-
Access our Top 20
Books of 2024!
A Novel
by Emma Cook
Meet Eva, who can't feel pain, and Anna, who can't escape it.
Everyone has heard about the case of Eva Reid. Ever since she was born, she's felt no pain: she can get a paper cut, break a limb and even give birth without feeling a single thing. Her story has long captivated the minds of reporters and researchers—including Dr. Nate Reid, Eva's husband and acclaimed scientist, renowned for his work in the Pain Laboratory. Also among them is Anna Tate, a ruthless journalist with a dark past of her own.
When Eva is suddenly found dead inside her home, it raises a flurry of questions about the last night of her life—and who might've been involved. Anna finds herself growing increasingly obsessed with Eva's case: her protected, painless existence, her promising career as a psychotherapist, and especially her toxic relationship with the alluring Dr. Reid, whom Eva met and married as his former patient. But what other secrets could they be hiding?
When Dr. Reid embarks on the process of writing a book about Eva, an opportunity arises for Anna to work on it alongside him. As she slowly inserts herself into their home to uncover what's fact and what's fiction, shocking discoveries await her—and not everyone may come out unscathed…
"Cook keeps readers on their toes in her exhilarating debut... When the reveals finally come, they're richly satisfying. Rarely has the frustration of not knowing who to trust been so much fun." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"An elegantly-written novel, this is a compellingly twisty thriller which explores brilliantly the relationship between pain, memory, our bodies and ourselves. An absolutely gripping read which comes together with a neatness that is both satisfying and chilling." —Ellery Lloyd, author of the New York Times bestseller The Club
"An assured debut that is as fresh and exciting as it is dark." —Lisa Ballantyne, bestselling author of Everything She Forgot
"Exploring the ways our closest relationships can destroy us and the dark downside of ambition, Emma Cook's tightly woven thriller You Can't Hurt Me proves that the worst pain isn't caused by physical wounds, but by the emotional harm we inflict on one another." —Tara Laskowski, Agatha Award–winning author of One Night Gone and The Mother Next Door
This information about You Can't Hurt Me was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Emma Cook has been an editor at the Guardian for 16 years, commissioning on Guardian Weekend, editing her own section Do Something and now assistant editor and travel editor on the Observer magazine. She has written for a range of titles including the Guardian, the Independent, the Times, the Daily Telegraph, ES Magazine, Elle and Psychologies. She is an alumna of the Faber Academy's six-month Writing A Novel course, and You Can't Hurt Me is her debut novel.
.png)
When an old man dies, a library burns to the ground.
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
