Nowhere Like Home

An exhausted new mother joins a sinister commune in the disappointing latest from Shepard (the Pretty Little Liars series). Ever since she gave birth to her son, Jacob, Lenna has been struggling with her lack of friends and feeling unsupported emotionally by her husband, Daniel. So she’s especially receptive when she gets a call from her long-ago friend, Rhiannon, who meets Lenna at a café and invites her to Halcyon, an idyllic “mommune” in the Arizona desert. According to Rhiannon, the remote compound, founded by the enigmatic Marjorie, houses women like Lenna, providing them with refuge and friendship in the early stages of motherhood. Soon, however, Lenna discovers that Halcyon is hardly the Eden of sisterly support she’s been led to believe. Secrets abound, many of the women aren’t able to leave, and one resident turns out to be a revenge-bent figure from Lenna and Rhiannon’s past. While Shepard manages a few stretches of tantalizing suspense, the narrative’s slow start and rocky finish prove too much to overcome. This is far from the author’s best. Agent: Richard Abate, 3 Arts Entertainment. (Feb.)