Dr. Alex Taylor works in a hospital in Bath, in southwest Britain. This mystery novel starts off with her in a hospital bed, waking up to find herself restrained. The doctor with her makes a threat to do a horrific procedure on her, unless she says what the doctor wants her to say. Then she wakes up again, again in a hospital bed, but this time with familiar people around her. She tells them what happened to her but they don’t really believe her. Alex has had a difficult time in the last year or so, and her emotional stability was already under threat with the demands of her high pressure job. As the novel unfolds, Alex goes through many unsettling experiences which make it look like she is not able to do her job competently and lead others to doubt her sanity. When some people start to die around her, she is under suspicion as the murderer.  Her boyfriend tries to be supportive but things become strained between them. She starts to use alcohol and medication in order to remain calm, but that is self-sabotaging. Things eventually come to a head, and there is a surprising conclusion.

Author Liz Lawler previously worked as a nurse, and so she is good at getting the medical details right. Zara Ramm performs the unabridged audiobook, and she keeps the energy level up. But it is hard work getting through to the end of the book — the twists and turns become tiresome and the main characters are not charismatic enough for the reader to really care about them.

© 2018 Christian Perring

Christian Perring teaches in NYC.