Pretty baby

Kubica's psychological thriller (the follow-up to 2014's The Good Girl) focuses on Heidi Woods, a Chicago-based social worker who espies a homeless teenage waif, Willow Geer, on a train platform, clutching a crying baby. What initially seems to be a professional interest rapidly carries over to obsession for Heidi. Much to the dismay of her husband, Chris, and her moody 12-year-old daughter, Zoe, Heidi takes the possibly psychotic Willow and tot into their home. Kubica spins her disturbing tale using three present-tense points of view, performed here by a trio of readers. Heidi is the first to speak. Her voice, thanks to reader Campbell, is somewhat academic when describing the city's social problems, but quickly shifts to concern for the mother and child. Taylorson's Chris starts out weary from the travel-heavy rut he's in and annoyed by Heidi's new insistence on meatless menus, as well as her ceaselessly downbeat tales of society's ills. Though Heidi's and Chris's chapters include frequent flashbacks to the past, they follow a linked chronology. Reader Marie voices Willow's sections, which take place after her stay in the Woods' household. Sounding vaguely druggy, or maybe just without affect, she recalls events from her past. But she drops a few comments suggesting that some terrible fate has befallen Heidi. But as the novel's powerful and emotionally devastating ending makes clear, she doesn't understand what it is. A Mira hardcover. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Heidi Wood takes a homeless young girl and her baby home because she can't bear to see the child exposed to the wet, cold weather. This act of seeming kindness begins the disintegration of her carefully constructed life. Meanwhile, teenage Willow, abused by her foster father, is working through her own demons as she instinctively acts to protect the little sister she loves but rarely sees. The story is told from the points of view of Heidi, Willow, and Chris, Heidi's husband. Is Willow a murderer? Who does this baby really belong to? Has Willow escaped one horrible home only to wreak havoc upon another? Cassandra Campbell, Tom Taylorson, and Jorjeana Marie voice the three characters and bring out gentle Heidi's need for another child, Chris's self-centered disconnectedness, and Willow's misery and need for love. Their varied performances emphasize the three very different worlds these characters inhabit and add dimension to the story. Verdict Recommended. ["Those who appreciate character-driven explorations of human emotion will enjoy Kubica's sophomore effort": LJ 6/15/15 review of the Mira: Harlequin hc.]-Juleigh Muirhead Clark, Colonial Williamsburg Fdn. Lib., VA © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.