The Perfect Fraud

April 1, 2019
Mysticism and medicine intersect with dramatic results in LaCorte’s accomplished page-turning debut. After graduating from college with a degree in English, Claire Hathaway decides to follow in the family tradition by becoming a psychic. Unfortunately, Claire lacks the special gifts of her mother and grandmother. The readings she gives at Mystical Haven in Sedona, Ariz., are complete frauds. Meanwhile, divorced New Jersey mom Rena Cole has dedicated her life to the care of her four-year-old daughter, Stephanie, who has mysterious stomach issues. The latest doctor Rena consults has run every test he can think of and still can’t find what’s causing Stephanie’s distress. In her frustration, Rena decides to take Stephanie to a specialty doctor in Phoenix, Ariz. A seat change on the plane ride brings Claire and Rena together, though neither of them thinks much of the other. That is, until Claire experiences something paranormal that she’s only ever heard her mother talk about. Once in Arizona, the two women become unlikely allies in a battle with evil forces that could well determine Stephanie’s fate. Those who like a dash of the supernatural in their thrillers will be well satisfied. Agent: Molly Friedrich, Friedrich Agency.

April 15, 2019
A fake psychic wakes up to find that her abilities are real in LaCorte's debut thriller. Claire is descended from a line of female psychics, but she's never truly had the gift. In fact, she feels like she's faking it in many aspects of her life: her job, her relationship, and her family. Her father suffered a series of strokes when Claire was in high school, and the subsequent distance that sprang up between her and her mother has left her unwilling to open herself up to love. When her father suffers yet another stroke and then dies, however, and she returns to Pennsylvania, she and her mother finally begin to speak honestly with one another, opening up all the parts of Claire she had been keeping locked down. Flying home to Sedona after the funeral, she not only finds new fulfillment with and commitment to her boyfriend, but she also begins to manifest a true psychic gift in her readings for others. When Rena, a blowsy woman she met on the plane, comes for a reading, Claire knows that something is wrong. Rena's daughter, Stephanie, is terribly sick, but her illness, which has mystified every doctor she's seen, may have a darker, deeper cause. Claire finds herself in a race against time to save the little girl. LaCorte splits the narration between Claire and Rena, alternating chapters, and she truly does create two very distinct and believable voices, a difficult feat. It's easy to be sympathetic to Claire, while Rena seems immediately to be an unreliable narrator, but the voices complement each other, building two sides of the story that officially intertwine about halfway through. At the heart of this novel is Claire's realization that love, "a desperate, life-sustaining, and imperative connection," can also be "pure and light and joyful." Make no mistake: This is a dark, dark thriller, and the villain is absolute. But alternating voices allow for a more nuanced building of tension as LaCorte contrasts this darkness to Claire's own fragile optimism. LaCorte delves deeply into horrible things that humans do--and, as in life, not all evil is punished--but still offers hope and healing in the end.

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May 1, 2019
Rena's little girl is very sick, and her doctors aren't finding the answers. Claire is a fraudulent psychic, hiding the truth from her clients and her legitimately psychic mother. When the two women meet on an airplane, both of their carefully constructed worlds begin to unravel. Told in two alternating perspectives, with one unreliable narrator, LaCorte's debut novel combines a darkly twisted plot with excellent character building, and the eerily realistic setting nicely supports the haunting narrative. This is psychological suspense with a gut-clenching finale, perfect for readers of Gillian Flynn and Brandon Massey.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)