Fool Me Once

Content Warning: This novel contains descriptions of graphic murder, domestic violence, war, PTSD, alcoholism, and suicide.

Recently widowed, Maya Stern, in her thirties, lives in the suburbs of New Jersey with her two-year-old daughter, Lily. She is a retired Army captain who was “encouraged” to take honorable discharge after a video of an incident she was involved with on the Syria-Iraqi border went viral courtesy of Corey “The Whistle” Rudzinski, the host of a website where whistleblowers anonymously post leaked government or corporate intelligence. As a former special ops helicopter pilot, Maya has PTSD stemming from the event, in which Iraqi civilians were killed. Though her PTSD is limited to nighttime auditory flashbacks, the death of her husband has exacerbated her condition.

Joe Burkett, the charming scion of an esteemed family, was murdered in what appears to be a random attack in Central Park—which Maya witnessed. She recalls that Joe was charming and rakish, their romance unexpectedly whirlwind after meeting at a Burkett family gala. A year later, they were married, and Lily followed soon after. Now, Maya distracts herself and pushes away the memory of his murder as his casket is lowered into the ground.