Publication Date: July 21, 2026
For fans of Roisín O’Donnell’s Nesting, an intense, suspenseful story of a young mother’s fight to save herself after the man she thought was her white knight turns out to be just as dangerous as the man he helped her escape.
After twenty-one-year-old Emily Miller flees her ex-husband, Lee, with the exterminator she hired to kill hornets in her backyard, she finally feels safe. Jake Clayton offers Emily and her daughter a beautiful place to live where neither Lee nor her mother, who wants custody of Jenna, can find them. Unlike Lee, Jake has a steady job, doesn’t drink (she’s never met a man who doesn’t), and doesn’t hit. And he doesn’t think Emily is too much—too mouthy (Lee), too large (her mother), too extra.
Isolated in a cabin in the Santa Cruz mountains with only a three-year-old for company, Emily distracts herself from the liquor cabinet and from worrying that Lee will track her down by planning a surprise for Jake: a reunion with the sisters he hasn’t seen since foster care. But the deeper she digs into Jake’s past, the less he seems like the man she trusts—and when she learns Lee has disappeared, she suspects Jake could have done . . . something. But that’s ridiculous, right? Sure, Jake is bossy about where she goes and who she sees. Sure, he has a temper. But murder? That’s just her being dramatic—like Lee and her mother always say she is.
Right?
Hiding from an abusive husband, the last thing Emily needs is a hornet’s nest threatening the children in her care.
Author Catherine Marshall-Smith delivers a thought-provoking story about a desperate mother who puts her trust in the wrong person.
The Resilience of Red Thread will capture your heart with the desire to rescue Emily and her young daughter, Jenna. Emily’s character is already vulnerable—no money, a restraining order against her husband, and low self-esteem.
When Jake arrives on scene to handle the hornet issue, he seems like the perfect white knight. He’s attentive and treats her well. However, he’s hiding secrets that threaten to destroy Emily’s fragile sense of safety.
This is the type of story that will pull you in and keep you reading until the end. The author alternates perspectives between Emily and Jake to build a tightly woven thriller.
The Resilience of Red Thread reflects a mother’s determination to unlock the truth in spite of the consequences.
Catherine Marshall Smith published her debut novel, American Family, in 2016. It has sold internationally.
She is a founder of Café Writers Online, a weekly interactive forum for discussion led by experts on the craft of writing and publishing.
She earned her bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley in English literature, a teaching credential from San Jose State University, and a Writing Credential from UCLA, where she was nominated for the James Kirkwood Award for excellence in the writing of fiction. A former English teacher, she lives with her husband in the San Francisco Bay Area.
