First published 2011
Pete Dizinoff has built the perfect life. His medical practice thrives, his wife loves him, and their suburban home provides everything his son Alec could need. Pete wants only the best for Alec's future. Then Laura returns after years away. She is the daughter of Pete's closest friend, ten years older than Alec, and devastatingly beautiful. She also carries a dark shadow from her teenage years when she allegedly killed her newborn baby during a secret birth. Alec falls for Laura immediately. Pete watches his carefully planned dreams for his son crumble. Convinced he must protect Alec, Pete schemes to destroy their relationship. But his interference backfires. Pete finds himself drawn to Laura in ways he never expected. His marriage, his relationship with his son, and his moral compass all begin to unravel as he loses control of the situation he tried so desperately to manage.
Genres: literary-fiction, contemporary, psychological-thriller, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Suburban Home
Period: Contemporary
350 pages · Hardcover · Klett-Cotta Verlag
Content warnings: mental-illness