Alice Blanchard’s debut novel, “Darkness Peering,” was a literary thriller that seemed almost too atmospheric for the usual beach-blanket crowd that picks up such novels. And her sophomore effort, “The Breathtaker,” leaned a little too heavily on the formulaic, ending in a Hollywood-style climax that seemed a bit contrived.
So it’s a pleasure to find that her third novel, “Life Sentences,” has found a good balance between the literary thriller and the crowd-pleaser.
Genetic researcher Daisy Hubbard fends off the advances of a brilliant colleague while toiling in a Boston laboratory trying to solve the puzzle of a rare disease (Stier-Zellars) that took the life of her brother. When Daisy’s mother contacts her to say that her sister, Anna, has once again quit taking her medications and skipped out on life in Los Angeles, Daisy knows she is the only one who can take care of the problem.
Since her mother suffers from diabetes and depression and Anna is a schizophrenic, Daisy is the only truly stable member of the family. At first, she dismissively assumes that her sister will return home in time, the way she always does, but then she gets a call from Detective Jack Makowski of the LAPD. Makowski tells her that suspected serial killer Roy Gaines, whom he has just captured, claims to know the location of Daisy’s sister.
Gaines says Anna was his latest victim and that he will reveal the location of her body if Daisy will talk to him. Is Gaines telling the truth or just playing a twisted game to buy more time? And as Gaines pulls Makowski and Daisy into his psychological game, they soon learn that the killer fathered a baby with Anna and now there may be two lives at stake.
Piling cliffhanger upon cliffhanger, Blanchard ratchets up the level of suspense by revealing that Anna left an enigmatic clue (“End 70” spray-painted on a ceiling) for both her sister and the detectives, a clue that may or may not have something to do with her disappearance.
While “Life Sentences” does make use of some hackneyed plot devices and formulaic twists (serial killers, a sister in jeopardy used as leverage), the author balances those with some truly three-dimensional characters like Daisy and her-soon-to-be beau, the three-time matrimonial loser Makowski. Even Gaines proves to be more than just a Hannibal Lector-wannabe.
Though the memories of child abuse that Daisy harbors are also a well-worn device, Blanchard handles them well, interspersing believable action set-pieces with some genuinely insightful musings on the human condition. And the novel holds one final twist (a plot device Blanchard used in her first novel and puts to good use once again), which will truly surprise most readers.
“Life Sentences” is a satisfying, well-paced thriller that will serve as one last, thoughtful beach read as the final weeks of summer come to an end.
Dorman T. Shindler, a freelancer from Missouri, contributes regularly to several national magazines and newspapers.
Life Sentences
By Alice Blanchard
Warner Books, 400 pages, $24.95
