State prison psychologist Frank Lundquist is topsy-turvied when his new patient turns out to be his high school's golden girl and once the object of his desperate desire. A big hit at the London Book Fair; with a 50,000-copy first printing.

When this novel opens, thirtyish psychologist Frank Lundquist is still reeling from having been fired from his private practice job in tony Manhattan and divorced by his wife. Miranda was a young teen when she lost her older sister in a tragic accident. Never fully recuperating from this shock, she continued through life with a "so what" attitude, leading her to make poor decisions and regrettable actions, jolting her transformation from the high-society daughter of a politician to a murderer sentenced to 50 years. Working as a psychologist at a woman's prison, Frank never expects to know personally any of the inmates, but as soon as Miranda walks into his office, he recognizes her as the popular girl he had a crush on in high school. When Miranda doesn't recall him, Frank decides not to unveil their shared past, even though he knows it's unethical, and continues to treat her, then falls for her all over again. VERDICT Obsession and control are the main themes driving the characters toward the surprising but satisfying conclusion of this compelling debut thriller from Immergut (Private Property: Stories). It's a slow burn but definitely worth the wait.—Marianne Fitzgerald, Severna Park H.S., MD

Orange Is the New Black meets Gone Girl in this ingenious psychological thriller from Immergut (Private Property). Frank Lundquist, a counselor at the Milford Basin Correctional Facility, has just received a new patient, Miranda Greene, who is serving a 52-year sentence for second-degree murder. It's an ethical dilemma for Frank, who immediately recognizes Miranda as the golden girl who, because he had a crush on her, haunted his high school years. But Miranda doesn't seem to recognize Frank, and after she ends up in the hospital following a failed suicide attempt, Frank hatches a daring scheme to help his former classmate. What follows is a prolonged sequence filled with suspense and irony. Told in alternating chapters from Frank and Miranda's points of view, Immergut burrows inside the heads of her two main characters to dramatize their distinctive pathologies. She also expertly crafts the other characters in the story, including Frank's younger junkie brother, Clyde, and several of Miranda's fellow inmates, who all play an important part in the story's surprising denouement. Immergut's book begins as in incisive psychological portrait of two mismatched individuals and morphs into a nail-biting thriller. (June)