Privacy

Therapist Laina Landers, the protagonist of this gripping if flawed romance-laden thriller from Sadowsky (Convince Me), is leaving her office in San Diego, Calif., when she receives a call from a patient, congressional candidate Peter Hutchinson, who has been in couples therapy with his wife for several months. When Hutchinson screams a threat into the phone (“I’m going to kill her! I swear I’m going to pull the trigger!”), Laina rushes to the Hutchinsons’ home, where police and journalists are already at the scene, and talks her hysterical patient into giving up his gun and releasing his wife. Her brave actions, broadcast live, make Laina an instant media star and attract the attention of ambitious reporter Cal Murray. Then the lives of other patients in Laina’s care begin spinning off in unexpected directions after they receive “gifts” that hint at their darkest secrets—embezzlement, adultery, spousal abuse—along with notes reading “Watching You.” Is the ultimate target Laina herself? Chapters revealing a masterful manipulator’s thoughts help build suspense, though a few meandering false leads undercut it, and some readers may feel betrayed by the final surprise twist. Sadowsky has done better. Agents: Claudia Cross and Jeff Kleinman, Folio Literary Management. (June)