You know the story: a husband dumps a troublesome first wife for a woman with whom the discarded spouse becomes bitterly obsessed. That's not what happens here. Newbie Hendricks joins with USA Today best-selling author Pekkanen for psychological suspense with a big publicity push.

It's human nature to assume; we all do. But this psychological thriller by first-time novelist Hendricks and best-selling author Pekkanen (The Perfect Neighbors) proves just how dangerous assumptions can be. Nellie, a young teacher, has met the man of her dreams. Nine years her senior, Richard is charming, handsome, and wealthy. He pampers Nellie like a queen—until he doesn't. Nellie is constantly thrown off-kilter—is Richard manipulating things that happen between them? Reality and deception are woven into a strange pattern of twisted understanding. As the difference in how each perceives their marriage grows wider, so does their estrangement until Richard leaves Nellie for another woman. Or so everyone believes. Who is this younger, blonde version of herself? Nellie is compelled to stalk her around Manhattan like a jealous ex. Will this woman become her replacement? VERDICT Readers who were enthralled by B.A. Paris's Behind Closed Doors and Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl will love the skewed psychology and shifting perspectives of this domestic thriller. [See Prepub Alert, 7/24/14.]—Kirsche Romo, Duncanville, TX

Hendricks, who spent more than 20 years as a book editor, joins forces with Pekkanen (The Best of Us) to create a jaw-dropping psychological thriller. Unreliable narrator Vanessa Thompson is obsessed with her ex-husband's fiancée and on the verge of becoming unhinged. She gave up everything—her job as a preschool teacher, her New York City friends—to have a fairy tale life in Westchester with too-good-to-be-true hedge fund manager Richard. After a series of failed fertility treatments, their marriage unraveled, and Richard leaves her for his younger assistant. Hendricks and Pekkanen chronicle a marriage gone wrong through the alternating accounts of the shattered Vanessa in the present and her vibrant younger self in the past. This is not another eye-rolling story about the jealous ex-wife stalking her replacement, as readers will discover as Vanessa's motivations are revealed. Unforgettable twists lead to shocking revelations all the way through the epilogue. 250,000-copy announced first printing. Agent: Victoria Sanders, Victoria Sanders and Associates. (Jan.)