Genre: Psychological Thriller
Published by William Morrow
Publication Date: September 22, 2020
ASIN: B081FDHZYZ
Pages: 320
Review Copy From: William Morrow via NetGalley
Edition: Kindle
My Rating: 4
Synopsis (via GR)
The acclaimed author of The Nanny, The Perfect Girl, and What She Knew—“a writer to watch” (Publishers Weekly)—returns with another serpentine thriller that is a potent blend of atmosphere, tarnished memories, mystery, and twisty secrets from the past.
Bestselling mystery writer Lucy Harper’s talent for invention has given her fame, fortune, and an army of adoring readers. It has also saddled her with dependents, namely her fawning husband Dan.
When Dan suddenly goes missing, his disappearance evokes dark memories that take Lucy back more than thirty years—to the day her brother vanished without a trace. That’s when Lucy began conjuring stories. The police investigation revealed few confirmed details, so she created tales to fill in the gaps, to explain what happened that day her brother disappeared—and young Lucy was the only witness.
Now decades later, with the whole world watching, Lucy’s past and present are colliding, and this bestselling author skilled in telling stories is losing control of her own narrative.
Where is Dan? What happened to Lucy’s brother? And is the brilliant mystery writer—an expert in devising red herrings and hidden clues—revealing all she knows about both disappearances?
With twists and turns, Gilly Macmillan reveals the answers in this clever and compulsively readable mystery sure to thrill fans of Ruth Ware and Shari LaPena.
My Thoughts
Lucy Harper is a bestselling author, even though her husband Dan had hoped, for many years, that he would be the one with that moniker. Now he is Lucy’s assistant, financial dependent, and number 1 fan. Or is he?
Lucy hasn’t told anyone what happened 30 years ago, that was until the night when a little bit of wine opened her up to her husband. About the past, that she has hidden all these years. About the night when she was 9 and snuck out of her house with her 3-year-old brother into the Stoke Woods where people were celebrating the summer solstice. So engrossed in what she was seeing, she had lost track of Teddy and he was gone. In the weeks and months that followed, Teddy’s disappearance had never been solved, even to this day.
After reading The Nanny and I Know You Know, giving each 5 stars, I was looking forward to reading this book. I struggled with the rating for this book between 3 or 4 stars.
I found it to start slow but then the tempo with the suspense definitely picked up whereas the pages kept turning because I had to see where this was going, which is why I gave it 4 stars. But then there were aspects of the story that didn’t resonate with me. I also found the ending to be disappointing in what happened in both the past and present.
If I could have, I would have given this a 3.5 rating. Or maybe it was because once I started it, I had to put it down a lot due to adulting tasks, and maybe lost the flow of the story because of it. However, I will definitely pick up her next book.
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REVIEW DISCLAIMER
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Nice, honest, well-written review….thanks.
It dragged for me at first, but turned out ok in the end.
Great review, Girlfriend! Miss you! Are you not getting my e-mails?