User:SuzetteGerow
The Strange Case of Jane O by Karen Thompson Walker (Manilla Press £16.99, 288pp)
The Strange Case of Jane O. is available now from the Mail Bookshop
This is such a routine title for such an extraordinary book. The author takes familiar psychological thriller tropes and throws them up in the air to produce something truly original.
The central characters are psychotherapist Dr Byrd and his patient Jane O, a young mother who is discovered unconscious in New York's Prospect Park soon after her appointment with Dr Byrd.
Jane's long list of symptoms include hallucinations and imagined conversations with a young man who she knows is dead.
More serious and menacing episodes follow and Dr Byrd - a man with secrets of his own - is drawn into Jane's life in ways that make him question his own calling.
The flawless storytelling is shared by Jane and Dr Byrd, and produces a narrative that successfully operates on several levels - simultaneously asking questions about the nature of being alive while still being an old-fashioned page-turner.
A therapist with dark secrets of his own
The Grapevine by Kate Kemp (Phoenix £18.99, 432pp)
The Grapevine is available now from the Mail Bookshop
An awkward and lonely 12-year-old named Tammy finds herself investigating the murder of her neighbour, Antonio Marinetti, in a sweltering, claustrophobic suburb of Canberra, Australia, in the 1970s.
But the murder is almost not the point and is just one aspect of this cleverly constructed psychological study of why people keep secrets and the damage that can do.
Kemp presents a cast of powerfully drawn women who are dealing with the pressures of their era and their gender.
But where this book really scores and keeps you guessing is Kemp's understanding of the dangers and onerous expectations of living in such a close-knit community.
Cuckoo by Callie Kazumi (Penguin £9.99, 368pp)
Cuckoo is available now from the Mail Bookshop
Claire only discovers her fiance Noah has left his job when she turns up unexpectedly for lunch at his city office one day.
Things suddenly get serious when he stops answering her texts and calls and apparently disappears. Claire becomes obsessed with tracking him down and finding out if their perfect relationship was ever real.
We know from the first page that there is a murder coming but we don't know who or why.
Despite being a debut writer, Kazumi manages to maintain the tension in the plot and introduces us to well-rounded, believable characters.
Claire's search for her perfect fiance will trigger a confrontation with a deeper trauma, and her seemingly chirpy tone conveys a menace and mystery that keeps you reading.
my web site - sex nhật bản