Having moved from Chicago to a Maine island when her husband inherits a house from his sister, Sadie has plenty of reasons to worry, not least of which is the murder of a neighbor. The house is creepy and creaky, her teenage niece Imogen is dark and disturbed, and townsfolk suspicious of the newcomers. With a 200,000-copy first printing; Netflix grabbed the TV/film rights in an overnight preempt.

Offered a much-needed new start, Dr. Sadie Foust, her husband Will, and their family leave Chicago and relocate to the dreary home on a Maine island where Will's sister lived before taking her own life. Alice left behind her teenage daughter Imogen, who's brimming with anger. Sadie finds it hard to adapt to the remote, insular community and antagonistic mood at home. When a neighbor, beautiful Morgan Baines, is savagely murdered, questions linger as suspicion mounts. Anxious and afraid of a murderer in their midst, Sadie is uncertain and becomes increasingly fearful as police officer Berg focuses attention on her and strange objects unexpectedly appear. The twists keep coming in this story told from multiple points of view. VERDICT Kubica (Every Last Lie) writes a mesmerizing tale with an unreliable narrator that draws attention to a less-understood mental health condition, but the story is wrapped up a bit too neatly. What is satisfying and most effective is the oppressive sense of unease that permeates this intense psychological suspense drama. For fans of A.J. Finn and Gillian Flynn.[See Prepub Alert, 7/29/19.]—Gloria Drake, Oswego P.L. Dist., IL

In this convoluted psychological thriller from bestseller Kubica (When the Lights Go Out), physician Sadie Foust and her professor husband, Will, have inherited his sister Alice's house, on an island off the coast of Maine, after Alice's apparent suicide. They have also agreed to accept guardianship for Alice's understandably troubled 16-year-old daughter, Imogen. Despite the tragedy, Sadie sees a chance for a new start with Will and their two boys, 14-year-old Otto and seven-year-old Tate. She would like to move past Will's affair, as well as an alarming school incident with Otto and a mistake that forced her to resign from her former position in Chicago. However, Imogen's increasingly threatening behavior causes tension among the family, and the murder of a neighbor's new wife throws their lives into a tailspin when Sadie becomes a suspect. Red herrings litter the multiple narratives, adding too much weight to an already overloaded plot, and a soapy twist disappoints. Hopefully, this is a temporary slump for the talented Kubica. Agent: Rachael Dillon Fried, Sanford J. Greenburger Assoc. (Feb.)