This is the second great book that I have read recently featuring a character with locked-in syndrome (see The Second Opinion by Michael Palmer). Casey Marshall is a wealthy, happily married interior designer with a problem sister, loving friends, and the perfect husband. She and Warren, her devoted spouse, have just decided to start a family when Casey is nearly killed by a hit and run driver. In the hospital after 3 weeks in a coma she starts to become aware of sounds, but is unable to move, see, or speak. Like the proverbial fly on the wall she is privy to opinions and conversations that gradually reveal some frightening truths about both her accident and her future. As time goes on her senses slowly begin to return and she regains more and more cognizance of the world around her. Her attempts to communicate with her sister, Drew, become more and more desperate as she senses that she is in danger.
Fielding's novel, told entirely from the point of view of Casey, is excellent. The reader experiences the sensations and frustrations of the locked-in patient first hand, and it is frightening. This is a great thriller. The pacing is exquisite, the characters, despite exisiting in the realm of the independently wealthy, are sympathetic and, for the most part, likeable. I had a hard time putting it down and I think you will, too!
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