In the Blood

Bestseller Unger returns to the Hollows, the secluded upstate New York town that served as the setting for Fragile and Darkness, My Old Friend, for this gripping novel of psychological suspense. Ace student Lana Granger, with a new name and appearance, sequesters herself at small Sacred Heart College, where no one knows that her father is on death row for killing her mother. At the urging of a compassionate psychology professor, Lana takes a job with Rachel Kahn babysitting her volatile 11-year-old son, Luke. Mother and son have recently moved to the Hollows, where Luke is enrolled at a school for troubled kids. While Lana is drawn into a bizarre game manipulated by Luke, who has discovered her secrets and threatens to expose her, her best friend, Beck Miller, disappears after the two of them argue. A mystery woman’s revealing diary augments the tense, surprise-laden plot. Agent: Elaine Markson, Markson Thoma Literary Agency. (Jan.)