Suspicious River

“Those who like Joyce Carol Oates will love this” dark novel of psychological suspense by the author of Mind of Winter and The Life Before Her Eyes (Kirkus Reviews). A married motel receptionist in a bleak Michigan town, Leila Murray has slipped into the habit of trading sex with strangers for money. When she meets a drifter who alternately sweet-talks and physically abuses her, it might be the wakeup call that dissuades her from a life of prostitution. Instead, she allows him to become her pimp. In this chilling, “beautifully written page-turner” (Booklist), we follow Leila’s life as she spirals out of control—and learn the darkness in her past that drives her—in “an exploration of the legacy of abuse and violence [and] an amazing first novel” (The Boston Globe). “[An] extremely powerful debut . . . Profoundly disturbing but also resonant with hope and rebirth.” —Los Angeles Times