Review by Booklist Review
Journalist Anna Tate is known for getting to the core of her subjects. When she's offered a chance to ghostwrite a memoir with famed scientist Dr. Nate Reid, she jumps at it. Nate's wife, Eva, who recently died, had a rare condition where she could not feel pain. Fascinated by Eva's condition, Anna walks the line between professionalism and impropriety, pushing Nate to share the most personal parts of his life. As she grows closer to Nate, Anna realizes the events leading to Eva's death are not as cut and dried as they seem. The characters in Cook's debut thriller are understandably flawed and unlikeable. Anna's storyline is front and center, but Cook weaves Eva's voice in through past journal entries, providing depth and detail needed to move the story along. While exciting, the connection between Eva and Anna and the eventual path the plot takes might appear a little too coincidental--but readers will still enjoy the twists and turns. Recommended for readers who enjoy domestic thrillers by Katherine Faulkner, Sally Hepworth, and Liane Moriarty.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
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.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
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
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