Guilt, real or imagined, can do strange things to a person. Never doubt the way guilt will unravel even the strongest among us.

New Yorkers Connor and Meredith McCall are living the good life. In their prime and in their 30s, they’re ripe to enjoy the best the city has to offer. Connor is a famous hockey player, and Meredith has a successful psychiatry practice. Can things get any better? Maybe not, but they certainly can get worse. Hockey is a rough sport; injuries happen. And it takes only one tragic game to land Connor in the hospital, with Meredith worrying at his bedside. He’ll be all right, won’t he? But his recovery is taking an awfully long time. And he seems to need a lot of pain meds.

Connor’s patience quickly runs low, and his attitude sours when he doesn’t heal as fast as he’d like. Meredith tries to comfort him, but considering the mood he's in, she can’t do anything right. Their marriage is soon spiraling, and she grows frustrated, wondering where it all went so wrong. Then it gets worse.

"How did Meredith end up with such good intentions, yet the object of those good intentions turn out to be so embroiled by evil? It’s a mystery, all right. A wickedly sticky one. And you won’t want to miss it."

A lot of time passes, but Meredith finally returns to work after the disaster that befell Connor and dismantled their happy lives. It feels good for her to be back, focused on counseling others again. Not all of her patients stuck around when the temporary doctor stepped in, so there’s a lot of rebuilding to do --- rebuilding of trust and of her practice in general.

One day early on, a new patient walks in, and Meredith’s jaw drops. Wait, this guy shouldn’t be here. Moreover, she shouldn’t treat him. She knows Gabriel Wright, and she must tell him to leave. But she doesn’t. It's not a matter of the money or needing clients. Meredith truly wants to help him. He, more than anyone, needs her help. So, even though it’s highly unethical, Meredith ignores all the warnings and crosses a line. And then another. What started as a genuine desire to help morphs into an obsession.

Is Meredith self-destructing? Has the guilt she’s been holding onto become so overpowering that she no longer can make rational decisions? Well, the drinking might be contributing to that. Plus, lying to her own therapist can’t be anything but a terrible idea.

While dealing with the pressures of picking up the pieces of her destroyed life with Connor and putting her practice back together, she almost missed the signs that someone may be following her. But this is New York City. How can she possibly tell in the midst of all those people? Well, one sign should have been the day the door to her apartment was open when she got home. She’d noticed several things inside were out of place. However, talking to the police isn’t fruitful. The doctor-patient confidentiality ethic of her profession stands in the way of fully disclosing much of what’s been happening. That means the cops don’t have enough information to intervene. Meredith feels hopelessly trapped. Her hands are tied and so are theirs. Well, she got herself into this mess; now it’s time to get herself out. Which is easier said than done.

THE UNRAVELING could hardly have a better title. Meredith completely unravels through the course of Vi Keeland’s chilling novel. But anyone could find themselves in similar circumstances. All it would take is for something bad to happen, followed by a gross overreaction, then another misstep and a destructively poor choice. How did Meredith end up with such good intentions, yet the object of those good intentions turn out to be so embroiled by evil? It’s a mystery, all right. A wickedly sticky one. And you won’t want to miss it.