“Swift’s bracing debut thriller envisions a New York where career-minded parents allow fascist institutions to raise their children.

“It’s the near future, and the president is a smiling subordinate to the corporations that rule America; individuals rely more on technology than each other; and public schools have been abolished.

“Richard Carson and his wife, Carol, are Manhattan lawyers.... They’ve sent their young son, Christopher, to the Newman Home, a technologically savvy school, where he’s raised and educated full time. One day, to Carol’s chagrin, Richard decides to take the summer off from his firm and write. He also suggests they bring Christopher home on a summer sabbatical from Newman so they can bond with him. Carol strongly disagrees, arguing that the boy will fall behind in his intensive curriculum. Nevertheless, they bring Christopher home.

“Once there, however, their son is nervous and robotic, showing no personality. Then, while stroking the boy’s head before bed one night, Richard finds an incision scar behind his ear. Is the sinister mark related to Christopher’s malaise and Newman’s reluctance to give him up?

“This irresistible premise taps into modern paranoia about corporate control and social disengagement. Swift’s propulsive tale arrives in bite-sized chapters. Truly riveting, though, is Swift’s dialogue.... Commentary on actual public policies is equally searing....

“...an incredibly successful work.

“Why can’t all thrillers be this satisfying?” (Kirkus Reviews)