The accomplished stage and screenwriter Hach (Freaky Friday, What to Expect When You’re Expecting, Legally Blonde: The Musical) will keep readers off balance and turning pages as they enter the disturbed mind of Kat Lamb. Hach’s fiction debut is a psychological thriller of obsession, jealousy, mental health, and the drive to do anything to belong. Bestselling author Eden Hart is the definition of perfect, and when she flies into Tucson to give a reading at Antigone Books, struggling author Kat can’t help but compare herself to her—professionally, physically, and socially—she’s everything Kat wants to be. Years later, Hart is a distant but distinct memory when Kat meets Jacob Walsh, the charismatic son of her true Tucson literary hero, Carol Walsh. Kat falls for Jacob, and her obsession with their relationship—and the idea of joining Carol’s family—grows more intense, to the point of sickness. It’s clear that Kat’s mind is unwell and that she will not handle setbacks well.

But setbacks define many writers’ lives, and Kat’s demons begin to surface as she faces the dissolution of the relationship and the failure of her debut novel—she’s absolutely consumed with the life she “could” and “should have.” The heat between lovers and the desire to belong are major themes in this captivating story, as Kat’s need to be perfect goes far beyond the norm. The suspense comes from how far she’ll go, how much she’ll lie, and who she’ll dare to hurt, even when she’s treated with surprising empathy by some she has wronged.

The Trouble with Drowning is full of twists and turns, stirring sympathy for Kat even as readers gape at what’s revealed beneath her mask. Hach’s prose is sharp and engaging, with memorable dialogue, and as it builds to a satisfying ending and jolting cliffhanger the story offers insightful commentary on mental illness, double standards for women, the tragedy of tough childhoods, pressure to succeed in one’s career, and taking the idea of “perfection” too far.

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY