Grippando,
James. Lying with Strangers. HarperCollins. June
2007. c.400p. ISBN 978-0-06-113838-6. $24.95. Fiction.
Originally published in a slightly
different form in 2006 by Madison Park Press (for Doubleday
Entertainment's book clubs), Grippando’s
12th thriller (after When Darkness Falls) is an absorbing
tale of a woman in jeopardy, a husband with secrets, and a
barely glimpsed but thoroughly chilling stalker. Peyton Shields,
a doctor in her first year of residency at Children’s
Hospital in Boston, is driving home late one night when another
car forces her off the road and into a pond. Rescued by a stranger
who quickly disappears, Peyton is dismayed that neither the
cops nor her husband, Kevin, believe her when she says the
"accident" was deliberate. Kevin, a struggling lawyer, has
his own problems; he was in bed with another woman the night
of the incident. Complicating matters is that his
wife, suspicious of his actions, seeks solace from
Gary, an old boyfriend and nurse in the hospital where she
works. When Gary is killed, Peyton and Kevin find themselves
on trial for murder, with a prosecutor intent on pitting one
against the other. Will Peyton and her marriage survive? Grippando
masterfully creates characters with rich emotional
lives and then ratchets up the tension until it’s almost
unbearable. Highly recommended.