Every Fifteen Minutes

Starred review from February 2, 2015
Bestseller Scottoline (Keep Quiet) casts an unflinching eye on the damaged world of sociopaths in this exciting page-turner. The personal life of Dr. Eric Parrish, chief of the psychiatric unit at Havemeyer General Hospital in Philadelphia's suburbs, is even more of a challenge than his job. His wife, Caitlin, has filed for divorce, and, as a result, he rarely gets to spend time with his seven-year-old daughter, Hannah. Distraction arrives in the forms of Kristine Malin, an attractive medical student, and a friendly, flirtatious friendship with emergency doctor Laurie Fortunato. Things start to unravel for Eric when he has to field a sexual harassment claim and is implicated in the murder of a young woman. The misfortunes pile up, and both his career and his custody battle for Hannah are placed in jeopardy. Many characters who seem to be gunning for Eric are likely candidates for a sociopathic diagnosis. Once the red herrings are dispatched, the identity of the culprit who plots his downfall is a genuine surprise. Agent: Molly Friedrich, Friedrich Literary Agency. Author tour; 250,000-copy first printing.

Starred review from February 1, 2015
A sociopath targets a suburban Pennsylvania psychiatrist whose success is only the prelude to a series of nightmarish reversals.It's true that Dr. Eric Parrish doesn't have everything. His wife, Caitlin, is divorcing him and being difficult over the joint custody they've arranged for their 7-year-old daughter, Hannah, and his latest private patient, 17-year-old Max Jakubowski, seems much more in need of help than his dying grandmother does. But Eric's colleagues like and admire him-one of them, medical student Kristine Malin, is clearly in hot pursuit-and so does U.S. News and World Report, which is about to announce that the psych unit Eric heads at Havemeyer General Hospital ranks second in the nation. It all goes south with a suddenness that would be shocking outside the pages of Scottoline. Kristine files harassment charges after Eric rejects her come-on. Max phones Eric to say that his grandmother's died and then takes a powder. Renee Bevilacqua, a girl Max tutors in math and otherwise worships from afar, gets murdered the morning after Eric follows her home, looking in vain for a lead to Max's whereabouts. The cops haul Eric in as a person of interest, then invade his office and home looking for evidence when he demands they find Max, whom he considers a suicide risk, but won't say any more about him. The colleagues who so recently toasted Eric lock him out. And that's all before Max takes five teenagers hostage and announces that he's going to kill one every 15 minutes before he blows up the King of Prussia Mall. Who can possibly be pulling so many different strings? A proficient, mounting-stakes actioner that proves Scottoline is just as comfortable with a shrink determined to go to the wall for a troubled teen as she ever was with Bennie Rosato's all-female law practice (Betrayed, 2014, etc.).

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Starred review from February 15, 2015
Dr. Eric Parrish's wife has filed for divorce, and he is trying to remain a caring and involved dad to his seven-year-old daughter. Then Parish, chief of the psychiatric unit at a leading hospital outside Philadelphia. is called to consult on an elderly woman dying of cancer, but he quickly realizes it's her 17-year-old grandson, Max, who needs the help. Max is suffering from a severe case of OCDrepeating rituals every 15 minutesplus depression issues exacerbated by his alcoholic mother and terminally ill grandmother. Max agrees to treatment, but a few sessions in, his grandmother dies, and he admits to having fantasies of killing a particular young woman, who shortly ends up dead. Max promptly disappears. The extremely empathetic Eric becomes way too involved in searching for his missing patient and putting himself in harm's way. By invoking doctor-patient privilege, he incurs the wrath of the police department and becomes a person of interest himself, getting suspended from his job and giving his wife ammunition in the child-custody battle. Occasional chapters from the killer's viewpoint seem to lead the reader toward an obvious conclusion, but Scottoline has plenty of tricks up her sleeve. Every Fifteen Minutes is a stand-alone, but it won't disappoint fans of her popular Rosato & Associates series and may well attract new readers. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: A 250,000-copy market distribution will get Scottoline's latest off to a fast start.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

November 1, 2014

In this stand-alone from Edgar Award winner Scottoline, psychiatrist Tom Fortez contemplates a trip to the police station when troubled patient Mike Browning starts sharing increasingly violent thoughts about the young woman who rejected him and employees at the insurance company from which he's been fired. Then the woman is found raped and murdered, Browning has taken hostages at the company, and Tom is in the crosshairs. With a one-day laydown on April 7.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 1, 2015

When Dr. Eric Parrish, longstanding chief of a successful psychiatric unit at a hospital outside of Philadelphia, responds to a routine emergency room consult and agrees to add a troubled teen to his private practice, he unwittingly makes a life-altering decision that could unravel everything that he values. As Eric struggles to balance his workload with his recent separation and custody issues regarding his small daughter, he becomes the target of a ruthless sociopath hell-bent on destroying his reputation and his life. When a murder is committed and Eric's troubled patient disappears, Eric takes matters into his own hands to protect a vulnerable client and himself. Soon he is hopelessly ensnared in a sociopath's cat-and-mouse game and may not escape unscathed. VERDICT In a nail-biting stand-alone with two heart-pounding climaxes and several pulse-racing twists, Scottoline (Keep Quiet; Betrayed) grabs her readers by the jugular and won't let go. Readers who crave an action-packed psychological thriller should add it to their wish lists. [See Prepub Alert, 10/14/14.]--Mary Todd Chesnut, Northern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Highland Heights

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2015

When Dr. Eric Parrish, longstanding chief of a successful psychiatric unit at a hospital outside of Philadelphia, responds to a routine emergency room consult and agrees to add a troubled teen to his private practice, he unwittingly makes a life-altering decision that could unravel everything that he values. As Eric struggles to balance his workload with his recent separation and custody issues regarding his small daughter, he becomes the target of a ruthless sociopath hell-bent on destroying his reputation and his life. When a murder is committed and Eric's troubled patient disappears, Eric takes matters into his own hands to protect a vulnerable client and himself. Soon he is hopelessly ensnared in a sociopath's cat-and-mouse game and may not escape unscathed. VERDICT In a nail-biting stand-alone with two heart-pounding climaxes and several pulse-racing twists, Scottoline (Keep Quiet; Betrayed) grabs her readers by the jugular and won't let go. Readers who crave an action-packed psychological thriller should add it to their wish lists. [See Prepub Alert, 10/14/14.]--Mary Todd Chesnut, Northern Kentucky Univ. Lib., Highland Heights

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.