The Dead Girl in 2A

May 6, 2019
On a flight to Denver, Boston freelance writer Jake Buchannan recognizes his seatmate, Clara Stowe, but he can’t remember from where, in this gripping standalone from Wilson (Mister Tender’s Girl). As Jake tries to figure out the connection, he bonds with Clara over the fact that the two otherwise healthy 30-something-year-olds are suffering from memory loss. Then Clara confides that she plans to head up to the Aspen area and kill herself. Jake is unable to persuade her to change her mind, and she disappears after landing. It later becomes clear that their reunion was no coincidence. Alternating between Jake’s viewpoint and Clara’s diary, the multifaceted plot reveals that a year earlier, in Boston, both of them began participating in a memory research clinical trial led by a seedy man named Landis. Jake resolves to learn the truth about Landis’s scheme and save Clara from her fate. Wilson provides plenty of creepy and downright disturbing moments on the way to the unexpectedly heartfelt conclusion. Psychological thriller fans will be well satisfied. Agent: Pamela Ahearn, Ahearn Agency.

June 1, 2019
A troubled ghostwriter's past may be the key to an explosive secret. Life hasn't been the same for Jake Buchannan since the accident that seriously injured his 8-year-old daughter, Em, and drove a wedge between him and his wife, Abby. Jake just hopes that his new job writing the memoirs of a mysterious and wealthy Colorado man will at least ensure they can pay for Em's medical bills. When he meets former teacher Clara Stowe on his flight to Denver, he's instantly drawn to her. Small talk turns to something more profound when Clara reveals that she plans to kill herself at the site of two mountain peaks, Aspen's Maroon Bells. And that's not all. Clara was adopted as a child, as was Jake, and neither can remember their childhoods before they were adopted. It's enough to convince Jake that they've met for a reason, and he implores Clara to contact him if she needs him. Through alternating narratives, it's revealed that Clara and Jake were both invited by a mysterious man named Landis to take part in a clinical trial designed to help them unlock memories and meet their full potential. Both were given an evocative, illustrated book and a vial of pills and have gone through various changes in the months since, such as heightened empathy for Jake and Clara's self-imposed isolation and fascination with death. When Jake is approached by a woman claiming that Landis isn't quite what he seems, he finds himself in a relentless quest for the truth that just might kill him. Wilson (Mr. Tender's Girl, 2018, etc.) explores how good intentions and hubris can lead down dark paths while tackling themes of sorrow, guilt, and the intoxicating power of memory and human connection with equal aplomb. He even throws in a murder mystery for good measure and delivers a denouement that is both strangely sad and exceedingly creepy. Dean Koontz fans in particular will find a lot to enjoy. A disturbing, propulsive, and satisfying thriller. Wilson is an author to watch.

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August 2, 2019

On his way to meet a new client in Denver, ghost writer Jake Buchannan feels a strong connection with the woman sitting next to him on the plane. Despite questioning each other, neither can figure out where or when they may have met. Before departing the plane, Jake discovers that Clara has come to Denver to die. Disturbing events continue to occur as Jake's client seems fixated on Jake's life rather than his own. Then Jake is approached by a rogue private investigator with a fantastic story of trying to save Jake from a nefarious group targeting him, Clara, and others. The memory research clinical trial in which Jake was participating has led to the horrible deaths of two subjects. Then Jake is kidnapped, and the true fight for survival begins as events in his past threaten to destroy his future. VERDICT Best-selling author Wilson (Mister Tender's Girl) delivers a solid stand-alone psychological thriller with a clever premise that brings to light the devastation of memory-altering drugs in psychological warfare research.--Joy Gunn, Paseo Verde Lib., Henderson, NV

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2019
Plagued by memory loss and mood swings, writer Jake Buchannan is looking for his life to improve. Feeling guilty for having caused the car accident that injured his eight-year-old daughter and sad at having moved out of his house, he's hopeful that his new contract, writing a memoir for a Denver man, will help financially and otherwise. Then, on a plane from Boston, he senses a connection to his seatmate, Clara Stowe, the woman in 2A. They share some history, finding remarkable similarities, before she tells him she's going to the mountains near Denver to die. What happens next revolves around Jake and Clara, both orphaned young and unable to remember their childhoods except for a bloody dual-murder scene, being lured into a memory study involving unique picture books and mysterious pills. Wilson's forte is graphic horror, but here he edges toward the spooky. Readers of his popular Mister Tender's Girl (2018) will be intrigued by this exploration of how scientific experimentation intended to help individuals to achieve their full potential goes awry, leaving a trail of bodies and few survivors behind.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)