Thursday, May 14, 2015

Every Fifteen Minutes

Title: Every Fifteen Minutes
Author: Lisa Scottoline
Published: April 14th 2015 by St. Martin's Press
Format: Hardcover, Pgs 448
Genre: Suspense

Of course, this book had me guessing the whole way and of course, I got it wrong. By the middle of the book, I was sure who the sociopath was. The voice that was introduced in the first pages and kept rearing up throughout the chapters. One character was too obvious and I knew that Lisa Scottoline would not let me down with something that simple, but as the book went along a new contender appeared. Of course, that person would make an interesting adversary, but no, I was wrong again. By the end, Lisa gave the reader a one-two punch that had me wondering what I had missed.

It has been awhile since I have read a Lisa Scottoline novel and now I am wondering what has taken me so long to get back to her. I have enjoyed the books written with her daughter, but her series and standalones have not made it back on my radar until now.

This book was amazing. Layer upon layer that has been heaped on Dr. Eric Parrish, chief of the psychiatric unit at Havemeyer General Hospital, would bury any man, but his training as a psychiatrist has engrained in him a precise way of handling life’s situation. Now his perfect world is crumbling and he must face it head on. He is in a battle with his ex-wife over custody of their seven year old daughter, he has been called in to consult on a case with a dying grandmother and her 17 year old grandson, a sexual harassment case has been brought against him, a teenage girl has been found murdered, there are financial shenanigans at the hospital, upset psychiatric patients and their families, a hostage situation at the mall, conspiracy charges, a fire, a new woman in his life, etc. I would call this another week in the life of Eric, but this is too much for anyone to endure.

This book grabs the reader from the very first pages and does not let go until the end. Which I thought had ended a couple of chapters before it did, only to read a couple more and wondering why the end was dragging on. It was not dragging, Lisa was just allowing the reader to catch their breath before the final crushing blow.

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