Part of Alan Gregory, book 10
First published 2003
Clinical psychologist Alan Gregory's world shifts when Boulder's district attorney is murdered. The victim employed Alan's wife Lauren, making the crime personal. A new patient arrives at Alan's practice, a frightened mother carrying a dangerous secret. Her revelations during therapy sessions convince Alan that another crime is imminent. He discovers this threat connects directly to the DA's killing. Alan faces an impossible choice between his professional ethics and preventing violence. Patient confidentiality rules prevent him from sharing what he knows, yet staying silent might cost lives. The killer's identity surprises everyone involved in the case. Alan joins a frantic search to stop the perpetrator before time runs out. The story explores how ordinary people respond when caught between competing moral demands and forces they cannot control.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, psychological-thriller
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: moral-dilemma, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Boulder
Period: contemporary
489 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Dell
Content warnings: mental-illness