A big thank you to NetGalley, and Helen Montague Foster for the eARC.

If you enjoy psychological thrillers, it's a must read. Lost graces is a medical/psychological thriller which begins with the assassination of the protagonist psychologist Nancy Thomas's fellow colleague. Nancy deduces she might be the next. The book is set in the 1990s, and gives a complete binge watching vibe.

The book follows a thorough FBI and local police work on the case. The author has presented the protagonist as vulnerable, but determined.
The story, while presenting some deep insight into the medical profession, psychiatry terms, also deals with the politics or let's say bureaucratic underlying problems which keep the readers on edge throughout the narrative.

The story has parallels, one relates to Nancy's treatment of her patients and the difficulties arising out of it, and on the other she has to deal with her colleagues dying unprecedented which becomes a cause for her elevated anxiety.

Given that Helen is a retired psychiatrist herself, the book becomes more and more appealing.

If you enjoy thrillers, and especially medical/psychological thrillers, pick up a copy of retired psychologist Helen Montague Foster’s page-turner, Lost Graces, as soon as possible! You will be glad that you did.

Psychiatrist Nancy Thomas’s fellow psychiatrist and co-worker Stan Cohen is late for work, shot in the chest in what appears to have been an assassination attempt. Soon two other psychiatrists are dead, both doctors Nancy Thomas and Stan Cohen know and whom readers have already met. Oddly, each shooting is preceded by a flat tire, and Dr. Thomas, herself, has had one of those flats, causing concern that she may be the next victim.

As local police and the FBI work the case, Thomas tries hard to focus on her patients, such as Alan Rowland and Grace Crockett, while also getting some help from family, colleagues, and friends to track down potentially relevant information on their own. Worried about the shootings—all the more so because her lawyer husband Mack is out of the country and the insurance company MARASM is refusing to authorize further sessions with Alan Rowland, Dr. Thomas faces her own psychological concerns.

Readers will learn several terms of the profession, such as the difference between transference and countertransference and the meaning of projective identification and Fregoli syndrome. They may also find themselves biting their nails as tension builds page after page.
Because the author introduces a sizable number of characters within the first few pages, I recommend writing down names and brief identifications to serve as reminders when the characters reappear as they will. Perhaps I have a bad memory, but my list of at least twenty names came in handy.

While creating a caring, determined, yet vulnerable member of the medical profession, the author also tackles a bureaucratic problem plaguing the field of psychiatry. As a result, most readers will come away having been entertained and educated.
Thanks to NetGalley and Atmosphere Press for an Advance Reader egalley of this highly recommended debut thriller from Helen Montague Foster. I look forward to Foster’s next novel.

I thought this was a very well written book! It had the feel of a psychological thriller, and the pacing of the book was very good. I liked this book, and I don't wanna give a lot away but it is worth reading!!!


Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complementary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

Helen Montague Foster has a strong writing style for this psychiatric thriller element, it had that plot overall and enjoyed the way it worked together. I thought everything was going on and thought the characters were wonderfully done and enjoyed the way they worked in this story.