The Waiting Room

Bleeker’s engrossing psychological drama opens with Veronica Shelton, a children’s book illustrator, waking up one night in her North Carolina home to find her husband, Nick, and their two-week-old daughter, Sophie, gone. Hints suggest that Nick died the same night he took the baby, who later required surgery and was eventually restored to Veronica. Six months after that fateful night, Veronica, who’s suffering from postpartum depression, is trying to come to terms with the realization that she must now care for her Sophie alone. Unable to cope, Veronica asks her mother, Barb, to move in and help with the child. Barb agrees, but insists that Veronica see a therapist. In the therapist’s waiting room, Veronica becomes friendly with middle-aged Gillian, a Walmart cashier. When Sophie disappears again, she and Gillian set out to reclaim the lost child. The complex denouement reveals one surprise after another. Bleeker (Wreckage) does a good job upsetting readers’ expectations in what some may feel is a bit of a shaggy dog story. [em]Agent: Marlene Stringer, Stringer Literary Agency. (Aug.) [/em]