The Man She Married

September 17, 2018
Lamb (No Place I’d Rather Be) opens her magnetic novel with a tantalizing glimpse of a mystery, a dreadful car wreck, and a feisty heroine to root for. Natalie Fox Shelton feels blessed: she’s married to the love of her life, Zach; runs an accounting firm in Portland, Ore., with one of her best friends, Justine; and has a loving father—until the car crash puts her in
a coma. Trapped inside her own body, Natalie can hear everything: the suggestions from “Dr. Doom” and “Dr. Hopeless” that Zach and Natalie’s father pull the plug on the machines keeping her alive, the evil stranger whose demented Barbie-doll calling card freaks out the staff, her father’s heartfelt singing. Against all odds, Natalie fights her way out of the coma, regains consciousness, and enters traumatic brain injury therapy with a colorful, lovable group and tries to put her life back together. But it’s soon clear that someone is after Natalie—and that those efforts are tied to her husband’s shadowy past. Lamb’s deeply nuanced characters, particularly Natalie’s insufferable yet damaged mother, Chick, as well as her rehab buddies, lend depth and resonance. Add that to a fast-moving plot and a rewarding ending, and Lamb has crafted a charmer fit for many keepers’ shelves.

October 15, 2018

In Lamb's latest (after Such a Pretty Face), successful accountant Natalie Shelton has a good life, with loyal women friends and an adoring, sexy husband Zack, who renovated their lovely home. It's a long way from a childhood marred by her mother's abandonment and her father's financial struggles. When she ends up in a coma after a car crash, she's somehow able to notice a creepy intruder in her hospital room, then hears Zack talking angrily on the phone about her accident. She knows he's concealing something, but she can't believe he's trying to kill her, so she hides her suspicions of him from the police. The stakes rise when she's released from the hospital and someone shoots at her in her new apartment. She's desperate to remember what happened the morning of her accident, believing it might explain why Zack, who has always been loyal and loving, is also mysterious about his past to the point that it endangers them both. VERDICT This fast, suspenseful story has quirky, warm characters that contrast well with Zack's dark past and the motives of a dangerous stranger, all building to an action-filled, unexpected resolution.--Jan Marry, Lanexa, VA

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