Hepsworth. It is fascinating to watch Jane work. As the romance between Jane and Steven grows, she looks for a way to bring him down. My heart almost stopped when he took her deer hunting and put a gun in her hands! (That's your only teaser....)

I really like the writing style in Jane Doe. Author Victoia Helen Stone (With Jane Doe, author is writing under a pen name where she usually writes as Victoria Dahl). I want the new cat, love the intense characters, could not stop reading, and the first person narrative from Jane's perspective rocks!!!! Highly recommend and looking forward to reading more of her work!!!

Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an advanced reader copy for me to review. As always, my opinions are my own.

Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone was so good that I stayed up late and finished this book in record time. I read it on my kindle where, in the corner, it tells you how long it will take to read the book based on your previous reading, and when you see one hour left… forty-five minutes…thirty minutes…its easy to keep reading until the book ends.

I didn’t know what to expect when I started this, I was happy when I immediately connected to the character and wanted to know what was going to happen next. Jane is not unlikable but she’s not warm and fuzzy. She has one goal and one goal only- seek retribution for the suicide of her friend. If her best friend hadn’t gotten involved with Steven, who built her up and tore her down, who was cruel and belittling to Meg, she would never taken her own life.

Jane wants revenge for what Steven drove Meg to do. So she sets out to make him fall in love with her and she won’t rest until he has paid.





Here is the official synopsis:

Jane’s days at a Midwest insurance company are perfectly ordinary. She blends in well, unremarkably pretty in her floral-print dresses and extra efficient at her low-level job. She’s just the kind of woman middle manager Steven Hepsworth likes—meek, insecure, and willing to defer to a man. No one has any idea who Jane really is. Least of all Steven.

But plain Jane is hiding something. And Steven’s bringing out the worst in her.

Nothing can distract Jane from going straight for his heart: allowing herself to be seduced into Steven’s bed, to insinuate herself into his career and his family, and to expose all his dirty secrets. It’s time for Jane to dig out everything that matters to Steven. So she can take it all away.

Just as he did to her.



Jane’s not a killer like the main character in YOU (one of my all-time favorite thrillers), she’s not an unreliable narrator like The Girl On The Train. But she is cold and calculating and has a very detailed plan, it’s interesting to watch the plan unfold on the pages. You find yourself rooting for her even though there is something evil and bitter in her.

I cannot believe its only $1.99 on Kindle, so don’t hesitate, get it immediately! This was a five star book!

Revenge is the central character in this story that is paired with the perfect match to Jane and her plans. This is a tale that has been told before, but not in the way that Victoria Helen Stone has crafted it. She has the reader sympathize with a character that they normally would not if that same character was in a different story and that only brings the reader deeper into the whole experience on each page. A good author does not have to make the reader sympathize with the character or relate to them to have them like them it is all tied to the story and the plot that can make than happen instead. Jane Doe is a story that skims the line of mystery, suspense and thriller and has the reader just reading a story and leave them satisfied that they got a chance to meet Jane at all and I am thankful for Lake House Publishing and Netgalley for the opportunity to reader this ARC for review.

Jane blends into the woodwork at the insurance company where she works and manager Steven likes that. He wants a woman who knows how to treat a man, a woman who knows her place. But Jane is nothing like that, she’s set an elaborate trap for her boss, and there’s no area of his life she won’t destroy. An empowering novel just right for today’s political climate

Do you like a good revenge book? Do you like to root for a "bad girl?" If so then this book is just the right thing for you. Jane Doe returns to Minneapolis to work at an insurance company and that company she chose for a reason, so she can run into and become involved with Steven Hepsworth. There is one big reason why she wants to become a part of his life and it is revenge.

I personally loved Jane Doe. She was a character I could root for. She felt honest about herself from the beginning and I didn't have to wonder if she was telling me the truth from page to page like you can sometimes get when you have a crazy girl as a main character. I could get behind her reasoning for doing to Steven what she does and I loved her internal battle trying to decide how exactly she was going to get what she wanted. I am trying to share my full thoughts without giving any hint of a spoiler.

I will say that I had gotten a little bored with psychological thrillers. It felt as though I was reading the same thing again and again. This one is so different from all the crazy girl books!

This book isn't for the faint of heart, so be warned. I loved cheering on this bad girl and hoping for the worst for the guy, but I know this book isn't for everyone!

YE GODS AND LITTLE FISHES, BUT THAT WAS SATISFYING.

Victoria's third psychological thriller is her best yet. This is a twisted, funny, dark--and somehow light--story of love and revenge and of how utterly awful ordinary men can sometimes be.

Just about anything else I could say about this book would contain spoilers and I'm not going to do that. I'm just going to be annoying and vague and say that I wish Jane could be my friend because she's fierce, loyal, and utterly ruthless.

I was given an Advance Reader's Copy in exchange for an honest review.

Favorite Quotes:

I’ve been to church plenty of times. When you grow up in rural Oklahoma, there’s no avoiding it… We had no use for pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps Christianity. If there wasn’t a big potluck after services, what was the point of going? My mom always stayed late, putting on a show of helping clean up. I liked that part. There were lots of leftovers, and she usually smuggled out a couple of free serving bowls.

That first time I read about sociopaths, I felt filled up with a bright light that was equal parts terror and joy. Finally—finally!—I understood. It was scary to know the truth, yes, but not nearly as frightening as ignorance… later research at the county library assured me that most people like me don’t grow up to be killers. We lie and manipulate and take advantage, but usually that just makes us great at business. Yay for capitalism…

There are a lot of us. More than I even realized back then. Most of us are just trying to get through the day, like aliens living secretly among humans. And we’re great for the economy. It’s easy to turn a profit when you have no self-doubt.

The clerk is a pale young man who looks like he suffered a terrible haircut nine months ago and decided to never try again.

Everyone likes to be told they are right, because that means someone else is deliciously, fantastically wrong, and that is a joy that never gets old. I like it too.

Don’t believe the movies about us. Being a sociopath doesn’t automatically make someone a genius at killing. I’m learning on the job here.

My Review:

Gird yourselves – this is going to be a full-on rave and I fear my anxious eager yet well-manicured fingers may not be able to keep up. Jane Doe was a tasty treat! It was deliciously snarky, brilliantly written, expertly crafted, and savagely clever. I loved every fiendishly compelling word. It was wicked good, and I feel impotent and ineffectual, as I cannot mentally retrieve enough lofty adjectives and adverbs to do it justice.

I was immediately sucked into Jane’s cunning vortex and honestly, I didn’t want to leave as I took great pleasure in being a hitchhiker within her deviously sly cranium and being privy to her sardonic inner musings and razor-sharp insights while she ingeniously plotted the demise of her best friend’s tormenter. In deciding the best course of action for her vengeance, Jane debated and shuffled through various scenarios in determining her plan. I was gleefully cheering her on every step of the way and greatly relieved when she landed on the winning combination without bloodshed, yet was far more devastating. I had never read this author in either incarnation whether Victoria Helen Stone or Victoria Dahl, but she is my new favorite. I adore her. Fangirl down!

Jane Doe was a refreshingly unique read. It's narrated by the main character, Jane. She is seeking revenge on Steven for taking away something dear to her. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book.

Jane was an interesting narrator. She is an admitted sociopath, but she also admits she has no desire to become a killer...unless necessary. I found that I liked Jane more and more as she tells the reader why she is seeking revenge. While I'm not usually a huge fan of revenge stories, I was applauding her at the end. I could sympathize with her. Her solution was brilliant. I won't give too much more away. The ending was perfect.

This is one a definitely recommend. I've read and enjoyed this authors book under her other name, Victoria Dahl. This is a whole new side of her and I look forward to seeing what she comes out with next.