What Happened That Night

April 9, 2018
Dahlia, the heroine of this propulsive tale of revenge from Thriller Award–finalist Block (The Secret Room), was a Harvard student and aspiring lawyer until she attended a finals party and was sexually assaulted. Five years later, Dahlia, now a Beretta-carrying, tattooed paralegal living in Boston, still doesn’t remember what happened that night. Suffering from PTSD and stress-related-seizures, she seeks solace with her cat and her best friend, Eli, who like her attempted to commit suicide. When a video of the fateful party surfaces online, Dahlia sees her attackers for the first time and decides to take matters into her own hands. She teams up with James, a quirky IT geek she meets through a suicide survivors support group, and together they hatch a plan to uncover the truth and execute their own version of justice. Dahlia thinks she has everything figured out, but there’s another secret—a shocking betrayal that turns her world upside down again. Only the draggy ending, in which Block ties up loose ends, disappoints. Until then, this is a satisfying page-turner. Agent: Rachel Ekstrom, Irene Goodman Literary Agency.

May 1, 2018
Block's emotional thriller opens with hints that paralegal Dahlia, a Harvard graduate, has come through a terrible trauma. She attends meetings of SOS?Survivors of Suicide?but what is her role there? As the details unfurl, romance buds between Dahlia and fellow group member James, and a fiercely protective sidekick nags her to rebuild her life. Readers learn that recovery won't be so easy for Dahlia, however, as she was the victim of a vicious sexual attack years earlier. How she and James deal with the assault's perpetrators forms a satisfying tale, although, at times, elaborate parts of the plan come together too neatly. Readers should be aware that Dahlia's attack is described in detail and forms a major part of the plot. Also notable is that James is autistic, and Block's portrayals of his successes in work and love, realistically described as not without their stumbles, are a welcome addition. An apt read in the #MeToo era, this also pairs nicely with Paullina Simons' The Girl in Times Square (2017), which also involves a couple-versus-world theme.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)