A taut medical thriller that will keep readers in suspense “to the bitter end.”
A doctor must reckon with her traumatic childhood to expose a far-reaching conspiracy that targets infants in Haarsager’s thriller.
The tragic and increasingly suspicious death of an infant transferred to Children’s Hospital in Baltimore sends Dr. Lussi Sim down a conspiratorial rabbit hole. Dr. Sim’s “integrity, intelligence, work ethic and perseverance” are put to the ultimate test when she uncovers an “appalling” rogue operation being perpetrated by “a highly sophisticated and depraved international network.” When she is ordered to cease her investigatory activities and to keep a low profile, her internal response is, inevitably, “I can’t do what you ask.” The author, herself a doctor, establishes a sense of menace from the get-go as Dr. Sim notices she is being tailed by a black limousine on the night she is called in about the infant, who had been misdiagnosed at another hospital. The deeper her suspicions go and the closer she gets to figuring out what’s going on, the more serious the threats on her life become. (In one harrowing scene, she is injected with a killer dose of fentanyl.) An effective hospital-set thriller, this debut novel is just what the doctor ordered when it comes to setting its plot in motion. Haarsager knows her way around a hospital, and in Dr. Sim, who is haunted by flashbacks and nightmares born of childhood trauma, she creates an empathetic character whose professional expertise can be undermined by her personal demons. Early on, she is revisited by a childhood malady of “screams and shouting” in her head: “Her body tensed and she could feel sweat trickling between her breasts and shoulder blades as the threats...mounted in ferocity.” The conspiracy targets the most vulnerable, which makes the perpetrators especially heinous. The final portion of the book is on the talky side when it comes to “unanswered questions,” but this will be appreciated by those who like their mysteries spoon-fed.
A taut medical thriller that will keep readers in suspense “to the bitter end.”Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9798886793826
Page Count: 238
Publisher: Luminare Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 10, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.
A violent attack hijacks a woman’s memory in this novel of domestic suspense.
McFadden wastes no time pulling the trigger in this harrowing story that starts with gunfire then swiftly propels readers into a crack tale of secrets and misdirection. Originally self-published in 2016, the book carries the same formidable weight as McFadden’s later novels featuring unsuspecting women who lose their power then fight to recapture it—mostly from men who have betrayed them. That formula perfectly fits Dr. Charlotte McKenna, a 37-year-old dermatologist who isn’t looking for love until the most handsome man she’s ever seen begins to woo her. There are warning signs about Clark Douglas and Charlotte overlooks them to her detriment—but is he a killer? The novel has dual timelines split between events leading up to the day Charlotte barely survives a head wound meant to kill her and the months afterward, when she struggles to reclaim her memory and her mobility. In real life, McFadden is a physician trained to treat brain injuries. Her expertise gives Charlotte’s rehabilitation authenticity, and her writing talent makes it interesting and engaging. As good as that timeline is, readers will yearn to get back to the alternate timeline about who wants Charlotte dead. It’s only a matter of time before Charlotte starts to remember who tried to kill her, and the clock is ticking toward their next attempt. McFadden dishes up plenty of suspects: Charlotte’s secretive husband, Clark; a former patient turned stalker who confronts Charlotte on her honeymoon; and the angry husband of a patient who blames Charlotte for his wife leaving him. Though the story is delicious and dark, McFadden brightens things up with a possible love interest for Charlotte and a surprise ending sure to please the author’s many fans.
Starts with a bang and closes with a knockout punch of an ending.Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249617
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
Trust no one in this over-the-top tale of deception and revenge.
Dead bodies turn up in the first sentence of the prologue in McFadden’s latest domestic thriller.
The mystery of who died is at the pulsating heart of this propulsive tale. As Chapter 1 begins, Naomi arrives home to find the locks changed on the front door of the gorgeous home she shares with her husband, Jeremy, and their 5-year-old son, Teddy. Jeremy steps out the front door and convinces Naomi to move out while he has their home renovated, a plan Naomi knows nothing about. It’s all a ruse, though, as the next day Jeremy tells her he wants a divorce. Naomi is shellshocked and soon discovers that Jeremy is having an affair with Veronica, a beautiful younger woman. What seems at first like a stereotypical story about a man who leaves his wife turns into something else when Naomi decides she’ll do anything to get Veronica away from Jeremy and Teddy, and Veronica decides to fight for what she thinks she deserves. Fans of stalker novels will cringe with delight as creepy things start to happen. Teddy’s stuffed elephant, a gift from Veronica, is found impaled on a kitchen knife; Naomi suspects Jeremy is gaslighting her and that Veronica tried to poison her. A weird confrontation among Jeremy, Veronica, and Naomi at Teddy’s birthday party, to which Naomi shows up uninvited, is priceless. There are three main characters, and any or all of them may be unreliable narrators. Packing the plot with dark, gasp-inducing twists, McFadden outdoes herself in a story about how highly emotional people engage in risky behavior to get what they want—but in this novel, for better or worse, not everyone will survive.
Trust no one in this over-the-top tale of deception and revenge.Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9781464249631
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Poisoned Pen
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
BOOK TO SCREEN
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