Publisher's Weekly Review
In this so-so domestic thriller from McDonald (Behind Every Lie), happily married physician Emma Sweeney and her police detective husband, Nate, dote on their precocious five-year-old son, Josh. Then Josh is diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia, and their insurance won't cover his costly treatment. After they're turned down for loans, Emma believes the only way to raise the cash is to sell opioids to addicts and forged prescription orders to drug dealers. Meanwhile, Nate, who knows nothing of Emma's scheme, volunteers to work with the DEA to find the source of opioids invading their town of Skamania, Wash., in the hope of a promotion. The weak plot spins on Emma's rationalization that in trying to save Josh she's also helping those who truly are in pain, but whose medication has been cut back because of government crackdowns. Emma's plan soon goes awry as the bodies pile up while her inexperience puts herself and her loved ones in danger. This well-meaning effort to highlight the opioid crisis spins out of control with clichés, shallow characters, and a preachy narrative. McDonald has done better. Agent: Carly Watters, P.S. Literary (Canada). (Feb.)
Booklist Review
McDonald's third domestic thriller (after Behind Every Lie, 2020) delivers a jaw-dropping plot. Emma Sweeney has a rewarding career as a doctor and has built a terrific life with her police-officer husband and their delightfully daffy kindergartener son. What could possibly happen to turn her, in her husband's words, into "a drug dealer hiding behind a white coat"? When her son receives a leukemia diagnosis, she decides to issue fake prescriptions for opioids to fund the obscenely priced life-saving treatment he needs. This brings her back into contact with her ex-con brother and her dangerous former high-school boyfriend, and the suspense, along with the body count, ratchets up with their every encounter. McDonald offers a painful look at two hot-button topics: the desperate opioid crisis, and a system that allows the cost of cancer pharmaceuticals to extend far beyond the reach of so many. Is what Emma does an unforgivable betrayal of her medical oath, her husband, and herself? It will be up to the reader to decide if the ends justify the means.
