by Adele Parks

A Mystery/Thriller, 2023 by MIRA, 400 Pages

What I Didn’t Like:

There are multiple POV characters and you don’t know how they relate all up front. Some readers love this, some don’t. I mention it in case you don’t. Also, the different POV characters all read very similar. Similar language, similar sentence structure. Nothing to separate them or keep them straight.
When you make the jump to Stacie, it feels like an entirely different story. While I’m sure that was intentional, it sort of killed the flow and vibe we had going. It was like trying to get into a completely new story. Plus, we were in Stacie’s story for long enough that I started to wonder if we were ever going to go back to the other stories.
There are chapters from the “villains” POV that sort of spoil too much of the mystery for me. But I like to be surprised and not everyone will agree with me on this one.

The story makes good use of sentence structure to give the prose a rhythm and cadence that’s pleasing.
The mystery is intriguing. As is the goal, you immediately wonder what happened to the missing woman. When you drop into Stacie’s story, you immediately start to wonder about her background as well. It’s definitely one that keeps you turning pages on the hunt for answers.
This one stands alone. Evidently it is the second book to use these characters but by itself it amps up the mystery instead of focusing on the contemporary drama of the characters.

Fans of contemporary family drama type stories who want a little darker and more mysterious will like this one (alone or with its predecessor)