Review: Hush

Summary: New York Times bestselling author and Cosmopolitan's editor-in-chief returns with a sizzling, page-turning thriller in which an ordinary woman flees the scene of a murder—and realizes it's not just the law that's hunting her.

When Lake Warren learns that her husband, Jack, is suing for full custody of their two kids four months after their separation, she's pretty certain that things can't get any worse. The upside is that she's working with the Advanced Fertility Center as a marketing consultant, alongside the attractive, flirtatious Dr. Keaton. But the morning after their one-night stand, Lake finds Keaton with his throat slashed and discovers that things can indeed become worse—they can become deadly.

So as not to jeopardize her case for custody, Lake is forced to lie to the police. Having just been intimate with a man who has been murdered, and wanting to protect herself from being charged with the crime, she begins her own search for the truth. Meanwhile, the police start looking at her closely, people at the clinic start treating her with hostility, and strange clues begin dropping—quite literally—on her doorstep, and Lake realizes that she is dangerously close to dark secrets, both about Keaton and the clinic. But can Lake stop what she's started before it's too late? -- Harper

Years ago when I was on a mystery kick, I remembered reading a few of Kate White's Bailey Weggins books and enjoying them. So when I found out that Ms. White had a new stand-alone mystery (which just happens to come out today 3/2/10) called HUSH, I jumped at the chance to read it!

HUSH is the story of Lake Warren, a career-oriented mother of two children, who is in the process of splitting up her husband. Like many women, she is facing a huge amount of change in her life. Not only is she going through a divorce with her husband, but she has also started a new consulting job with a fertility clinic. In addition, her children are away for part of the summer at a camp; and she has found herself turning away from all of her long-time friends. Needless to say, Lake is a very confused and lonely women, so she turns to a one-night stand with a doctor from the fertility practice. As I was reading this book, I kept saying to myself, "DON'T DO IT!"

Obviously, Lake didn't hear me because she ends up sleeping with the doctor. I was concerned about her chances in the custody battle over her kids, but it ends up that Lake had much bigger worries. She fell asleep on the balcony and came back into the apartment to find the doctor murdered. Talk about a one-night stand that went wrong! To protect herself and her children, Lake decided to leave the scene of the crime and pretend like she was never there.

As you can imagine, the book really takes off from this point. Lake is not only concerned with hiding her feelings and creating a cover-up for the police, but she also finds that someone is after her! (A few of the "attacks" are rather creepy, especially the one with the cat.) In the meantime, she decides that to protect herself, she has to discover who the real murderer is and why. There are lots of twists and turns (and a few surprises) thrown in, and I have to admit that I was definitely caught up in this story. I found myself was not only wondering if her husband was involved in some way, but I was also trying to figure out what was going on behind the scenes at the fertility clinic.

I like that Kate White wrote a suspense book that appeals to women. So many of these types of books are all about men. While I wasn't too sure I liked Lake at the beginning of the book (I mean she wasn't exactly a pillar of virtue to me), I did warm up to her by the end of the book -- even though she was down right stupid sometimes. There is no doubt in my mind that Lake paid for her indiscretion in more ways than one! I think Ms. White did a wonderful job of building tension and suspense, and even though I did figure out a few of the clues, I never really had a total grasp on all of the parts. I was continually being manipulated and surprised by the storyline.

HUSH was like a guilty pleasure for me to read. It wasn't "literature," and it didn't have the best writing or the best character development either. But I don't think a book like HUSH needs to have these elements to be a good read. Make no mistake, I found HUSH to be a highly entertaining book, and I definitely recommend it to fans of the suspense/mystery genre.

Thanks to The Book Report Network for sending me a copy of this book.