Lost You

May 27, 2019
At the start of this engrossing psychological thriller from the pseudonymous Beck (Here and Gone), a woman threatens to jump off a Florida hotel roof with her young son to certain death below. Flash back four years. When Anna Lenihan loses her waitressing job in Pennsylvania and is in a financial bind, she hears about a medical clinic that matches childless couples with healthy female surrogates. The pay is excellent, and Anna is in good health. Anna becomes the surrogate for writer Libby Reese and her husband. As Anna’s pregnancy progresses, Libby behaves irrationally, making herself look like she, too, is pregnant by wearing an ever-expanding prosthetic latex stomach. The baby boy is born prematurely on the same night Libby experiences “labor pains” (actually appendicitis). Anna runs off with the baby and a deadly showdown ensues with consequences that will lead to that harrowing rooftop scene. Beck (Edgar finalist Stuart Neville) tells a richly complicated story about two desperate women and the reality of surrogacy in America. Agent: Nat Sobel, Sobel Weber Assoc.

June 1, 2019
A woman risks everything for her child in Beck's (Here and Gone, 2017) latest. Libby is enjoying a well-deserved vacation with her 3-year-old son, Ethan, to celebrate her book contract. At the resort, she can pamper herself and enjoy spending time with her little boy, things that have been hard to do since her husband left them when Ethan was a baby. It was a long, difficult path to motherhood for Libby, and in the end, Mason just couldn't deal with it. But she has Ethan now, and he is all she needs to feel complete. But when Ethan disappears while Libby literally has her back turned, her worst nightmare comes true. Because Ethan isn't abducted by just anyone, but by someone who knows him and who calls him "Little Butterfly." What is the true story of Ethan's parentage? What secrets has Libby buried deep in the past? And who is willing to do anything to get revenge? There is a lingering sense of unease established in the very beginning of the novel--because the reader knows it's a thriller, yes, and so something is going to go wrong--but even more because of Libby's personality. She's established as an overstressed single mom desperately worrying about everything. Her tight hold on Ethan can't end well for either one of them--but the truth is completely mind-blowing. No spoilers here: The twists and turns are not only masterfully paced and layered, but so is the emotional impact. Once another perspective is offered within the narrative, this other character captures the reader's sympathy--but it's also true that while we may not always like Libby, she has our understanding, too. Beck plays both characters off one another until close to the end, unspooling tension to an almost unbearable breaking point. An adrenaline-pumping, anxiety-inducing thriller built around a core so sentimental it just might make you cry.

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July 1, 2019
Cut the baby in half! was the judgment of Solomon when two women both claimed one child. Readers will find themselves torn in two by Libby Reese and Anna Lenihan as they each make their case for being a three-year-old boy's rightful mother. Three days into doting mother Libby's vacation, Ethan wanders into an elevator before she can reach him. When she calls the elevator back, he is gone. Hotel CCTV footage shows him leaving through an emergency exit with Anna, who then climbs up on a low wall bordering the roof, clutching Ethan. If she jumps, Anna thinks, there will be no more waking in the dark reaching for her baby and remembering he's gone. The absorbing narrative that follows spins a heart-wrenching web of desperation, surrogacy, mistaken identity, and murder. Beck is the pseudonym of acclaimed Irish crime-fiction author Stuart Neville. This nail-biting rendering of every parent's nightmare is his second stand-alone thriller (after Here and Gone, 2017). Recommend to fans of Tana French, Allison Brennan, and Hallie Ephron.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

July 26, 2019

Libby Reese is frantic to find her four-year-old son Ethan after he takes an unsupervised ride on an elevator at a resort in Florida. When hotel security footage shows Ethan with a woman Libby recognizes, her worst fears are realized. Years earlier, surrogate mother Anna went into early labor and absconded with the baby Libby already thought of as her own. After tracking down the woman and child, Libby forced a confrontation that had drastic consequences. When their worlds collide a second time, Libby can only hope it won't be another tragic ending. Beck (Here and Gone) weaves an engaging tale of two women so desperate to experience motherhood they will stop at almost nothing to make it happen. There are clever parallels to the women's stories, as each loses touch with reality, but readers won't find it easy to sympathize with either of these deeply flawed characters. VERDICT Fans of domestic suspense, particularly those with a penchant for the dark side of motherhood, will be engrossed. [See Prepub Alert, 2/11/19.]--Vicki Briner, Broomfield, CO

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 26, 2019

Libby's young son vanishes on vacation and is finally found in the company of a woman who seems to have some serious claims on him. From the Edgar Award-nominated Stuart Neville, writing pseudonymously.

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.