To review this novel as the best thriller I've read this year is too mild. A reader’s hot sauce. The hottest of the hot. The height of suspense. Best. Thriller. Ever. Read. 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥

Dr. Zoe Goldman is a psychiatry resident with 2 other physicians under the supervision of Dr. Grant at a hospital in Buffalo, New York. Medication keeps her ADHD under control. Zoe is hoping for more help from her psychiatrist as another part of life has remained elusive. She wants to piece together the puzzle of her recurring nightmare. Answers from her adoptive mother have always been limited, and now, with her mother in care, Zoe qualifies answers as BD or AD before or after dementia.

Mothers. The relationship between mothers and daughters is not lost on Zoe at home or work. Her latest patient, Sofia Vallano, has been in psychiatric hospital care for years for matricide. All of which influence her desire to locate her birth mother.

I loved every aspect of this well-written novel. Whether in the hospital, at home, in the coffee shop, or in the car, I was immersed and engaged by the descriptive writing. My top favorites:

"Raindrops squiggle down the window, racing each other."
"If Sam's office is a yacht, and the nursing home a Victorian tearoom, then the Coffee Spot is a funky bachelor pad."

And the description of Jean-Luc is one to luxuriate, revel, and bask within the words.

The story takes place over 4 months, from November to February. The vital clue to the mysteries of the answers Zoe is seeking is subtle. But then I must report it in that manner since the clue to it all was tucked in the story with care, and I flat-out missed the significance. At the reveal, I was in the first car of the roller coaster train approaching the tip of the top hat and then the drop. The track I thought the curves were taking wasn't even there. Shock! Adrenalin pumping, edge of my seat, gripping the rail with white knuckles, fantastic, extraordinary ecstasy. WoW! What a ride! 🎢🎢🎢🎢🎢

A Reading Group Guide and Discussion Questions are available at the end of the novel. ( )

This read like a TV movie, slightly scandalous but really bad dialogue and one dimensional characters. If this was supposed to be the first in a series, I'm not going to be reading the rest. ( )

Holy freaking crap. Just when I thought I had everything figured out Block throws in a HUGE plot twist that almost had me jumping out of my seat. I totally did not see it coming. Well written and a suspenseful page turner. Definitely will be reading more of her books. ( )

Stellar read by Sandra Block! Psychiatrist Dr. Zoe Goldman is a memorable character with a hidden mystery. She's wrapped up in a dire search for her birth mother, whom she never knew, but in the end she discovers a lot more than expected.

A wonderfully written intriguing mystery that'll keep you turning those pages into the night! ( )

I found it to be a really entertaining story, and I'm excited to hear there are more books with this narrator. I usually do guess twist endings, but I didn't see this one coming. ( )