Whisper

Although haunted by the suicide of his sister, whose body he discovered floating in the pond of the family estate 20 years earlier, Ben Hastings, in his mid-30s, is happily married and a partner in his father's New York City investment firm. At the hospital where his father, J.L., lies unconscious after a stroke, Ben encounters beautiful Dorothea Ellison, who found J.L. collapsed on a sidewalk and now visits him daily and reads him poetry. Ben, doubting Dorothea's claims that she is only a concerned stranger interested in his father's welfare, determines to learn her real identity. After they begin to meet in her apartment, he is captivated by stories of her life that eerily reflect elements of his own. Despite somewhat lackluster prose, Doty ( A Day Late ) fills Dorothea's first-person tales with mystery and subtle eroticism, spinning a compelling psychological suspense story. Literary Guild alternate. (Feb.)