A Vision of Fire

Actress Anderson of X-Files fame makes her fiction debut with this gripping, well-written thriller, coauthored with genre veteran Rovin (Vespers). Ben Moss, an interpreter at the United Nations, asks a friend, Manhattan psychiatrist Caitlin O’Hara, if she can figure out what’s bothering Maanik Pawar, the 16-year-old daughter of the Permanent Representative of India to the U.N. Maanik’s father, Ganak, narrowly survived an assassination attempt on a Manhattan street, and while the teenager, who witnessed the shooting, initially seemed okay, she has begun injuring herself, screaming, and speaking in gibberish. The crisis at home threatens to have global implications since it distracts Ganak from focusing on nuclear saber-rattling centered on Kashmir. Caitlin soon finds that Maanik is not the only person to display such symptoms. Fans of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child will find a lot to like. Agent: Doug Grad, Doug Grad Literary Agency. (Oct.)