cover image Incarnate

Incarnate

Josh Stolberg. Atria/Bestler, $16 trade paper (352p) ISBN 978-1-5011-3657-3

Psychiatrist Kimberly Patterson, the heroine of horror screenwriter Stolberg’s unimpressive first novel, is a newcomer to Jarvis, Alaska, where she works at the regional hospital. After four months, she’s already sleeping with her supervisor, disregarding hospital treatment rules, and otherwise misbehaving. Her supervisor assigns Kim to 19-year-old Scarlett Hascall, a patient who has violently attacked a number of people. Kim suspects that Scarlett suffers from dissociative identity disorder. As Kim delves deeper, she discovers that among the persons Scarlett channels are 22-year-old Isabel Wilcox, a recent murder victim, and five-year-old Henry, who’s been missing for almost 20 years. When Scarlett becomes a suspect in Isabel’s murder, Kim tries to convince those investigating the case of Scarlett’s innocence. After she realizes that Scarlett is channeling several missing locals, Kim sets out with the girl’s aid to figure out who’s responsible. Despite some cinematic thrills, Stolberg’s paranormal thriller is too loosely plotted to generate much suspense. [em]Agent: Lanie Davis, Alloy Entertainment. (July) [/em]