MOTHER MAY I is a domestic thriller that avoids the clichés that are beginning to creep into the subgenre. Author Joshilyn Jackson, who has steadily built a loyal audience with a number of edgy and twisty novels, keeps the pages turning and readers guessing from the first sentence to the last paragraph.

The book begins with what seems to be a classic dreamworld nightmare that eventually turns into a very real one. Bree Cabatt wakes up in the middle of the night to see what appears to be an archetypal witch peering through her bedroom window. Her reaction awakens her husband Trey, who is right next to her, loyal as ever. It is the only disturbance in her perfect world, where Bree is married to a devoted attorney, and she is an attentive mother to a pair of private middle-school daughters and her infant son. Her duties include changing diapers, of course, and refereeing the occasional sisterly hair-pulling match. Trey has no mistress and doesn’t even take advantage of the opportunities that could arise from one of his business trips. He’s a great husband and father. Everything is good. Until it isn’t.

"MOTHER MAY I is a domestic thriller that avoids the clichés that are beginning to creep into the subgenre. Author Joshilyn Jackson...keeps the pages turning and readers guessing from the first sentence to the last paragraph."

Bree’s life as she knows it comes to a screeching halt as she watches her oldest daughter rehearse for a school musical. For a moment, she believes that she sees the woman from her nightmare. A few minutes later, her son, who was in a baby seat carrier practically right next to her, goes missing. She then gets a message from the witch (there is no other word), telling Bree that she has her son and not to contact anyone. Further information follows: Bree is going to have to perform some kind of an act to get him back, and it involves Trey’s lifelong friend and law partner. It is bad but not horrible. Bree agrees.

The result is worse than horrible. The witch then changes the terms of the deal. It becomes more and more clear to Bree that there is little chance she will get her baby back alive if she continues down this path. Who is this stranger, and why is she torturing Bree and her family? The answer does not lie in Bree’s past; rather, it concerns a man she has never met. Part of the solution is given, quite accidentally, by the mysterious woman herself. The conclusion plays out at an abandoned campground in a rural part of Georgia, though the book isn’t truly over until it’s over, as additional surprises unfold practically through the final page.

MOTHER MAY I is perfectly balanced between its plot and characters. It lends itself to quick reading --- there is no good place to stop --- yet one is sorry when it ends. Readers who are new to Jackson’s talent will want to acquire her significant backlist as they wait for her next book, while those who are already familiar with her catalog will find their patience rewarded.