You can't hurt me A novel

Cook keeps readers on their toes in her exhilarating debut, which centers on a journalist who takes a ghostwriting gig for a well-known neuroscientist. Anna Tate has fought hard to land a job helping Dr. Nate Reid write a biography of his artist wife, Eva, whose body was found in her West London studio two years earlier. Eva's rare medical condition--first diagnosed by Nate--made it impossible for her to feel pain, and Nate rose to prominence by researching her disorder. As Anna parses Eva's diaries and delves into the couple's history, she discovers that her own past may intersect with the dead woman's in ways she never knew. Complicating matters are a new inquest into Eva's death, championed by her sister, Kath; the reemergence of Tony, Anna's protective younger brother, who fears for her safety as she gets closer to Nate; and the opaque machinations of Nate's publisher, Priya. Each character harbors just enough dark secrets to keep readers guessing about where their sympathies should lie. When the reveals finally come, they're richly satisfying. Rarely has the frustration of not knowing who to trust been so much fun. (Nov.)

DEBUT In this gripping first novel from British journalist Cook, no one is trustworthy, and motives are unclear, as reporter Anna Tate interviews neuroscientist Nate Reid. Nate is well-known for studying pain with an aim to permanently cure it. Yet he has a muddy past, as his wife Eva, a former patient, lived with a rare condition that made her unable to feel pain, and she was found dead in their home from questionable causes. Anna hooks herself into ghostwriting Nate's memoir; however, his story seems detached and calculated. Anna is determined to unveil the truth, even though she has her own complicated backstory with an overbearing brother who has romantic relations with her roommate. Cook has a writing style that is quick and accessible as she conveys intertwining conflicted characters plunging through storylines to find out what happened to Eva, but a flatly written epilogue may dull the impact of the story for some. VERDICT Pages fly by as secrets rise to the surface, and the engrossing premise keeps readers speculating. This debut builds alluring suspense into an exhilarating twist.--Sarah-Ruth Tasko