If you don't belong to a book club, Darin Strauss's bitter and brilliant new novel is reason enough to start one. You can always disband afterward, and in any case your discussion of More Than It Hurts You may be so heated that you'll never talk to those people again. Strauss has packed this gripping story with the whole radio dial of divisive, hot-button issues…Strauss made a name for himself with two historical novels based on real celebrities: Chang and Eng (2000), about the original Siamese twins, and The Real McCoy (2002), about a boxer at the turn of the last century. This time around, with an extraordinary degree of breadth and confidence, he's moved to a hyper-contemporary setting and invented his own characters.
—The Washington Post

Strauss's third novel is the story of three ordinary individuals whose paths interconnect in extraordinary ways. Arthur Morey's exquisite performance brings those characters and many others to life in a believable and honest manner. His slight shifts in dialect are subtle yet flawless; his pacing is steady and allows the story to unfold nicely. There is an underlying sense of urgency and panic in each of Strauss's characters, and Morey allows it to sharpen his reading without going overwhelming it. Ultimately, listeners will be enthralled by the touching stories Strauss offers here, but Morey goes one step further and manages to bring the stories to vivid life. A Dutton hardcover (Reviews, Jan. 7). (June)

In Strauss's (Chang and Eng) third novel, TV airtime salesman Josh Goldin learns that his wife, Dori, has just taken their eight-month-old son, Zach, to the emergency room. This sets off a series of events that eventually forces Josh to question the state of medical care, the legal system, and his wife's sanity. When Zach is treated a second time for mysterious, life-threatening symptoms, head pediatrician Darlene Graves becomes suspicious and calls in Child Protective Services (CPS). Suddenly, the Goldins' suburban Long Island lives are made difficult by visits from the CPS investigator, and Darlene's life, too, becomes stressful as a newspaper reporter attacks her for going after innocent people and her long-lost father, a former prison inmate, suddenly turns up wanting to build a relationship. Ultimately, it is Josh who finds himself most conflicted, caught between his love for his wife and the mounting evidence that Dori might, in fact, be harming their son. The narrative switches from medical to psychological to courtroom drama as each character is gradually forced to face his or her own reality. Highly recommended. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 2/1/08.]—Joshua Cohen, Mid-Hudson Lib. Syst., Poughkeepsie, NY

"[A] brilliant, sharp, suspenseful novel."
-Elizabeth Gilbert

"Wrenching and flawlessly involving."
-New York Daily News

"Chilling, insightful and bold."
-Chicago Tribune

"Riveting."
-Publishers Weekly

Meet the Goldin couple, who are indeed golden. Josh, a fair-haired ad exec, and his beautiful wife, Dori, have a perfect 8-month-old son and even a fabulous sex life. But Arthur Morey's narration hints at something beneath their self-congratulation. When their son becomes unconscious while at the hospital, the couple faces the scrutiny of Dr. Darlene Stokes. Stokes accuses the couple of Munchausen by Proxy and then finds she must cope with hospital politics as well as shadows from her past. Ultimately, the fact that Dori has bled her child into unconsciousness is overlooked by a hospital more concerned with its reputation than with child abuse. The irony is not lost on Morey, whose narration illuminates the extent to which mundane appearances can mask dark motives. S.W. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine