December 1, 2019
A fresh start for a doctor and her family becomes a living nightmare in Kubica's (When the Lights Go Out, 2018, etc.) new psychological thriller. Human ecology professor Will Foust and his wife, Sadie, a doctor, have two boys, 14-year-old Otto and 7-year-old Tate. On the outside, they look like the perfect family. After Will's sister, Alice, dies from an apparent suicide, Sadie hopes that she and Will can provide stability for Alice's 16-year-old daughter, Imogen. They've also decided to leave Chicago and move into Alice's home on a small island off the coast of Maine, which Will has inherited. Unfortunately, Sadie, who used to practice emergency medicine, finds no satisfaction in her work at a local clinic; Otto is starting to show signs of the problems Sadie hoped he'd left behind; and though she understands that Imogen is devastated in the wake of her mother's death, the girl is behaving in a downright alarming way, including gleefully showing Sadie a picture she took of her mother as she hung from the attic rafters. Sadie also thinks Will might be cheating on her. Again. The family tension stretches to a breaking point when a neighbor woman (whom Sadie thinks Will has been cozying up to) is stabbed to death. It's not long before Sadie finds herself at the center of a murder investigation. Kubica ably molds Sadie into a (very) complicated woman with simmering secrets; as usual, she is a master of atmospherics who can turn almost any location into a swirling cesspool of creepy possibility. However, in a story told from multiple perspectives--first person and otherwise--a few are less compelling than others, such as that of over-the-top Camille, who claims to be having an affair with Will. And while Kubica sprinkles in a few clues about the big twist, she still asks readers to suspend disbelief to the breaking point. A page-turner that doesn't quite stick the landing.

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December 9, 2019
In this convoluted psychological thriller from bestseller Kubica (When the Lights Go Out), physician Sadie Foust and her professor husband, Will, have inherited his sister Alice’s house, on an island off the coast of Maine, after Alice’s apparent suicide. They have also agreed to accept guardianship for Alice’s understandably troubled 16-year-old daughter, Imogen. Despite the tragedy, Sadie sees a chance for a new start with Will and their two boys, 14-year-old Otto and seven-year-old Tate. She would like to move past Will’s affair, as well as an alarming school incident with Otto and a mistake that forced her to resign from her former position in Chicago. However, Imogen’s increasingly threatening behavior causes tension among the family, and the murder of a neighbor’s new wife throws their lives into a tailspin when Sadie becomes a suspect. Red herrings litter the multiple narratives, adding too much weight to an already overloaded plot, and a soapy twist disappoints. Hopefully, this is a temporary slump for the talented Kubica. Agent: Rachael Dillon Fried, Sanford J. Greenburger Assoc.

November 1, 2019
Here's another engrossing domestic thriller (following When the Lights Go Out, 2018) from the New York Times best-selling Kubica. Sadie and Will Foust move with their two sons from Chicago to a small island off the coast of Maine to care for their niece, Imogen, after Will's sister commits suicide. The unsettling goth girl proves to be a handful, and the creepy old house and island folk are unwelcoming. After their neighbor Morgan is murdered, Sadie becomes a suspect, and she, in turn, becomes suspicious of her husband. Everyone is talking about how close he and Morgan had become. Sadie has reason to question Will's fidelity, but she also begins to doubt her own sanity. The story unfolds in three deeply sad female voices that sweep readers up in the dramas and secrets, past and present, that seal the fate of each character. The resilience displayed by the survivors in their new lives seems a bit strained, but most readers will be happy to see at least some of the characters getting a fresh start.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

January 17, 2020

Offered a much-needed new start, Dr. Sadie Foust, her husband Will, and their family leave Chicago and relocate to the dreary home on a Maine island where Will's sister lived before taking her own life. Alice left behind her teenage daughter Imogen, who's brimming with anger. Sadie finds it hard to adapt to the remote, insular community and antagonistic mood at home. When a neighbor, beautiful Morgan Baines, is savagely murdered, questions linger as suspicion mounts. Anxious and afraid of a murderer in their midst, Sadie is uncertain and becomes increasingly fearful as police officer Berg focuses attention on her and strange objects unexpectedly appear. The twists keep coming in this story told from multiple points of view. VERDICT Kubica (Every Last Lie) writes a mesmerizing tale with an unreliable narrator that draws attention to a less-understood mental health condition, but the story is wrapped up a bit too neatly. What is satisfying and most effective is the oppressive sense of unease that permeates this intense psychological suspense drama. For fans of A.J. Finn and Gillian Flynn.[See Prepub Alert, 7/29/19.]--Gloria Drake, Oswego P.L. Dist., IL

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September 1, 2019

Having moved from Chicago to a Maine island when her husband inherits a house from his sister, Sadie has plenty of reasons to worry, not least of which is the murder of a neighbor. The house is creepy and creaky, her teenage niece Imogen is dark and disturbed, and townsfolk suspicious of the newcomers. With a 200,000-copy first printing; Netflix grabbed the TV/film rights in an overnight preempt.

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.