Category Archives: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

July 5, 2020 · 11:57 pm

Review: The Patient by Jasper DeWitt

Title: The Patient by Jasper DeWitt
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Genre: Contemporary, Suspense, Horror, Supernatural Elements
Length: 224 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

The Silent Patient by way of Stephen King: Parker, a young, overconfident psychiatrist new to his job at a mental asylum, miscalculates catastrophically when he undertakes curing a mysterious and profoundly dangerous patient.

In a series of online posts, Parker H., a young psychiatrist, chronicles the harrowing account of his time working at a dreary mental hospital in New England. Through this internet message board, Parker hopes to communicate with the world his effort to cure one bewildering patient.

We learn, as Parker did on his first day at the hospital, of the facility’s most difficult, profoundly dangerous case—a forty-year-old man who was originally admitted to the hospital at age six. This patient has no known diagnosis. His symptoms seem to evolve over time. Every person who has attempted to treat him has been driven to madness or suicide.

Desperate and fearful, the hospital’s directors keep him strictly confined and allow minimal contact with staff for their own safety, convinced that releasing him would unleash catastrophe on the outside world. Parker, brilliant and overconfident, takes it upon himself to discover what ails this mystery patient and finally cure him. But from his first encounter with the mystery patient, things spiral out of control, and, facing a possibility beyond his wildest imaginings, Parker is forced to question everything he thought he knew.

Fans of Sarah Pinborough’s Behind Her Eyes and Paul Tremblay’s The Cabin at the End of the World will be riveted by Jasper DeWitt’s astonishing debut.

Review:

The Patient by Jasper DeWitt is a chilling debut.

In 2008, psychiatrist Parker H. is compelled to blog about his experiences with a patient at the Connecticut State Asylum (CSA).  Joe has been at the CSA since the early 70s when his parents brought him for treatment for his night terrors. Not only was no one able to help Joe, but he is also deemed to be a danger to the staff and other patients.  Newly hired, Parker H. is intrigued by Joe and convinces his bosses to allow him to treat him. Despite their numerous warnings and Joe’s history, will Parker end up like many of his predecessors?

Written in blog format, Parker H. describes what happens with Joe after he begins treating him. He is ill-prepared and over confident and his reaction to his new patient reflects this. Joe is seemingly affable and co-operative so Parker becomes even reckless over the few days of their encounters.  Is it possible this fresh from school psychiatrist can diagnose Joe when seasoned doctors cannot? And will anyone believe him when he discovers what is wrong with Joe?

The Patient is a fast-paced novel with supernatural elements.  Parker is a well-developed character but secondary characters are not very well fleshed out. The storyline is quite creative and intriguing. With spine-tingling twists,  Jasper DeWitt brings this suspenseful novel that an unexpected conclusion.  A clever debut that I greatly enjoyed and highly recommend.

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Filed under Contemporary, Horror, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Jasper DeWitt, Rated B, Review, Supernatural Elements, Suspense, The Patient

January 19, 2015 · 11:57 pm

Review: Black River by S. M. Hulse

black riverTitle: Black River by S. M. Hulse
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Genre: Contemporary, Fiction
Length: 240 pages
Book Rating: A

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

A tense Western and an assured debut, Black River tells the story of a man marked by a prison riot as he returns to the town, and the convict, who shaped him.

When Wes Carver returns to Black River, he carries two things in the cab of his truck: his wife’s ashes and a letter from the prison parole board. The convict who held him hostage during a riot, twenty years ago, is being considered for release.

Wes has been away from Black River ever since the riot. He grew up in this small Montana town, encircled by mountains, and, like his father before him and most of the men there, he made his living as a Corrections Officer. A talented, natural fiddler, he found solace and joy in his music. But during that riot Bobby Williams changed everything for Wes — undermining his faith and taking away his ability to play.

How can a man who once embodied evil ever come to good? How can he pay for such crimes with anything but his life? As Wes considers his own choices and grieves for all he’s lost, he must decide what he believes and whether he can let Williams walk away.

With spare prose and stunning detail, S. M. Hulse drops us deep into the heart and darkness of an American town.

The Review:

Black River is a bittersweet and sometimes heartbreaking story that is, ultimately, uplifting. In this debut novel of love, loss and grief, it is S. M. Hulse’s exploration of faith, forgiveness and redemption that make it such an outstanding and riveting read.

Wes Carver is an ex-corrections officer whose life was forever changed by a prison riot that scarred him both mentally and physically. Now the inmate who kidnapped and tortured him during the riot is up for parole and Wes has two reasons to return to Black River: bury his beloved wife Claire’s ashes and speak at Bobby Williams’ parole hearing.  Also waiting for Wes is his estranged stepson Dennis and the complicated history that resulted in an almost twenty year rift between them. Haunted by his losses and regretful for past mistakes, will Wes be able to let go of the pain and anger he has carried for so many years?

Wes views the world in black and white and he has a very rigid definition of right and wrong. From a generation that carries pain and sorrow deep inside, he does not discuss past mistakes or wrong decisions. Wes is very stoic and unable to articulate his emotions. He is a good man, but his career as a corrections officer coupled with his long held beliefs make it virtually impossible for him to judge a man on his own merits. Underneath Wes’s pragmatic and unemotional demeanor is a deeply spiritual and immensely talented man whose search for faith is challenged by the loss of his ability to play the fiddle and newly discovered information about Bobby Williams.

Wes and Dennis’s reunion is uneasy and fraught with tension. Their unresolved history hovers between them and they step very carefully around one another. Wes is surprised by the changes in Dennis but their past issues sometimes bring glimpses of the boy he used to know to the surface. Wes ignores the opportunities to get to the root of their issues and when he reverts to his old patterns, he destroys what little progress the two men have made in repairing their fractured relationship.

Black River is a poignant novel of healing that is quite compelling. The characters are deeply flawed but sympathetic. Their conflicts are believable and easy to relate to. S. M. Hulse provides a realistic conclusion to the story and while not everything is fully resolved, the overall ending is satisfying and hopeful.   All in all, a very impressive debut novel that is incredibly moving and one that I heartily recommend.

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Filed under Black River, Contemporary, Fiction, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Rated A, Review, S M Hulse

May 4, 2014 · 11:56 pm

Review: Wonderland by Stacey D’Erasmo

wonderlandTitle: Wonderland by Stacey D’Erasmo
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Genre: Contemporary, Fiction
Length: 256 pages
Book Rating: C

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

Anna Brundage is a rock star. She is tall and sexy, with a powerhouse voice and an unforgettable mane of red hair. She came out of nowhere, an immediate indie sensation. And then, life happened.

Anna went down as fast as she went up, and then walked off the scene for seven years. Without a record deal or clamoring fans, she sells a piece of her famous father’s art to finance just one more album and a European comeback tour.

Anna is forty-four. This may be her last chance to cement her place in the life she chose, the life she struggled for, the life she’s not sure she can sustain. She falls back easily into the ways of the road—sex with strangers, the search for the perfect moment onstage. To see Anna perform is something—watch her find the note, the electric connection with the audience, the transcendence when it all comes together and the music seems to fill the world.

A riveting look at the life of a musician, Wonderland is a moving inquiry into the life of a woman on an unconventional path, wondering what happens next and what her passions might have cost her, seeking a version of herself she might recognize. It takes us deep into a world many of us have spent hours imagining and wishing ourselves into—now we have a bit of that wish come true.

The Review:

Stacey D’Erasmo’s Wonderland is an authentic portrayal of a rock star’s comeback tour. Seven years ago, Anna Brundage’s career and love affair crashed and burned. In the interim, she has married, divorced and lived a rather mundane life, but she decides to give her musical career one last shot.

Beginning right before the first stop in Anna’s European tour, Wonderland is a little confusing as it meanders back and forth between past and present. Glimpses into her childhood highlight her unconventional and somewhat eclectic upbringing. Details of her past love affair with a married man expose the highs and lows of their failed relationship and her ongoing heartache over their breakup. Brief mention of her marriage and divorce lead to unexpected introspection. A tragic loss hints at a troubled relationship. All of the revelations play out alongside the current tour stops, one night stands and sometimes tense moments between Anna and her band mates.

While these various bits and pieces are interesting, they do not give enough information about events or characters to form a complete picture of Anna or her life. The transitions between past and present are disjointed. The characters are likable but lack dimension.

While lacking in some areas, Wonderland is definitely a hit when it comes to the rock star atmosphere. The nerves, the tension and the exhaustion of tour are keenly felt as is Anna’s uncertainty about her future. Stacey D’Erasmo ends the novel on hopeful note, but like the rest of the story, it is frustratingly ambiguous.

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Filed under Contemporary, Fiction, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Rated C, Review, Stacey D'Erasmo, Wonderland