A Sinister Subtraction by Richard P. Kluft

At the height of “The Memory Wars” of the 1990s, psychiatrist Joan Underwood is suddenly sued for malpractice. A psychologist accuses her of convincing one of his former patients that she suffers Dissociative Identity Disorder, and that he committed sexual transgressions that never occurred, in an office that never existed. Top defense attorney Bill Mackey selects promising neophyte Linda Gilchrist to spearhead his team’s legal research efforts. Linda is delighted. . . Finally, she has a chance to prove herself. Her delight gives way to abject terror when Bill Mackey falls ill in mid-trial and his second chair disappears, leaving Linda the attorney of record. Steeped in scholarship but short on experience and courtroom savvy, Linda stumbles. Her errors jeopardize Underwood’s credibility so profoundly that her first two expert witnesses withdraw and her own firm threatens to fire her. Now, she has only a single weekend and the unwelcome assistance of an older expert she considers useless or worse to reorganize her client’s defense and save her career. Linda recalls expert witness Ben Jordan’s insistence that the case against Underwood made no sense. Suddenly, searching out the underlying “sense” of the case seems her only hope. Drawing upon her childhood fascination with Nancy Drew mysteries, she sets out to investigate the puzzling origins of the charges against her client, and to uncover the hidden secrets of the room that never was. A mystery and courtroom drama solidly grounded in psychological science, A Sinister Subtraction provides a penetrating study of one of the most contentious and controversial chapters in the history of psychiatry.

Rick Kluft has been there. He shows you everything you ever wanted to know about malpractice suits, and never wanted to experience… – Anonymous

In this third instalment of the Ben Jordan series, Kluft really hits his stride, taking his readers to new heights of intrigue and exploring new depths of depravity. The distracting mists and miasmas surrounding a complex and confusing malpractice suit obscure the sinister machinations of powerful men who exploit and degrade vulnerable women. Who better to unmask their crimes than a naïve young lawyer who begins by stumbling so badly she nearly destroys her client’s case and her own career? Her desperate determination to bring to light the heinous schemes that must be revealed to restore her client’s reputation compels her to follow the path of her childhood hero, Nancy Drew, unearthing the mind-manipulating subterfuges of unscrupulous political power-brokers. A Sinister Subtraction is a storming adventure and a loving homage to the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.

Martin A. Dorahy, Ph.D., Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand; Co-Editor, The Abused and the Abuser: Victim-Perpetrator Dynamics; Co-Editor, Psychosis, Trauma and Dissociation: Evolving Perspectives on Severe Psychopathology.

In A Sinister Subtraction, Rick Kluft brings to bear his extensive personal experience as a consultant and expert witness at the height of the ‘memory wars.’ He crafts a fast-moving and compelling tale that pits the pursuit of truth against the interests of powerful and abusive individuals. The courtroom dramas around which the story builds have a ring of authenticity that could only have come only from the pen of an author who has been deeply immersed in this challenging environment. Kluft gives voice to the falsely accused, the dismissed, and the discredited, those rarely heard above the bombast and clamor of litigation as portrayed in the media. In a narrative overflowing with both drama and solid psychological science, Kluft guides us through the lives of medical and legal professionals fighting to preserve their reputations, their careers, and their very selves, and celebrates the redemptive power of honesty and love.

Warwick Middleton, M.B., B.S., FRANZCP, MD, Professor, University of Queensland; Co-Editor, The Abused and the Abuser: Victim-Perpetrator Dynamics.

Rick Kluft takes us behind the scenes to show how the complex interfaces of sexual assault, memory, justice, and truth play out in both trial preparation and the courtroom.  A Sinister Subtraction allows us to set aside what the popular press has told us about false memory lawsuits and discover more complex and disturbing truths. When inexperienced attorney Linda Gilchrist’s unfortunate errors jeopardize her client’s case and her own career, she is left with only one ally to help turn the tide, an older psychiatrist she and most others consider over the hill. They join forces and become unlikely sleuths to discover how a woman could have suffered real abuse in an office that never was. Together they uncover the secret of the room that never existed, and expose the intricate web of deceit protecting the perverse activities of a powerful politician.  A Sinister Subtraction is an intelligent, thoughtful novel whose engaging characters leave the reader with a deeper and more nuanced understanding of sexual trauma, dissociative disorders, and the law.

Lynn Crook, M.Ed., Investigative Journalist, Editor Emeritus, Treating Abuse Today