Breaking the Silence »

Laura Brandon's promise to her dying father was simple: to visit an elderly woman she'd never heard of before. A woman who remembers nothing—except the distant past. Visiting Sarah Tolley seemed a small enough sacrifice to make.

But Laura's promise results in another death. Her husband's. And after their five-year-old daughter, Emma, witnesses her father's suicide, Emma refuses to talk about it…to talk at all.

Frantic and guilt ridden, Laura contacts the only person who may be able to help. A man she's met only once—six years before. A man who doesn't know he's Emma's real father.

Guided only by a child's silence and an old woman's fading memories, the two unravel a tale of love and despair, of bravery and unspeakable evil. A tale that's shrouded in silence…and that unbelievably links them all.

Publishers Weekly

Chamberlain (The Escape Artist) explores psychiatric tensions in this disturbing story of dark secrets and redemption. Before astronomer Laura Brandon's father dies, he asks her to visit Sarah Tolley, an elderly woman he's never before mentioned. This seemingly simple request sets off a series of alarming events, most dramatically the suicide of Laura's husband, Ray, and the subsequent emotional withdrawal of her five-year-old daughter, Emma. Laura tries to help her daughter by contacting Emma's birth father, Dylan Geer. Laura and Dylan's affair had been short-lived, and Dylan never knew he had a child. A bond is formed when the three get together, and Dylan decides to help Laura solve the mysteries. Despite minor flaws (the connection between Sarah and Laura's husband is obvious early on), the story offers relentless suspense and intriguing psychological insight (Chamberlain is a former psychotherapist) as well as a satisfying love story. (Feb.)