A tense psychological thriller about trying to outrun the past.
In Frost’s novel, a woman tries to leave behind a traumatic childhood, but her many identities make it hard for her to be her true self.
Is it possible to outrun a past you’re desperately trying to leave behind? That’s the question at the crux of this tense, emotionally charged novel about identity, survival, and the lingering effects of trauma. The main character is Sasha, who uses different identities and names in an effort to outpace her troubled history. The story begins with her desperate flight over rural roads and through truck stops while holding only a crumpled ten-dollar bill and battling an intense fear of discovery. Sasha’s primary survival mechanism is reinvention—she creates a new identity, Magda, in Lashburn, a town she had previously fled but now returns to. There, she hides her authentic self behind fabricated stories, temporary work, and multiple disguises. The fragile existence she builds in Lashburn shatters when she encounters Cole Dawson, a childhood friend who remembers her as Sasha. Cole, a police officer, represents everything Sasha desires, offering her protection and the chance to reveal her true self. The reunion between Sasha and Cole is bittersweet as Sasha experiences moments of closeness (“His arms, scent, nearness…A thousand memories burst from where Sasha had been keeping them locked away”) yet remains consumed by her fear of being discovered. Flashbacks reveal Sasha’s deep connection to Cole and the past that has led her to this point. Frost delivers an effective blend of psychological tension and deep character exploration, creating an often-powerful reading experience by placing the reader inside Sasha’s broken mental state, where fear and hope fight for dominance as the narrative introduces various intriguing characters who both endanger and support Sasha as she navigates her life. The well-paced story combines intense suspense with deep emotional understanding to create a compelling character study.
A tense psychological thriller about trying to outrun the past.Pub Date: Feb. 10, 2026
ISBN: 9781965059616
Page Count: 358
Publisher: Willow River Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 3, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Soapy, suspenseful fun.
A remembered horror plunges a pregnant woman into a waking nightmare.
Tegan Werner, 23, barely recalls her one-night stand with married real estate developer Simon Lamar; she only learns Simon’s name after seeing him on the local news five months later. Simon wants nothing to do with the resulting child Tegan now carries and tells his lawyer to negotiate a nondisclosure agreement. A destitute Tegan is all too happy to trade her silence for cash—until a whiff of Simon’s cologne triggers a memory of him drugging and raping her. Distraught and eight months pregnant, Tegan flees her Lewiston, Maine, apartment and drives north in a blizzard, intending to seek comfort and counsel from her older brother, Dennis; instead, she gets lost and crashes, badly injuring her ankle. Tegan is terrified when hulking stranger Hank Thompson stops and extricates her from the wreck, and becomes even more so when he takes her to his cabin rather than the hospital, citing hazardous road conditions. Her anxiety eases somewhat upon meeting Hank’s wife, Polly—a former nurse who settles Tegan in a basement hospital room originally built for Polly’s now-deceased mother. Polly vows to call 911 as soon as the phones and power return, but when that doesn’t happen, Tegan becomes convinced that Hank is forcing Polly to hold her prisoner. Tegan doesn’t know the half of it. McFadden unspools her twisty tale via a first-person-present narration that alternates between Tegan and Polly, grounding character while elevating tension. Coincidence and frustratingly foolish assumptions fuel the plot, but readers able to suspend disbelief are in for a wild ride. A purposefully ambiguous, forward-flashing prologue hints at future homicide, establishing stakes from the jump.
Soapy, suspenseful fun.Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9781464227325
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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