With prose so lyrical, you can almost hear music as you read, Jenny Milchman has written a hard-hitting psychological thriller that is Hitchcockian in its style. As The Second Mother starts, you can almost hear Rod Serling say, “Welcome to the Twilight Zone.” Broken and grasping for mere existence, Julie Mason (Weathers) is guilt-ridden over the loss of her baby girl. A death for which she feels responsible. A memory dulled only with help from a bottle of scotch. In a moment of clarity, Julie decides the only way she can stop her downward spiral is to leave the small mountain town where she grew up. She finds a teaching gig on a small island off the coast of Maine. A new life, in a new location, with new people, will help her heal––right? From the first page to the last, it seems Julie cannot catch a break. For every step forward, she stumbles two steps backward. Jenny Michman has written a tension-fueled, provocative, nail- biting thriller that will have your heart pounding and your hands shaking as you frantically turn the pages, thirsting for more. The idiom, “The End Justifies the Means” has never been more prevalent than in The Second Mother. Somewhere in the heavens, Alfred Hitchcock and Rod Serling are looking down and smiling at Jenny Milchman.