In the post-Gone Girl era, unreliable narrators are quickly becoming the new normal. Englishwomen Karen, Eleanor, and Bea have been best friends since primary school. They've maintained a close relationship despite taking different paths. Eleanor has become a wife with a family; Bea is single; and Karen has a boyfriend and a promising career in psychiatry. Nothing can come between them until Jessica Hamilton becomes Karen's patient. After Jessica's arrival, the women's worlds start to unravel. Eleanor begins to misplace everyday items, causing her husband and herself to question her sanity. Bea is being stalked by someone who knows all about her traumatic past. Karen is trapped with truths that no one will believe. Nothing, we quickly learn, is as it seems in this meaty psychological thriller, which was published in the UK in 2016 and, like Blackhurst's How I Lost You (2017), racked up massive e-book sales before appearing in print in the U.S.--McMahon, Fiona Copyright 2018 Booklist

British author Blackhurst's engrossing second novel (after 2017's How I Lost You) focuses on 30-somethings Karen Browning, Bea Barker, and Eleanor Whitney, who have been close friends since childhood and all live in the same unnamed English town. Eleanor, who's married, juggles the responsibilities of caring for two children. Bea, who's single, likes to talk about her various dates. Karen, a psychiatrist who lives with her boyfriend, is the group's anchor and fiercely protective of her friends. But each woman harbors secrets they can't share for fear these private matters would ruin the friendships. Their bonds are tested when Jessica Hamilton, a new patient of Karen's, seems to know intimate details about each woman and hints that she's having an affair with Eleanor's husband. Soon, odd things start to happen to the three: objects are moved from their houses and they receive damning emails, but the supposed sender denies writing them. Blackhurst enhances this briskly moving tale about the depths and limits of friendship with expert twists and subtle misdirections. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.