Review by Booklist Review
Business journalist Ally Linden arrives early at her Manhattan office, only to find that she hasn't worked there for five years. At first knowing only her name and age, she soon retrieves the memory of the rest of her life, except for the previous two days, during which she's been missing. She learns that she's been in a dissociative state, usually brought on by trauma, which can reoccur. Is it related to having found a toddler's body when Ally was only nine years old, or to something more recent, involving the wad of blood-encrusted tissues Ally finds in her coat pocket? Anxious to fill in her missing days, she ignores her therapist's advice to avoid stress, hiring a private detective to help her and searching for information about the still-unsolved case of the toddler's death. But these efforts come at a cost, as attempts are made on her life from more than one quarter, and her marriage is definitely off-kilter. From former Cosmo editor-in-chief White, author of the Bailey Weggins series, this gripping psychological suspense tale is hard to put down.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Ally Linden, the narrator of this well-honed thriller from bestseller White (the Bailey Weggins series), arrives one morning at her Manhattan office, wet and bedraggled, with a throbbing headache. Her boss approaches her and asks, "What are you doing here?... You haven't worked here in years." A stunned Ally realizes she has no idea where she's been or where she lives, and that there's "a thick, dark curtain between this moment and everything that came before it." She's diagnosed as being in a dissociative state, caused by a traumatic incident. The questions just keep on coming: what triggered the memory loss, is it connected to a troubling experience in her childhood, who can she really trust to tell her the truth, and why were a handful of blood-soaked tissues stuffed into the pocket of her raincoat? White skillfully maintains the pace until the rushed ending. Even the most jaded reader will be satisfied. Agent: Sandra Dijkstra, Sandra Dijkstra Literary. (Apr.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
When finance journalist Ally Linden walks into her Manhattan office, her boss nearly drops his coffee mug; she hasn't worked there in five years. Interviews with a hospital psychiatrist help her determine that she's now a freelance journalist living on the Upper West Side with her kindly husband, Hugh. But she's lost two days of her life owing to a fugue state, and she looks to be in danger if she doesn't figure out what happened. From the New York Times best-selling White; with a 40,000-copy paperback and 20,000-copy hardcover first printing.
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A woman suffers memory loss due to trauma; her search for truth may end up being the most dangerous decision of all. When Ally Linden arrives at work one morning, she's shocked to find out that she hasn't actually worked at this office for years. Somehow, she's suffered a dissociative episode, and while the memories of the past eventually come flooding back, she still cannot remember anything that happened over the previous two days. Alarmed, she seeks out her therapist, her friends, her husband, trying to put the pieces together. There's been tension in her marriage because her husband is pressuring her to have children, so when Ally finds out they had a fight the night before she "disappeared," the root of her memory loss seems clear. However, there are still too many loose ends: Why were there bloody tissues in the pocket of her coat? What happened to her cellphone? And could any of this be related to a murder investigation from her childhood? Not sure whom she can trust, Ally hires a private detective who then ends up murdered. One thing's for certain: Someone will go to any lengths to prevent Ally from recovering her memory. White (Such a Perfect Wife, 2019, etc.) provides the twists and shocks that any reader of domestic thrillers expects and savors, but she also manages to use some of our expectations to create clever dead ends. Ally's need for self-discovery has an immediacy, of course, but also a larger resonance, as she begins to realize that she hasn't always made choices that are completely authentic or independent. Perhaps recovering her memory will be the first step in a larger quest to find herself. An engaging novel that turns some clichés of recent thrillers on their heads. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
