Hardcover, 352 pages
Published May 17, 2021 by Park Row.
The story was good but it felt under developed in the writing style. There’s a review here that outlines it perfectly. Very elementary type writing “Jane runs. Jane runs fast. Look at Jane run”..
I picked up on it immediately and it was hard to unsee. Otherwise it was good! I’d recommend
3.5 ⭐️ rounded up to 4. I enjoyed the twists and turns and likes the character development. But once again, some of the scenario and situations are so unrealistic that it takes a lot of suspension of disbelief or just a general lack of awareness around law enforcement and forensics etc, not that I am an expert, but I do have a penchant for true crime and criminology…I also just have a little….annoyance at the adults in the book being so messy, and the kids being burdened with acting as adults…
As the novel opens, we are in a dark basement with a girl who has been there for a long time, barely fed and never allowed to see the sun. She has a shy companion, Gus, and when she has the opportunity to make a break for freedom she takes it because Gus wouldn't have the nerve, and if they don't escape they will almost certainly die. returnreturnNow, go back eleven years, to the days and weeks before a girl and her mother go missing from a placid and close-knit neighborhood outside Chicago. What happened that led to those opening scenes, and who is responsible?returnreturnThere is no doubt this books is a page-turner. Told in multiple voices, it's never hard to keep the characters or the timeline straight, and the writing is accomplished without calling attention to itself. There are enough twists and turns in the plot to keep readers …
As the novel opens, we are in a dark basement with a girl who has been there for a long time, barely fed and never allowed to see the sun. She has a shy companion, Gus, and when she has the opportunity to make a break for freedom she takes it because Gus wouldn't have the nerve, and if they don't escape they will almost certainly die. returnreturnNow, go back eleven years, to the days and weeks before a girl and her mother go missing from a placid and close-knit neighborhood outside Chicago. What happened that led to those opening scenes, and who is responsible?returnreturnThere is no doubt this books is a page-turner. Told in multiple voices, it's never hard to keep the characters or the timeline straight, and the writing is accomplished without calling attention to itself. There are enough twists and turns in the plot to keep readers guessing, and more thrown in as the ending approaches. returnreturnIf this is what you're looking for, this story will hit the spot. I found the plot ultimately too far-fetched and, while the first chapters are well executed, there's a bit too much reliance on misery to launch and sustain the narrative. returnreturnHigh points for solid writing, pacing, and character development, points off for plausibility and reliance on the well-worn "girl locked in a room for years" plot device which for me is right up there with serial killers as a been-there-done-that-so-over-it story line. Those who love a thriller and aren't so picky about whether those thrills are realistic will likely be happy to restore those points, since it's quite a propulsive read.
