First published 2009
Steve Nye's peaceful existence shatters when his mother calls with terrible news. His father has violently attacked her and now sits locked away in a mental institution. The doctors deliver their diagnosis with clinical certainty: dementia has destroyed his mind. Steve visits expecting to find a broken man lost in confusion. Instead, his father appears remarkably composed and speaks with chilling clarity when he leans close and confesses, "I killed her." The words hang in the sterile air between them. Steve faces an impossible choice between two equally disturbing possibilities. Either his father's mind has truly snapped and these are the ramblings of madness, or something far worse lurks beneath the surface of this family crisis. The confession forces Steve to question everything he thought he knew about the man who raised him.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, contemporary, psychological-thriller, family-drama
Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-secrets, unreliable-narrator
384 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Berkley
Content warnings: abuse, mental-illness