Closer Than You Know

Set in Virginia, this exciting if flawed domestic thriller from Parks (Say Nothing) centers on working mother Melanie Barrick, whose life is turned upside down after the police find a half-kilo of cocaine in her home and social services takes her three-month-old son, Alex, away from her and her husband. Melanie, who has been through a lot in her life—stints in foster care as a child and, most recently, a rape—must somehow prove her innocence or lose Alex and her freedom. As chief deputy commonwealth’s attorney Amy Kaye builds a seemingly airtight case against Melanie, she also struggles to identify a serial rapist who has been victimizing women in the area for decades. Predictably, the two story lines connect. Although Parks excels at keeping the pages turning with brisk pacing, relentlessly high tension, and a knotty narrative, the story—particularly the ending—comes off as too contrived. Agent: Alice Martell, Martell Agency. (Mar.)