Every Fifteen Minutes

Every Fifteen Minutes

Adult mystery
Good novels combine riveting plots with believable and
interesting characters. Great novels add the element of relevant
issues presented skillfully enough to engage the reader. In Every
Fifteen Minutes Lisa Scottoline gifts us with a great novel.
Protagonist Eric is like a 21st century version of the Biblical
Job, an unfortunate guy stripped of all the good things in life.
First there's his increasingly acrimonious divorce. Ex wife Caitlin
is cutting down on his specified in the agreement parental rights.
She's selling the house they once shared with no option for him to buy
it back.
Then there's his new (psychiatric) patient. Max, 17, is
devastated by the impending death of the grandmother who raised him.
He raises red flags in Eric's mind, and not only in terms of potential
suicide. He seems obsessed with a girl he has a crush on and fears
that he might harm her. Eric thinks he might have a Tarasoff issue (a
potentially dangerous situation in which he'd be mandated to warn a
client's potential victim and the police) on his hands. But, fearful
of eroding Max's fragile trust, Eric says nothing. Things take an
ugly turn for the worse.
Then there's Kristine, a medical student on rotation at the
hospital psychiatric unit he's head of. When he rejects his advances
she files an official allegation of sexual harassment. Suddenly he's
under investigation, even having to pee into a cup for a drug test.
"I'm a sociopath. I look normal, but I'm not. I'm smarter, better,
and freer because I'm not bound by rules, laws, emotions, or regard
for you...
I fool everybody."
Scattered through the narrative are narrative are direct,
ominous messages to readers from one of the characters, adding yet
another layer of suspense. Which one? When will they work their evil?
If you're in the market for a spine chilling, impossible to put
down mystery with engaging ethical issues you can't do better than
Every Fifteen Minutes.
On a purrrsonal note, this week I am living my best life, no doubt
about it. We're having sunny, warm weather. I was able to open my
studio window and pop in a screen for the first time in 2021
yesterday. The breeze roused Tobago from her nap in her loft. The
trees are budding, their leaves soon to reveal themselves. Statistics
continues to be wonderful. My project of thinning out my clothes and
changing my storage system for them is falling into place more
perfectly than I imagined it would. I was craving a grilled cheese
sandwich and had hormone and antibiotic free cheese from Maine cow
milk instead of the plastic wrapped slices. And as I ate my lunch
outside picnic style I read the most amazing graphic novel I've ever
feasted my eyes on. You're lucky. I'm going to bump it to the head
of the line and post a review of it soon, probably after this weekend.
(Jules)
Cool refreshing breezes. Life is good. (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to dairy farmers who keep the dicey
stuff out of their products.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway



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