SEE JANE RUN

Here's the stuff of nightmares for those intimidated by doctors, and husbands for that matter, from the author a Kiss Mommy Goodbye (l98l) and others. Fielding's psychological suspenses have always been geared toward the girls, and See Jane Run is no exception. Quelle surprise when Jane Whittaker finds herself in the middle of downtown Boston with blood spattered on the front of her dress, $l0,000 in large bills stuffed in her pockets, and no idea who she is! After stashing the filthy frock and loot in a locker and roaming aimlessly for a spell, she winds up in Boston Hospital, where she's recognized as the wife of the widely respected pediatrician, Michael Whittaker. He claims her, takes her home to the suburbs, acts oh so nice, installs a fascist housekeeper to watch over her while he's at work, and feeds her lots of funny little pills which only make her feel worse. Other things further unhinge her: the fresh scar on Michael's forehead (which she connects with the blood on her dress), neighbor, Carole, who accuses her an extramarital affair, and the news that she has a daughter, Emily, who Michael is keeping out of sight. One foiled runaway attempt brings revelations from the good doctor, who tells Jane that she killed both her mother and Emily, and bashed him with an Oriental vase, causing the cut. Understandably, Jane freaks, making drug injections seem reasonable, though they turn her into a near vegetable. But when she learns by accident that Emily is alive, she bolts, intent on figuring out what really happened on the day her amnesia set in. The ugly truth has to do with Michael's deep, dark attraction to little girls—which he's ready to do anything to hide. Fielding's tracking of Jane's amnesia is belabored, but besides this the book's a bang-up good read, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane meets The Good Mother, and probably Fielding's best since Kiss Mommy Goodbye.