In the Blood

Starred review from October 28, 2013
Bestseller Unger returns to the Hollows, the secluded upstate New York town that served as the setting for Fragile and Darkness, My Old Friend, for this gripping novel of psychological suspense. Ace student Lana Granger, with a new name and appearance, sequesters herself at small Sacred Heart College, where no one knows that her father is on death row for killing her mother. At the urging of a compassionate psychology professor, Lana takes a job with Rachel Kahn babysitting her volatile 11-year-old son, Luke. Mother and son have recently moved to the Hollows, where Luke is enrolled at a school for troubled kids. While Lana is drawn into a bizarre game manipulated by Luke, who has discovered her secrets and threatens to expose her, her best friend, Beck Miller, disappears after the two of them argue. A mystery woman’s revealing diary augments the tense, surprise-laden plot. Agent: Elaine Markson, Markson Thoma Literary Agency.

November 1, 2013

Lana is a deeply disturbed young woman who has found the perfect place to hide: as a student at a small college in a remote New York town. Struggling with a troubled past that includes her mother having been murdered, Lana wants a place where she feels safe and removed. A part-time job as a nanny seems to be the perfect way to earn extra income, but her 11-year-old charge proves to be more difficult than she expected. Bright and manipulative, the boy seems to sense that his new babysitter has a number of secrets of her own. When a friend of Lana's goes missing shortly after they argued in front of a number of witnesses, it seems that her dream of peace is shattered. VERDICT Unger's (Beautiful Lies) latest offering is full of engaging twists and turns. She tells the story from Lana's point of view but skillfully keeps the reader guessing as to what dark secrets the character is hiding. Fans of mystery and psychological suspense, along with Unger's fans, will be delighted with this imaginative story. [See Prepub Alert, 7/15/13; library marketing.]--Linda Oliver, MLIS, Colorado Springs

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2013
The Hollows is once again a poor choice for someone trying to keep a secret in this latest thriller from best-selling author Unger (Heartbroken, 2012, etc.). This time, it's Sacred Heart College in the upstate New York town that attracts an unhappy outsider seeking refuge. Lana Granger remains haunted by her mother's murder; her father, still on death row for the crime, keeps trying to make contact with her. You might wonder, given Lana's memories of her "appalling" childhood behavior and its role in the violent dysfunction of her parents' marriage, why she would take a job baby sitting for 11-year-old Luke, who attends a nearby school for disturbed kids and is exactly the sort of manipulative, "callous-unemotional" deemed most likely to become a full-blown psychopath by experts like Lana's psychology professor, Langdon Hewes. But Lana feels a strange bond with Luke, and Unger skillfully ratchets up the tension as we begin to realize the boy knows far more about Lana's past than he should, while diary entries interspersed with the main narrative document horrifying behavior by a malicious child we assume is Luke. It soon becomes clear that neither Lana nor the diary entries are what they seem, and it seems frighteningly likely that our troubled protagonist had something to do with her best friend Beck's disappearance. But Unger pulls off a bravura feat of misdirection with Lana's guilty secret and a terrific aha! moment with the revelation of the first of several villains, each fingered with clues carefully planted throughout the text. The book's emotional logic isn't as impeccable as its plotting: We're asked to believe that one dangerously unstable child can grow up and learn to love with the help of therapy and lots of meds, while another with virtually identical issues will always be a monster. Few readers will dwell on this inconsistency as they savor the pleasure of being guided by Unger's sure hand along a deliciously twisted narrative path. Another scary winner from an accomplished pro.

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March 31, 2014
This novel, full of dark psychological suspense, is set in a small college town not far from New York City; it follows Lana Granger, a psychology major nearing graduation. Lana harbors secrets from her youth, including family violence and murder. At the suggestion of faculty advisor Langdon Hewes, she becomes the nanny of Luke, a troubled 11-year-old who uses very adult methods of terrorizing his mother, Rachel. Soon he’s tormenting Lana with seemingly uncanny knowledge of her past. The narrative is interspersed with excerpts from the diary of an unidentified mother about her life with an extremely disturbed child, which is read by Mol in a soft voice that varies from guardedly optimistic to despondent. Handling the more extensive role of Lana, Thaxon is tart, almost flippant when the extremely bright student is viewing her life objectively, then switches to a less confident, almost miserable approach when expressing self-doubt and regret over past mistakes. Her equally astute interpretations of Unger’s other characters include a coolly impersonal Hewes, a vague and distracted Rachel, and Luke, who speaks with an intelligence beyond his years, is arrogant and impatient. A S&S/Touchstone hardcover.