“Deal Breaker” (post 2) by Harlan Coben: The character quoted in post 1, who was in dialogue with an italicized alternate personality, was a novelist

I had forgotten what the protagonist’s beautiful girlfriend did for a living until the end of the novel when she was going out of town on “a book tour”(1, p. 391). Her work had previously been made clear by a dialogue with an italicized voice in her head (an alternate personality) at the beginning of this novel:

“She [Jessica] should have told Myron the truth…

Oh shit, Jessie, you are one fucked-up chick…

She nodded to herself. Yup. Fucked up…And a few other hyphenated words… Her publisher and agent did not see it that way, of course. They loved her “foibles” (their term—Jessie preferred “fuck-ups”)…They were what made Jessie Culver such an exceptional writer…

Oh, pity the suffering artist! Thy heart bleeds for such torment! 

She dismissed the mocking tone with a shake of her head…” (1, pp. 35-36).

There is only one instance, near the end of this novel, when the protagonist, Myron Bolitar, hears a brief, italicized comment by the voice of an alternate personality in his head:

“Myron felt a lump rise in his throat.

Here we go” (1, p. 378).

Comment: When engrossed in a novel, it is easy to forget that most people do not hear voices in their head. But people with multiple personality occasionally do hear voices of their alternate personalities. Authors often distinguish such voices from ordinary thoughts by using italics.

I would guess that the characters Harlan Coben most identifies with in this novel are the protagonist and the writer. Is one of his own writer personalities female?

1. Harlan Coben. Deal Breaker. New York, Dell, 1995/2019.