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The Surrogate

Grand Central. Dec. 2018. 336p. ISBN 9781538730447. pap. $12.99. THRILLER
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Jensen's third domestic thriller (The Sister; The Gift) focuses on main character Kat White's obsession with having a child; she'll go to any length. After finding out she can't conceive, she and husband Nick try to adopt a baby internationally. Two adoptions in a row fall through and then an old friend of Kat's shows up. Lisa hasn't spoken to Kat for ten years because of some mysterious event in their past. But without a moment's hesitation, she offers herself up as a surrogate. Red herrings and plot twists abound in this dramatic, fast-paced thriller, with suspicions of infidelity, deception, and delusions adding to the tense atmosphere. The traumatic events of Kat's past are unexpectedly linked to her husband's secrets, and in the final chapters everything comes crashing down in ways that only very astute readers could predict.
VERDICT This twisty, soapy novel is full of a multitude of plot devices. While the trope of a wife who is not what she seems is becoming a little overused, there is still enough drama and excitement to satisfy readers of books similar to Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl or Shari Lapena's The Couple Next Door.—Melanie Kindrachuk, Stratford P.L., Ont.
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