Wendy Walker
Thriller
352 pages
Published September 15, 2020 by St. Martin's Press
A parent’s absolute worst nightmare comes true when a total fluke accident ends in tragedy. On her way home one night, Molly rounds the blind corner to her driveway just as her nine year old daughter races out to catch the ice cream truck. Annie is struck and killed by her own mother’s car.
Five years later and the family still hasn’t recovered. Molly is still plagued by guilt. Her husband, John, subconsciously blaming Molly for the accident has fallen out of love with her. Her middle child and only son, Evan, has disappeared off to school, seeking an escape on the football field. Nicole, her eldest, was expelled from high school and has fallen into a never ending merry go round of alcohol and strange men.
After visiting Evan’s school for a football game, Molly gets stuck in an oncoming hurricane without gas. Taking to the street to find shelter, Molly is relieved when a man with his daughter picks her up and brings her back to his house to wait out the storm. But the next day, the man refuses to bring her back to town. When confronted, the man attacks Molly and forces her into a barred room where he holds her captive.
As Molly slowly gains Alice's trust and peppers her for information, Molly begins to suspect that she isn't the first woman trapped in this house. It's clear Alice knows more than she's letting on and Molly also begins to worry that this wasn't a random attack. With the investigation into her disappearance called off, Molly has to trust that her family can forgive her and that they won't give up on her.
Five years later and the family still hasn’t recovered. Molly is still plagued by guilt. Her husband, John, subconsciously blaming Molly for the accident has fallen out of love with her. Her middle child and only son, Evan, has disappeared off to school, seeking an escape on the football field. Nicole, her eldest, was expelled from high school and has fallen into a never ending merry go round of alcohol and strange men.
After visiting Evan’s school for a football game, Molly gets stuck in an oncoming hurricane without gas. Taking to the street to find shelter, Molly is relieved when a man with his daughter picks her up and brings her back to his house to wait out the storm. But the next day, the man refuses to bring her back to town. When confronted, the man attacks Molly and forces her into a barred room where he holds her captive.
As Molly slowly gains Alice's trust and peppers her for information, Molly begins to suspect that she isn't the first woman trapped in this house. It's clear Alice knows more than she's letting on and Molly also begins to worry that this wasn't a random attack. With the investigation into her disappearance called off, Molly has to trust that her family can forgive her and that they won't give up on her.
My thoughts:
This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2020 and it did not disappoint! I was on the edge of my seat for most of the book and couldn’t flip the pages fast enough!
This book used alternating narrators and timelines which I felt really worked well for the story. It added a layer of mystery to the plot and connected me to the characters on a deeper level. My heart went out to the Clarke family for their tragic loss and I often felt anxious and stressed for both Molly and Nicole.
There were enough red herrings to keep me guessing throughout the book and even though I did catch on to some of the mystery, I was still ultimately completely surprised. All in the all, I felt that the pieces played out perfectly.
If you love a good thriller/mystery that makes you question every character, has your head spinning, and leaves you saying 'holy cow!', then this one is absolutely for you.
I can’t recommend this one enough and Wendy Walker has quickly become an auto-buy author for me!
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy of this novel.
Excellent Review...I've been delaying this one, but your review has me excited to jump in! Thank you.
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