Pushback

SF author Stith (Reckoning Infinity) successfully expands his horizons with this unsettling Hitchcockian thriller. Colorado investment broker Dave Barlow has survived two major traumas. As a child, he witnessed his mother fatally shoot her husband to protect Dave from him, and then commit suicide; about a year before the action of the book begins, Dave was driving when his car went off the road, killing his fiancée, Allison Stuart. Despite those tragedies, Dave has built a good life for himself and even fallen in love again, with veterinarian Cathy Whitley. But that relationship is imperiled when Cathy suspects Dave of lying to her after they arrive at his high school reunion only to have those in attendance insist that they’ve never heard of him, a claim bolstered by his absence from what should have been his yearbook. Dave frantically searches for evidence to prove he’s telling the truth, even as he falls victim to more serious harassment. Judicious use of humor provides some relief from the dark plot line. Fans of Daniel Palmer–esque intelligent suspense will be pleased. [em]Agent: Sara Megibow, KT Literary. (Nov.) [/em]