This rough but fascinating new thriller should have a warning label: some scenes of torture and masochism are very upsetting. But the writing is dazzling, and the story is one of those marvelous packages of deceit and self-delusion that make readers feel smart for being one step ahead of the narrator. Dan Cody tells us that he killed his first wife because she was HIV positive and he didn't want her to suffer. Now he's broken out of prison with a hostage--a prison nurse he claims to love as much as his late wife.

Genre: Mystery