By Karin Slaughter
William Morrow, Publisher
ASIN: B074DTKCR3
Kindle version, file size 5395 KB; © 2018
Paperback, 476 pages; © 2019
Wow … this story starts out with a huge bang in the first chapter, and rarely lets up throughout the book. Andy’s helpless failure attitude is thrown shrieking to the winds when her mother’s life—her life—is turned upside down by strange men and events beyond her control. Suddenly, Andy wonders if anything her mother ever told her was true. The answers are out there but finding them while she’s on the run will be difficult. Without knowing who she can trust, Andy is on her own with no fallback plan, and no time to form one, for the first time in her life.
Watching Andy’s character development was one of the coolest parts of this story, especially since she’s doing it while being under fire, and has no idea what to do or where to go next. This is one of those books that grabs you by the throat (as in, your heart will be in your throat throughout) and won’t let you go until the last page is turned.
The author has done an excellent job at placing tantalizing clues throughout the narrative. I found myself looking for them, piecing them together, and trying to predict what the outcome would be. Spoiler alert: I failed. This puzzle was too complex and multi-layered to even come close until I was three-quarters of the way through, following and swallowing hook after excellent hook.
(As an aside, this story is now a limited run series on Netflix; they did a good job, but as usual, the screen adaptation took liberties with the narrative that diverged in a big way. While at the end of the book, both Andy and Laura/Jane are empowered, the Netflix series puts their power into the hands of a man, and not a nice guy, at that. My suggestion? Read the book first, then watch the series.)
If you love a great, thrilling read, this book is definitely for you. Highly recommended.