Chamberlain (The Bay at Midnight) lays out her latest piece of romantic suspense in a shattered chronology that's as graceful as it is perfectly paced. Most of the adults in the tightly knit coastal community of Topsail Island, N.C., accept the widowed Laurel Lockwood's 15-year-old mentally disabled son, Andy. But when Andy saves many of the town's youth during a tragic fire, he becomes a local hero who garners national attention. Laurel, caught up with making sure Andy is okay, thinks daughter Maggie, a high school senior, can handle herself. What Maggie hides from everyone are her slipping grades, a taboo affair and a terrible secret, and when the fire's origins are investigated and Andy is a person of interest, events turn progressively darker for the family. Long, juicy flashbacks cover the mysteries of Laurel's husband's death, of Andy's condition and of Laurel's preoccupation with him. Chamberlain offers no easy solutions, but her engrossing prose leads the way to redemption. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Laurel Lockwood became a devoted single mother, raising Maggie, 17, and Andy, 15, after her husband died in a freak accident. After Andy was born, he was taken away to a foster home because of Laurel's alcoholism, a disorder brought on by postpartum depression. She is recovering, but he suffers from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. He is small for his age and has trouble interpreting social situations since he takes everything literally. One day, Laurel allows him to attend a church lock-in with other children his age in their small community on Topsail Island, North Carolina. A fire breaks out and Andy becomes a hero when he finds the only exit and leads most of the group to safety. But later, when the fire is classified as arson and Andy becomes the prime suspect, Laurel soon learns that there is much she doesn't know about her children or, indeed, anyone around her. Chamberlain's heartbreaking tale frankly and sensitively explores postpartum depression and the toll it takes on families.--Engelmann, Patty Copyright 2008 Booklist