When Mae was a child, she escaped from the only life she had ever known, having been born into a cult referred to as the Mother Collective. She was quickly adopted by parents who loved her, but were not prepared to deal with the level of emotional trauma she had suffered. Mae did receive some counseling but was taught that it was best to just let the past go rather than actually process her feelings. Throughout the years she never gave up searching for her cousin Andrea who was raised in the cult with her, and who she had not seen since the day of her escape. When she finally reconnects with Andrea, her wealth and success are intimidating and she refuses to let Mae speak of their past. Despite this, she is excited to have found her family, but the closer she gets to Andrea, the more isolated she becomes from her own life. Is it a series of terrible coincidences that leave Mae with no choice but to turn to Andrea? Or has Andrea orchestrated these events for her own nefarious agenda?

I loved Mae from the start. She seemed to look down on herself but I was proud of her accomplishments. She is stronger than she knows, even if I did want to scream at her to run away! Some of the occurrences were predictable, but knowing that they were going to happen did not detract from my enjoyment of the story and maybe even increased the dread I felt since I saw what was coming but I couldn't warn Mae. The way that Andrea and her friends interacted with their husbands fairly screamed that they had been drinking the Kool-Aid. yet somehow the ending managed to take me by surprise. This is a must read for any fan of psychological thrillers.

My thanks to Tor Nightfire for the review copy.