Girl Unknown

December 1, 2017
A family's secrets are forced into the light by the arrival of an enigmatic young woman.David Connolly is a history professor in Dublin; in his early 40s, he's devoted to his career and is on the verge of a possible promotion. He has two teenage children, and his family life is finally settling back to tender normalcy after his wife, Caroline, had a brief fling with another man a year ago. But after he delivers a lecture one day, one of his students shows up to his office with a shocking announcement: David is her father. When the girl, Zoe, arranges for a DNA test to prove his paternity, David can no longer ignore her obvious bids for his guidance and attention, and Caroline does her best to adjust to the family's newest member. But very soon, it's obvious that Zoe isn't the shy and aimless girl she seems to be. As David discovers a Pandora's box of lies Zoe has told, she begins insinuating herself into every corner of his family members' lives, creating a web of suspicion and mistrust among them. The Connollys realize Zoe has left broken relationships in her wake her whole life, and they must ask themselves how far they will go to keep from being another of her casualties. Perry (The Innocent Sleep, 2014)--actually the pen name of collaborators Karen Gillece and Paul Perry--gives us a convincing glimpse into the fragility of family life and the terrible burden that the past can put on domestic life. But the novel is too close to films like Single White Female or Cape Fear to feel like it's covering new territory despite Perry's valiant attempts to pull off some last-minute shocks.A thriller that feels more familiar than frightening.

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December 11, 2017
Authors Karen Gillece and Paul Perry again combine to form Perry (The Innocent) in this unbalanced psychological thriller. College professor David Connolly’s life is forever changed when first-year student Zoe Harte steps into his office and claims that he is her father. David is already stressed about his ailing mother, marital problems, and trying to advance at his job, and Zoe’s revelation sends him into a tailspin. But David’s wife Caroline believes Zoe has ulterior motives and sets out to prove that she isn’t his child. Can Caroline convince David that Zoe is not all she appears to be in time to save her family, or will she find that Zoe is telling the truth? While this dark tale is full of twists, the promise of the setup never reaches its full potential. Despite the fact that the flow of alternating sections between David and Caroline runs smoothly, David and Caroline’s children—although they are impacted greatly by Zoe’s claims—end up overlooked in the grand scheme of the story. Certain plot points also stretch plausibility, particularly in the buildup to the finale. Perry’s unwieldy thriller raises more questions than it answers about the underdeveloped Connolly family.

January 1, 2018

The Connollys are an ordinary Dublin family, content, despite private challenges and heartbreaks. Then, one of David Connolly's freshman history students appears in his office at the university and announces that he is her father. The girl, Zoe, is the daughter of David's college sweetheart. Zoe is charming, magnetic, and lovely--but, it becomes increasingly apparent that she is also deeply troubled. Is she simply a lost teenage girl desperate for a relationship with a parent, or something more insidious? In alternating chapters, David and his wife Caroline narrate their evolving relationships with Zoe, as she enters their home and becomes entangled in every aspect of their lives, affecting their marriage, their careers, and their children, Robbie, 15, and Holly, 11. VERDICT Two competing unreliable narrators create an unsettling, intense atmosphere in this domestic thriller. Though the foreshadowing can feel heavy-handed at times, Perry (The Innocent Sleep) delivers a twist ending that will make readers want to start again from the beginning. [See Prepub Alert, 8/13/17.]--Lindsay Morton, P.L. of Science, San Francisco

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from November 1, 2017
David, a popular history professor, is shocked when one of his students claims that she is his daughter, conceived during a romantic weekend with his now-deceased first love, Linda. Zoe Harte's claim is confirmed by a hastily arranged DNA test, and father and daughter make the awkward first steps toward a relationship. Then Zoe attempts suicide, and David, obsessed with holding on to the only remaining piece of Linda, insists that she recover in his family home. As David's relationship with Zoe raises eyebrows among his colleagues, tensions develop at home between Zoe, David's wife, and his young daughter, Holly. When David discovers shocking truths about Zoe's past, he's left questioning whether she's a dangerous manipulator or a lost girl desperate for love, but it's too late to stop a growing hatred that will end in murder. Writing duo Karen Gillece and Paul Perry's second novel (after The Innocent Sleep, 2014), is must-read literary suspense, with dueling character perspectives and sly twists forming a gut-wrenching exploration of trust, manipulation, and obsession.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)