This was a gripping, edge of your seat thriller that took me by surprise. I really didn't know what to expect and I don't remember who recommended this book to me, but I wish I did because I would gladly take more book suggestions from them. I'd never read this author before and I'm now a huge fan. I could not put the book down. It was one of those books were I found myself up all night, counting the pages of the next chapter and saying to myself, "Okay, just one more chapter ... just one more." Until Yep, you guessed it, I finished the book. The plot was intriguing. Two girls who grew up together and shared a long history and an obvious secret, one that the author does an excellent job of hinting at, and foreshadowing, but keeps us in the dark until the very end are sort of forced together again. Rose, the protagonist is the good girl. She is living her dream life, married with two children and living in her perfect home. But nothing is ever really perfect ... is it? Or nothing is as perfect as we think it is or we hope it is or we pretend it is or perhaps we let ourself believe it is. She and her husband Gareth have had their problems, but their marriage is solid now. Until the call comes. Rose's childhood friend needs her. Polly's husband is dead. Her husband, who happened to have been Gareth's friend before he married Polly. Dead! Now Polly and her two small boys have no where to go. They are homeless, basically until Polly's husband's estate is settled. And there is something strange about his death, but that's only hinted at as well. Gareth does not like Polly and makes no bones about it. He does not want her in their home, but how can Rose turn her life long friend down. It will just be for a short while, just until she and the boys are back on their feet. Polly and Rose are polar opposites. Rose is rail thin, beautiful, a former nationally recognized rock star. Famous. She still into drugs and hasn't outgrown the college/university partying lifestyle that Rose left behind for the family life she's built with Gareth and her two daughters.
Once Polly arrives things go terribly wrong. It begins small. So small that they are almost unrecognizable, undetectable. Polly is unable to care for her boys so Rose now has four kids to raise and a husband who is unhappy and quite moody and spends more and more time isolated in his art gallery which is on their property, but a little bit from the main house. Polly is living in an annex to the main house. Accidents began occurring. I won't go into the plot anymore than I have because I don't want to give the story away. The author has done a fabulous job of setting this story up. It's a story of friendship, trust, betrayal, secrets, love, coming to terms with the past, revenge and so much more. Just when I thought I had everything figured out, the author tossed me another hard ball. The characters are so well written and complex. The climax blew me away, but after reading the book and knowing the characters as well as I did, I realized it was the best ending possible. I can't say more. I can only say you really must read this book. If you are a fan of thrillers, mysteries, suspense, you will devour this book.
It's not what you call a typical unreliable narrator, but the author is so talented that the book is written in such a way that it allows the reader to experience each event as it occurs and from the deep POV of the person narrating the chapter so the reader is never really sure who or what to believe until the very end. You will be shocked. This is one of my favorite new authors. I don't like when publishers compare books to other books and say things like "This is the next Gone Girl or Girl on the Train." But, I am going to say that if you did like those books or if you liked In The Dark Dark Wood by Ruth Ware, or are a fan of Mary Kubica, then you will undoubtedly like this book and this author's clever writing style.
Melissa Sugar
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Top reviews from other countries
Georgia McGhee
This book grips you from beginning to end.
Reviewed in Canada on October 20, 2017
Gwendy P.
The situation presented as more realistic to me than other books with this "theme" and I liked the spin the author put on the ending
Reviewed in Canada on July 10, 2018
