Before getting into the review, I should mention that I listened to this book in audiobook form while sick in bed with the flu. The narrator, January Lavoy, was excellent. She gave each of the characters their own voice and even matched perfectly their emotion as they were speaking. It made listening to the story like watching a film. That said, the book was so good, I will probably be purchasing a paper version for my shelf.

I watch a lot of real life crime and cop shows and documentaries, so I consider myself a fairly astute and informed viewer/reader of the genre. I can usually smell when something is “off” about the way court, jail, or a crime scene investigation is portrayed, but the author of this book certainly did her research, because everything in this book was so real and raw and exactly as horrific as it would have been if it was real life. In fact, when I first started reading, I thought it was based on a true story. Hillier tethers her book firmly to reality and makes it so authentic to our real world, that it is easy to be immersed in the horror she creates. And throughout, she does not cut corners – she tells it to you how it is without the fluff. When bad things happen (and many do in this book), they are emotional, painful, and so real. They are not minimized in any way, nor are they dramatized for the sake of the story. They just are, which is something I don’t often find. This book truly feels like it could be based on true events and real people, which makes the things that happen in it that much more jarring and personal.

Throughout the book, you get the sneaking suspicion that something is being hidden, and you think you know what it is, until the author completely shocks you with the real conclusion, and by that point it all washes over you in a big “Ah-ha” moment. I enjoyed greatly that the author planted all the clues necessary for me to discover the secret, and by the time she was ready to reveal it, I had come to my conclusion as well. (If you’re curious, yes, I did guess the mystery, but only because I paused the audiobook at just the right time to give my brain time enough to process the clues and think through my conclusion before it was revealed in the very next line). All the clues needed to solve the mystery were there, many revealed through the flashbacks, and all the loose ends and questions are tied up at the book’s conclusion. The ending was satisfying as well, which after a read like this, you’ll be thankful for. It doesn’t leave you hanging.

Beyond the book’s plot, the structure of the book kept me interested as well and gave my writing brain several ideas. The transition between Parts is marked by the perspective switch from one character to another and then back again. I usually dislike when authors make me love one character and then make me follow another character for a long time before bringing me back to the original character’s perspective, but this time it worked flawlessly. The reader comes to find how both characters are vital to the story, and hearing the story unfold through their two very different experiences was a thrilling way to uncover the story. In addition to these perspective switches, the author also makes use of flashbacks to tell the story. The bulk of the story is told in the present tense, but the flashbacks are told in the past tense. And speaking of “tense,” the flashbacks were particularly so because the whole time you know they are leading to “the moment,” and as it gets closer and closer, you know there is nothing you can do to stop the inevitable.

Be prepared for grisly details. Hillier holds nothing back. Truly a wild ride.

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Created Jan 29, 2019 at 11:42am • Submit your own review...