by Jodi Picoult
First published 2018
Hugh McElroy arrives at a women's health clinic where a gunman has opened fire and taken hostages. The police negotiator begins setting up his perimeter when he discovers his fifteen-year-old daughter Wren is trapped inside. The standoff unfolds through the eyes of those caught in the crossfire: a nurse fighting to save a wounded woman, a doctor whose faith drives his work, a pro-life protester posing as a patient, and a young woman seeking to end her pregnancy. The gunman demands to be heard as Hugh races against time to save everyone inside, including his own child. Picoult structures the narrative backward through the hours of the crisis, revealing what brought each person to this moment. The story examines the collision between deeply held beliefs about reproductive rights and the human cost of ideological warfare.
Genres: fiction, drama, mystery, contemporary, thriller
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, race-against-time
Setting: Women's Health Clinic
Period: 21st-century
369 pages · Hardcover · Ballantine Books
Content warnings: pregnancy-loss