Cul-de-sac

The latest thriller by Fielding (All the Wrong Places) is set in Palm Beach Gardens, FL, a neighborhood of cookie-cutter, builder-grade suburban houses set along the horseshoe of a dead-end street. Five nearly identical houses contain interwoven tales and unseen dramas behind closed doors where there are as many opportunities for redemption as there are paths to ruination. One hot July night, a loud sound punctures the silence of the sleeping neighborhood. Firecrackers or a backfiring car seem the likeliest source although neighbors Maggie McKay, Nick Wilson, Sean Grant, Julia Fisher, and Aiden Young each possess a gun with motivation to pull the trigger. New resident Maggie struggles with debilitating fear, but her sensitivity to violence impels her to confront Nick, who is hypercritical and abusive toward his wife. Meanwhile, unemployed Sean feels like a failure, former soldier Aiden suffers from PTSD, and Julia’s live-in grandson owes money to his dealer.