Library Journal With her third novel (after the acclaimed Sharp Objects and Dark Places), Flynn cements her place among that elite group of mystery/thriller writers who unfailingly deliver the goods. On the day of her fifth wedding anniversary, Amy Dunne vanishes from her home under suspicious circumstances. Through a narrative that alternates between Amy's diary entries and her husband Nick's real-time experiences in the aftermath of her disappearance, the complicated relationship that was their marriage unfolds, leaving the reader with a growing list of scenarios, suspects, and motives to consider. Meanwhile, the police, the press, and the public focus intently on Nick, the journalist-turned-bar owner who uprooted Amy from her comfortable New York life to return to his Missouri hometown. VERDICT Once again Flynn has written an intelligent, gripping tour de force, mixing a riveting plot and psychological intrigue with a compelling prose style that unobtrusively yet forcefully carries the reader from page to page. [See Prepub Alert, 12/19/11.]-Nancy McNicol, Hamden P.L., CT (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly There's the evil you can see coming-and then there's Amy Elliott. Superficially, this privileged Gotham golden girl, inspiration for her psychologist-parents' bestselling series of children's books, couldn't be further from the disturbingly damaged women of Edgar-finalist Flynn's first two books, Sharp Objects and Dark Places. But as Amy's husband, Nick Dunne, starts to realize after she disappears from their rented mansion in his Missouri hometown on their fifth anniversary-and he becomes the prime suspect in her presumed murder-underestimating Amy's sick genius and twisted gamesmanship could prove fatal. Then again, charmer Nick may not be quite the corn-fed innocent he initially appears. Flynn masterfully lets this tale of a marriage gone toxically wrong gradually emerge through alternating accounts by Nick and Amy, both unreliable narrators in their own ways. The reader comes to discover their layers of deceit through a process similar to that at work in the imploding relationship. Compulsively readable, creepily unforgettable, this is a must read for any fan of bad girls and good writing. Agent: Stephanie Rostan, Levine Greenberg. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Book list *Starred Review* When Nick Dunne's beautiful and clever wife, Amy, goes missing on their fifth wedding anniversary, the media descend on the Dunnes' Missouri McMansion with all the fury of a Dateline episode. And Nick stumbles badly, for, as it turns out, he has plenty to hide, and under the pressure of police questioning and media scrutiny, he tells one lie after another. Juxtaposed with Nick's first-person narration of events are excerpts from Amy's diary, which completely contradict Nick's story and depict a woman who is afraid of her husband, has recently found out she's pregnant, and had been looking to buy a gun for protection. In addition, Amy is famous as the model for her parents' long-running and beloved children's series, Amazing Amy. But what looks like a straighforward case of a husband killing his wife to free himself from a bad marriage morphs into something entirely different in Flynn's hands. As evidenced by her previous work (Sharp Objects, 2006, and Dark Places, 2009), she possesses a disturbing worldview, one considerably amped up by her twisted sense of humor. Both a compelling thriller and a searing portrait of marriage, this could well be Flynn's breakout novel. It contains so many twists and turns that the outcome is impossible to predict.--Wilkinson, Joanne Copyright 2010 Booklist

From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Library Journal This debut novel's title refers to the extreme dilation of the pupils that results in the inability to see through open eyesone of the symptoms of belladonna ingestion. It also refers to authorities in a small Georgia town who must track down a serial killer who uses the drug to control his victims as he rapes and tortures them before the kill. As Sara Linton, the town's pediatrician and coroner, and Jeffrey Tolliver, chief of police and Sara's ex-husband, work furiously to find the killer, they realize that they must also face the secrets of their pasts, secrets to which they had turned a blind eye for many years. Only then can they see the killer in their midst. This is an extremely mature first novel, with well-developed characters and a finely tuned plot; it also has a creepy killer and enough gory details to satisfy any Thomas Harris fan. The slightly too-neat ending paves the way for a sequel, which is already planned for 2002. Recommended for all public library thriller collections.Rebecca House Stankowski, Purdue Univ. Calumet Lib., Hammond, IN Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

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Publishers Weekly Billed as "Thomas Harris Meets Patricia Cornwell" and heralded by much advance hoopla in industry magazines, this long-anticipated launching of a scheduled three-book series featuring an attractive Georgia university town pediatrician-coroner marks the debut of a promising young author, but ultimately disappoints, partly due to overly-exorbitant pre-publishing claims. As Dr. Sara Linton leaves her pediatric clinic to meet her 33-year-old younger sister for lunch at a campus eatery, she receives a postcard picturing Atlanta's Emory University, where she interned. The enigmatic biblical message reads, "Why hast thou forsaken me?" At the diner, she goes to the restroom and discovers a young blind university professor who has been raped and brutally slashed with a knife. Too late to save her, Sara calls her ex-husband police chief, who, coincidentally, employs the victim's twin sister, Lena, as a detective. The trail quickly leads to a missing co-ed, and suspicion falls upon her druggie boyfriend. The co-ed is found raped, heavily drugged with belladonna and stretched out nude as if crucified on the hood of Sara's car in the hospital parking lot. Soon after, Lena is abducted by the killer. Fighting her attraction to her ex, Sara begins to suspect the rape-murders are tied to her own rape in the Emory parking lot 12 years ago. At the end, little suspense remains. Sara Linton is no Kay Scarpetta and her villain is a mere shadow of the complex, chilling Hannibal Lecter, but forgiving inept, trivia-cluttered dialogue and manifest lack of firsthand fluency in the medical arena the offbeat characters and setting are engaging enough to leave readers awaiting a sequel. (Sept. 17) Forecast: The hype including a blurb from George Pelecanos plus major advertising and a 5-city author tour should sell this early on, but the uneven execution may weaken demand for Slaughter's next book. Blindsighted is an alternate selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club, the Doubleday Book Club and the Mystery Guild, and foreign rights have been sold in Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Denmark and Norway. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

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Book list When pediatrician Sara Linton discovers the mutilated body of a local college professor, it sends shock waves through her small rural Georgia town. Chief of Police Jeffrey Tolliver, who is Sara's ex-husband, and Detective Lena Adams must investigate. A toxicology report reveals that the killer dosed his victim with belladonna, a volatile drug that renders users "blindsighted," that is, conscious but unable to process what they see; the autopsy reveals that the killer is also highly sadistic. Sara, who doubles as the town's coroner, must deal with her own fear as well as the palpable emotional tension that exists between her and her ex-spouse as they work together to expose the killer. This is an accomplished first novel that melds a riveting plot with a brutally graphic portrait of a sexual sadist. Sara and Lena are tough, complicated, and smart, and Jeffrey is a man who knows he has made mistakes but has found a way to live with them. Two sequels featuring this trio are in the works. --Joanne Wilkinson

From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Library Journal This debut novel's title refers to the extreme dilation of the pupils that results in the inability to see through open eyesone of the symptoms of belladonna ingestion. It also refers to authorities in a small Georgia town who must track down a serial killer who uses the drug to control his victims as he rapes and tortures them before the kill. As Sara Linton, the town's pediatrician and coroner, and Jeffrey Tolliver, chief of police and Sara's ex-husband, work furiously to find the killer, they realize that they must also face the secrets of their pasts, secrets to which they had turned a blind eye for many years. Only then can they see the killer in their midst. This is an extremely mature first novel, with well-developed characters and a finely tuned plot; it also has a creepy killer and enough gory details to satisfy any Thomas Harris fan. The slightly too-neat ending paves the way for a sequel, which is already planned for 2002. Recommended for all public library thriller collections.Rebecca House Stankowski, Purdue Univ. Calumet Lib., Hammond, IN Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Book list This delicious tale of romantic suspense involves the lore of exotic jade and the cutthroat trade it inspires. Lianne Blakely, the competent and beautiful illegitimate daughter of Johnny Tang, a member of a powerful Chinese trading family, has never been acknowledged by her relatives, but that doesn't stop them from exploiting her photographic memory and obsession with jade. When she is directed to become acquainted with Kyle Donovan, a prominent gem trader, she is unprepared for the sexual energy that crackles between them. He, in turn, has been asked by his brother, on behalf of the American government, to get close enough to spy on Lianne and the Tangs. They meet at a charity auction, and he agrees to become her protector in exchange for instruction in the intricacies of the jade trade. When an assassin makes an attempt on Lianne's life, the already quick pace of this page-turner moves into hyperdrive as the Donovans help her avert an international incident and finally claim her heritage. Lianne is a marvelous heroine. An authority on ancient jade, she is quick witted, ambitious, bilingual, vulnerable in all the right ways, and, in spite of her petiteness, able to acquit herself admirably in physical confrontations. And Kyle, an ideal romantic adventure hero, is her match on all fronts. --Diana Tixier Herald

From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Library Journal When Kyle Donovan, adventurer and youngest son of an international trading family, agrees to make the acquaintance of Lianne Blakely, jade expert and bastard daughter of the powerful Tang family, in order to avert a national incident, he has no idea that she has been commanded by her father to do the same, but for quite different reasons. Fast-paced and frankly sensual, this romance is peopled with intelligent, larger-than-life, yet appealing protagonists and a fascinating, well-plotted story that beautifully conveys the legendary mystique and appeal of jade as well as providing an insightful portrait of the overt and subtle differences between Eastern and Western cultures. A sequel to Amber Beach (Avon, 1997), this continues the Donovan family series, and Lowell's many fans will be waiting. Lowell is a best-selling romance writer of both contemporary and historical romances and lives in the Seattle area. She also writes under her own name, Ann Maxwell, and jointly with her husband, Evan, as A.E. Maxwell.

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