From Publishers Weekly
Following his assured debut in The Portrait, Atkins presents another gripping psychological thriller, this one dealing with a subject common in newspaper headlines: adolescent killers. If crimes committed by teens are on the rise, how do authorities account for the increase and identify the risk factors? Dr. Molly Katz, 39-year-old single mother of two and resident physician on the psychiatric ward of Boston Commonwealth Hospital, is at her wits' end with her caseload and unanswered questions. When a nurse is found stabbed to death on the adolescent ward, Katz has few answers and plenty of guilt. Garret Jacobs, the 15-year-old suspect, is one of her patients, although he'd shown no violent tendencies. The mystery darkens when another nurse is murdered while Garret is in a catatonic state. Katz and her colleagues and superiors discuss issues concerning kids and violence: when does "uncontrolled emotion" become "evil," and how do children grow up to be killers? Meanwhile, Katz is grateful for her two successful, well-adjusted teen children, Josh and Megan, who are soon imperiled as the killer remains on the loose. Atkins, a practicing psychiatrist and Yale faculty member, writes like the authority he is, and handles his female protagonist's "mom" voice with casual ease. He also slows down his plot considerably with long, if fascinating, explanations of psychiatric procedure, diagnostic prophesy and laments over the ineffective health insurance system. Provocative theories abound, including a particularly disturbing suggestion of a new evolutionary strain. But the chilling ending provides a shock that's more visceral than theoretical, which should satiate those who like their social psychology lesson laced with a measure of sinister suspense. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
YA-Just what causes one child to develop into a remorseless killer while another grows to normal adulthood? Is it a matter of nurturance, or something gone awry in the genetic makeup, or a combination of both factors? These questions are at the core of this compelling story. Dr. Molly Katz is a third-year psychiatric resident at a large Boston hospital. The news that one of her teen patients, Garrett, admitted with full-blown psychosis less than a week earlier, has butchered one of the staff nurses causes her to question her own and her profession's competencies. Readers follow her as she meets with her patients: an obsessive-compulsive who finds coming in for treatment a trial by fire; angry Jennifer, who lashes out at her mother with her fists; and threatening Billy, who assaults his mother in the emergency room and may have been sexually abusing his younger sisters. Then another nurse from the ward is murdered. Already hospitalized, Garrett could not have been responsible, so who is stalking the staff nurses? The surprise identification of the killer brings about Molly's own trial by fire. As she recovers, the original nature versus nurture question returns to her, leading her to pursue her career along a different path. Young adults should find this a fast-paced, interesting read and they're sure to be fascinated by the symptomatology and care of the teenaged psychiatric patients.
Carol DeAngelo, Kings Park Library, Burke, VA Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
