Release date: February 8, 2022

Publisher: MIRA

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Synopsis:

An intriguing and twisty domestic suspense about loyalty and deceit in a tight-knit Texas community where parents are known to behave badly and people are not always who they appear to be.

Emily, a popular but bookish prep school senior, goes missing after a night out with friends. She was last seen leaving a party with Alex, a football player with a dubious reputation. But no one is talking.

Now three mothers, Catherine, Leslie and Morgan, friends turned frenemies, have their lives turned upside down as they are forced to look to their own children—and each other’s—for answers to questions they don’t want to ask.

Each mother is sure she knows who is responsible, but they all have their own secrets to keep and reputations to protect. And the lies they tell themselves and each other may just have the potential to be lethal in this riveting debut.

Review:

This one had me hooked initially, I love stories about people behaving badly and hiding secrets etc so I had a good feeling going into it. I also enjoy multiple viewpoints and I especially liked Emily’s perspective as she narrates after she’s already been missing for months. I liked the angle of her being gone for so long yet no one has any idea where she’s been or who she’s been with. There were a ton of unanswered questions and the plot moved steadily forward and kept my interest at first, but unfortunately that interest waned. About halfway in things just started to feel sluggish and like they weren’t going anywhere, or at least anywhere interesting. It was dramatic but not in a fun way, it just seemed pretty silly. I started not really caring about what had happened to Emily in the past or what would happen to her later. I didn’t believe the ending, it just didn’t make a whole lot of sense in terms of motivation for where Emily had been and why. Overall this one fell flat for me despite a decent premise.

Overall rating: 3/5

Thanks to the publisher for my review copy.