William Morrow
August 2012
On Sale: August 14, 2012
320 pages ISBN: 0061706876 EAN: 9780061706875 Kindle: B007BCGDOW Hardcover / e-Book Add to Wish List
Perennial New York Times and nationally bestselling author
and acclaimed multiple–prize winner Laura Lippman delivers a
brilliant novel about a woman with a secret life who is
forced to make desperate choices to save her son and herself.
When Hector Lewis told his daughter that she had a nothing
face, it was just another bit of tossed-off cruelty from a
man who specialized in harsh words and harsher deeds. But
twenty years later, Heloise considers it a blessing to be a
person who knows how to avoid attention. In the comfortable
suburb where she lives, she's just a mom, the youngish widow
with a forgettable job who somehow never misses a soccer
game or a school play. In the state capitol, she's the
redheaded lobbyist with a good cause and a mediocre track
record.
But in discreet hotel rooms throughout the area, she's the
woman of your dreams—if you can afford her hourly fee.
For more than a decade, Heloise has believed she is safe.
She has created a rigidly compartmentalized life,
maintaining no real friendships, trusting few confidantes.
Only now her secret life, a life she was forced to build
after the legitimate world turned its back on her, is under
siege. Her once oblivious accountant is asking loaded
questions. Her longtime protector is hinting at new,
mysterious dangers. Her employees can't be trusted. One
county over, another so-called suburban madam has been found
dead in her car, a suicide. Or is it?
Nothing is as it seems as Heloise faces a midlife crisis
with much higher stakes than most will ever know.
And then she learns that her son's father might be released
from prison, which is problematic because he doesn't know he
has a son. The killer and former pimp also doesn't realize
that he's serving a life sentence because Heloise betrayed
him. But he's clearly beginning to suspect that Heloise has
been holding something back all these years.
With no formal education, no real family, and no friends,
Heloise has to remake her life—again. Disappearing will be
the easy part. She's done it before and she can do it again.
A new name and a new place aren't hard to come by if you
know the right people. The trick will be living long enough
to start a new life.