Therapy

Extreme grief permeates Fitzek's brilliant psychological thriller, a bestseller in his native Germany. When TV psychiatrist Viktor Larenz's 12-year-old daughter, Josy, who suffers from a number of unexplainable illnesses, vanishes without a trace from her doctor's office, Larenz's subsequent search for even the smallest clue to the girl's disappearance costs him his career and marriage. Four years later, Larenz has retreated to an isolated, storm-prone island, where he's visited by children's novelist Anna Glass, a schizophrenic who believes the characters she creates become real. One of those characters bears a striking resemblance to Josy and may have the answer to what happened to her. Unbalanced by his mourning, Larenz emerges as an unreliable but sympathetic character. Is he really losing his mind or is he being gaslighted? Undertones of gothic suspense imbue an unpredictable plot that will remind many of Shutter Island and A Beautiful Mind . (Mar.)