"I have a hard time not blaming myself for what happened. I wish I didn't. I wish this was not a cautionary tale about what happens to girls who wander off in the dark. Who are made to learn there are bad people everywhere. That the truth is these people are not strangers. They are the men who you sleep with, the men you work with, the men you raise. I wish this wasn't what it means to be female--it is not a matter of if something bad will happen, but when."
Two years. Two weeks. One day.
That's how long Ellie Black has been missing when she stumbles from the Captiol State Forest near Olympia, Washington. She's thin, bruised, clearly traumatized, and wearing a sweatshirt spattered with someone else's blood. Ellie's disappearance was Chelsey Calhoun's first case as a detective. Now she's hoping to find Ellie's abductor and arrest him. Only Ellie won't answer any of her questions, and it's clear she's keeping secrets. When Chelsey learns that the blood on Ellie's sweatshirt is from another girl who went missing before Ellie, Chelsey fears there are more missing girls out there still being held by the man or men who took Ellie. And she's determined to find them.
"Ever since Ellie Black's disappearance, Chelsey has volunteered for any case involving violence against women. She always has plenty of work to do. All those beaten, all those bruised, all those maimed women are welcomed on Chelsey's shores. It is a type of atonement, Chelsey understands. She could not save (her sister) Lydia. She could not solve Ellie's case. ... A lump rises in Chelsey's throat, and she gulps it back. She won't allow the tears to come. All these girls. These bright, bold, beautiful girls. All that potential wasted. All those possibilities snuffed out. What could have been. The question stretches to infinity. She pulls one of Lydia's Beatrix Potter rabbits from the bed and screams into it with a shimmery, impotent rage."
This mystery is both page-turning and haunting. It alternates between Ellie's and Chelsey's POVs. I could understand and sympathize with Chelsey's intense determination to learn the truth about what happened to Ellie, and to keep it from happening to any other girls. And I liked the way Ellie's story unfolded bit by bit over the course of the novel. It kept me guessing about what secrets she was hiding. And there's a good, very unexpected twist, at the end. This is a very compelling thriller, as well as a sad commentary on the bad things that can happen to young girls in our society. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Happy Reading!
Scary book for those with young girls in families!
ReplyDeleteScary for women in general.
DeleteVery good review Lark and this novelist has written a thriller with an important message. The situation with girls who go missing each day is serious. We don't even know the number of missing girls because in many cases they don't even appear on the news.
ReplyDeleteI will check this one out.
I think if we knew how many girls go missing each year, or are assaulted each year, we would be astonished. And dismayed. Because I bet it's a sadly high number.
DeleteAs the mother of daughters (now grown up) this story is a thing of nightmares. I don't think I'll be reading it but thank you for the review.
ReplyDeleteI hate that we live in a world where women aren't safe from predators like the men depicted in this book. It makes me angry.
DeleteAs someone who grew up in Washington State, I'm always on the look-out for stories set there (besides Twilight). This does sound like an intense story!
ReplyDeleteAnother good mystery/suspense set in Washington is Owen Laukkanen's Deception Cove.
DeleteI like this premise because it's so relatable. It could happen, it has happened and that's so sad.
ReplyDeleteIt is really sad. It also makes me angry.
DeleteIt does sound really good! Great review.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cindy. :D
DeleteThis sounds like an incredibly compelling read. It's sad that stuff like this could and does happen every day.
ReplyDeleteIt is sad that things like this happen to young women in our society. It shouldn't!
DeleteOh, I hate that this is a story that has happened over and over in real life! Men have no idea the fear that we women live with on a daily basis. Having to always think about our surroundings and evaluate threats. I hope they caught the guy and it was a good ending! :)
ReplyDeleteI hate it, too! And they do get the men responsible at the end. But it's still a sad thing. Women deserve to be safe in society. We're doing something wrong when that's not the case.
DeleteI really want to read this one, although perhaps not right now. I am glad you enjoyed it, Lark!
ReplyDeleteYou definitely need to be in the right mood for a book like this.
DeleteGreat review! I enjoyed this one too (enjoyed probably isn't the right word -- I found it very compelling, but so dark), but didn't love the ending. Still, just couldn't put it down!
ReplyDeleteThe part with her sister at the end? I didn't love that either. But it certainly was an unexpected twist!
DeleteThis sounds scary. I hope Chelsey cracks the case.
ReplyDeleteShe's not one to give up!
DeleteThis sounds creepy and I love the sound of Chelsey. I'll have to look for this one!
ReplyDeleteShe's a very stubborn and determined character with her own baggage...but I love how she comes through at the end.
DeleteThis sounds disturbing, but also really compelling. I might have to give it a go!
ReplyDeleteI thought it was a compelling story. You might like it.
DeleteExcellent review, Lark. I agree, it is a scary world we live in these days. I think this might make a good, creepy, October story.
ReplyDeleteIt would make a good October read! I was planning on reading it then, too, but my library hold came in early. ;D
DeleteThis is definitely my kind of mystery/thriller. I will have to see if my library has this one. Wonderful review, Lark.
ReplyDeleteFingers crossed. It's a good one.
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