Love Gone Mad

There's nothing subtle or surprising about Rubinstein's one-note tale of obsessive love and insanity, and that includes the characterization, plotting, and especially the writing. He's got a story to tell, so by God he tells it, without the slightest nod to artifice or art. Surgeon Adrian Davis, divorced and consumed by his job, meets gorgeous nurse Megan Haggarty in the lunchroom of the New England hospital where they both work, and before he can even touch his chicken soup, he's madly in love and the feeling seems reciprocated. Megan's a single mom, and she's got a big secret. Her ex-husband, Conrad Wilson, "a brilliant madman," has arrived from Colorado, and he's determined to kill Megan,; their daughter, Marlee,; and Megan's new boyfriend, Adrian. Adrian and Megan escape a number of attacks, until Conrad is finally caught and put in a hospital for the criminally insane. There's no question he's going to escape, and in fact no questions at all as the story speeds to its inevitable conclusion. A giant twist toward the end will leave most readers more amazed by how Rubinstein (Mad Dog House) laboriously manages it than by what it actually is. (Sept.)