Resurrection Kill

by

Laura Joh Rowland

Riveting tale of mental illness, family secrets, and murder!

Resurrection Kill by Laura Joh Rowland is a riveting new mystery and suspense novel that probes the lengths someone will go to keep the past hidden. In 1953, Dr. Claire Kendall comes to Resurrection Kill Hospital in upstate New York to complete her psychiatric residency in its special program for young women and girls, even though she'd been offered a place at much more prestigious facilities. But Dr. Kendall has an ulterior motive: twelve years earlier, under her original name, she was an inpatient at this very hospital, and she remembers nothing about her time there, only that she has lingering nightmares and terrifying flashbacks of bits and pieces of her experiences. Revealing her past would destroy her career, so she's determined to secretly uncover the truth and, hopefully, heal herself in the process. However, once she starts asking questions, the people she talks to mysteriously start to disappear or die! 

Claire is a likable, vulnerable young woman, and despite her deception, she's pure in her desire to help the patients in her care. She's had a tragic life, experiencing the loss of her beloved older brother as well as the accidental death of her mother and estrangement from her father. Alone for over a decade, she craves human connection, but she puts her attraction to fellow resident, Dr. Daniel Tanaka, on hold to protect both their reputations. 

The plot moves quickly as Claire pursues her past and begins her residency. Resurrection Kill Hospital is a private, family-run facility, and it is soon revealed to be behind the times in its equipment and the treatments it employs. Homosexuality is still considered a mental illness at this point in history, and one of Claire's patients is a lesbian, involuntarily committed by her family for conversion therapy. The descriptions of the treatments Rory is subjected to are unbelievable and not for the faint of heart. The story is tense, with plot twists around every corner, and I couldn't put this book down until the final resolution and the last secret was revealed. 

I recommend RESURRECTION KILL to readers of medical thrillers, mysteries, and suspense. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours.