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by John Burley
Menaker State Hospital is a curse, a refuge, a prison, a necessity, a nightmare, a salvation.
When Dr. Lise Shields arrived at the correctional psychiatric facility five years ago, she was warned that many of its patients - committed by Maryland's judicial system for perpetrating heinous crimes - would never leave.
But what happens when a place like Menaker is corrupted, when it becomes a tool to silence the innocent, conceal an injustice, contain a secret? Why is it that the newest patient does not seem to belong there, that the hospital administrator has fallen silent, and that Lise is being watched by two men with seemingly lethal intent? The answers are closer than she realizes and could cost her everything she holds dear.
In this chilling follow-up to The Absence of Mercy, author John Burley - a master at medical and psychological detail - showcases the many ways in which the dangers of the outside world pale in comparison to the horrors of the human mind.
"Starred Review. Burley, himself a physician, renders the manifestations of psychological illness in such a way that both Lise and the reader must confront the terrifying nature of reality itself." - Publishers Weekly
"[Burley] deftly twists this psychological thriller, threading his tale with clues that add up to a stunning revelation. Dark, intricate and compelling. " - Kirkus
"Burley, whose debut, The Absence of Mercy (2013), won the National Black Ribbon Award, has a sure hand at building tension, but pulls his punches a bit here as he lays out the truth of the matter." - Booklist
This information about The Forgetting Place was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
John Burley is the award-winning author of The Absence of Mercy, which won the National Black Ribbon Award recognizing a new voice in suspense writing. He attended medical school in Chicago and completed his emergency medicine residency at University of Maryland Medical Center and R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. He continues to serve as an emergency medicine physician in Northern California, where he lives with his wife, daughter, and Great Dane.
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