Summer Session

June 13, 2011
Jones's promising first in a new series introduces Harper Jennings, a Cornell teaching assistant struggling to overcome the post-traumatic stress disorder incurred during her tour of duty in Iraq. Soon after Harper's husband, Hank, takes a serious accidental fall from the roof of their house, one of Harper's students, Graham Reynolds, dies after intentionally jumping from a classroom window. Harper discovers that Graham had been taking an experimental pharmaceutical created at the same medical center where Hank is now undergoing treatment for brain damage. Harper tries to unravel the suicide's connection to a subsequent string of violent incidents, but is sidetracked by resurgent PTSD symptoms and her troubled marriage. Jones (The Borrowed and Blue Murders and three other mysteries featuring art therapist Zoe Hayes) speeds the plot past some dangerously improbable patches to a conclusion that should leave readers both satisfied and eager for the next installment.

July 15, 2011

A drug trial raises suspicions of a veteran when her town is overrun by violence.

When Iraqi veteran Harper Jennings's husband, Hank, takes a tumble from the roof of the Victorian house they're rehabbing, her PTSD flashbacks hit an all-time high. Harper, whose students in Cornell's archaeology department call her "Loot," begins to relive the ravages of war all too regularly while walking to and from her classroom. That's a particular shame because her teaching is the one thing that keeps her together while Hank is off doing speech rehab at the local hospital. Although Harper is able to visit Hank daily, it's hard for her when the only person she feels comfortable confiding in can't string two words together in exchange. Things take a turn for the worse when one of Harper's students takes his own life during her class. As if that isn't trouble enough, Harper is violently attacked, and only her combat skills keep her alive to investigate further. When she discovers a mysterious set of drug trials, she's sure that they're somehow connected to the violence. The police and trial doctors investigating aren't persuaded, especially when all the outrages seem linked more closely to Harper. Violence seems to have invaded the small town where Harper once felt safe, and she's not sure who to trust or what is real, from her students to local doctors—including those meant to watch over Hank.

A moderately complex plot paced like entries in Jones' Zoe Hayes series (The Borrowed and Blue Murders, 2008, etc.) but with less comic relief.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

July 1, 2011

Iraq war veteran and university teaching assistant Harper Jennings wants nothing more than to complete her PhD in archeology and for her brain-injured husband to heal from a devastating accident. But Harper's tenuous hold slips precipitously when a student commits suicide in her classroom. After that, all bets are off when she is mugged on campus, a waitress is murdered, and many people, from doctors to students, seem abnormally interested in the suicide victim's book bag, which is in Harper's possession. Wow! Cornell University is quite the hotbed of excitement in this high-adrenaline biothriller debut. Harper more than proves her mettle as she tackles her personal demons (post-traumatic stress syndrome) and tries to fathom all the concurrent attacks happening stateside. VERDICT With a heroine as resilient and brave as Lori Armstrong's Mercy Gunderson, pacing as intense as Meg Gardiner's, and academic/medical intrigue worthy of Robin Cook, Jones (author of the Zoe Hayes mysteries) has a winner here. You won't be able to put it down.

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2011
Jones, author of the Zoe Hayes novels, presents an intriguing new sleuth in this series debut. Harper Jennings is an Iraq War veteran living with post-traumatic stress syndrome. She has returned to New York, where she and her husband, geologist Hank Jennings, are renovating a house. Harper is in graduate school studying archaeology at Cornell, where she is a teaching assistant. Her life, however, is far from tranquil. While working on the roof of the house with his friend, Trent Manning, Hank falls off and sustains a serious brain injury. Harper takes him to the prestigious Cayuga Neurological Center for treatment while coping with war flashbacks. Then, while she is teaching, one of her students commits suicide by jumping out a window. Personal trauma mixes with crime, and suddenly Harper finds herself trying to make sense of a sinister string of events involving suicide, theft, betrayal, and murderall of which may have connections to her own life. This is an excellent suspense novel with a strong protagonist and a plot that showcases a major ethical dilemma. Readers will be eager for Harper's next adventure.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)