Review by New York Times Review
Cara is a wife and mother who, after a nasty marital row, flees her home in England for a spa in Arizona. But upon her arrival she's sent to a room that's already occupied - by a man and a young girl. To compensate, the spa upgrades Cara to a villa and all is well, until she begins to suspect that the girl she saw was Melody Chapa, whose parents are currently in prison for her murder. The novel's intriguing premise - what if Melody is alive? - is sabotaged by Hannah's choice of a sleuth. Cara, supposedly desperate for privacy and solitude, becomes an amateur detective overnight. And she's joined in her effort by an ersatz "Scooby-Doo" gang that includes a cranky shrew who's been "spotting" Melody for years, a Kardashian-like mother and daughter, a jumpy desk clerk and a brassy Nancy Grace type with an agenda of her own. All this necessitates rather too much suspension of disbelief, never more so than at the authorities' blithe willingness to let Cara proceed with her investigation. Then there's the problem of pace: The first third of the novel reads like an article for Travel + Leisure, as it seems as if every pillow, curtain and tile is described in vivid detail. We get it: She's at a fancy spa! In the end, though, the real measure of a good psychological thriller lies in its ability to deliver jaw-dropping twists, and here Hannah succeeds, keeping the shocks coming until the very end. Who's telling the truth? No one. Who's lying? Everyone. Including, quite possibly, the girl whose disappearance started it all.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [October 29, 2017]
Review by Booklist Review
A mistake at Swallowtail Resort's front desk sends a jet-lagged Brit, Cara Burrows, blundering into a room already occupied by a man and his apparent teenage daughter. Later, Cara overhears a guest insisting that she's seen Melody Chapa, a young girl whose disappearance has captivated American popular culture for years. Curious, Cara digs online and is hooked by coverage of justice television host Bonnie Juno's passionate crusade to convict Melody's parents of murder. Cara is certain that the girl she saw that first night was clutching Melody's one-of-a-kind stuffed animal and pushes the local police to investigate. But Cara is kidnapped before she can provide her official statement of the late-night encounter. While Cara strategizes ways to outwit her captor, he is determined to make her understand the secrets behind one of America's most notorious crimes. Astute characterization, particularly in the cases of Cara and Juno, provide irony-laden commentary on America's obsession with criminal cases and the media's impact on justice. Perfect for fans of Laura Lippman's stand-alone psychological thrillers.--Tran, Christine Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this unnecessarily complex standalone from bestseller Hannah (A Game for All the Family), Englishwoman Cara Burrows, who's frustrated with her family, leaves her husband and two children behind in the U.K. and flies to Phoenix, Ariz., where she stays at the exclusive Swallowtail Resort in the foothills of Camelback Mountain. Pregnant with an unintended third child, Cara anticipates relaxing swims and soaking up the desert sun, until she's accidentally assigned the wrong room and sees a teenage girl who closely resembles Melody Chapa, the most famous murder victim in America. Seven years earlier in 2010, seven-year-old Melody was allegedly murdered by her parents, though her body was never found. Cara soon goes down the internet rabbit hole of the Chapa case and looks up transcripts of Nancy Grace-type true crime TV shows, most hosted by the overly opinionated Bonnie Juno, an early believer in the guilt of Melody's parents, despite a dearth of evidence. The present-day plot devolves into a kidnapping free-for-all, with Cara inexplicably at the center. Hannah, known for her labyrinthine plots, loses her way early on. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Faced with an unexpected pregnancy that only she wants, Cara Burrows runs away from her family in the UK and arrives late at night at an exclusive Arizona resort. She is accidentally given the wrong room assignment, a room that a man and a teenage girl are already using. Cara thinks nothing of it until she overhears another guest talking about Melody Chapa, the most famous murder victim in the States. Because she is British, Cara had not known much about the case involving the abduction and presumed murder of a seven-year-old girl. But the more she learns about Melody, the more convinced she is that the girl she saw her first night was Melody. With the help of other guests, Cara puts herself in danger to get at the truth. While Hannah's premise is intriguing, she complicates her story with unnecessary plot twists and confusing character motivations. Cara never really seems to be in any real danger, while the case of Melody, presented through a series of YouTube clips from a Nancy Grace-like television show, has a remoteness to it. Verdict A rare miss from this best-selling author. [See Prepub Alert, 3/13/17.]-Lynnanne Pearson, Skokie P.L., IL © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Overwhelmed by complications arising from her unplanned third pregnancy, a Hertfordshire housewife flees her home for the comforts of an upscale Arizona resort and lands smack in the middle of a fictionalization of the JonBent Ramsey case, which quickly swallows her up.Patrick Burrows is a good provider and a good man, but he really doesn't want any more children. So Cara Burrows runs away from homethere's no better way to put itand sinks a third of the family's savings into a two-week stay at the Swallowtail Resort and Spa, which feels like the capital of "America: Land of Hyperbolic Overstatement." In a place dedicated to fulfilling her every whim, night clerk Riyonna Briggs accidentally gives her a key to the wrong room, and the conversation she overhears from the bathroom she thinks is her own plunges her into the case of Melody Chapa, whose parents were convicted of her murder in Philadelphia seven years ago even though her body was never found. Cara becomes convinced that the girl she overheard is Melody, and she's not the only one: regular guest Lilith McNair has been announcing sightings of Melody every year even though nobody pays any attention. Will anyone pay attention to Cara? Tearful Riyonna is no help; the rest of the Swallowtail staff treats Cara to a series of simpering brushoffs; and Lilith McNair seems even crazier in their sole one-on-one conversation. Only sharp-tongued florist Tarin Fry and Zellie, her daughter and sparring partner, take Cara seriously, and their interest doesn't prevent either Riyonna or Cara from vanishing as competing partiesthe variously compromised local cops, the FBI, the TV host of Justice with Bonnie who played a key role in getting Naldo and Annette Chapa convicted all those years agopaw the ground and look accusingly at each other while Cara's peril deepens. Hannah (Closed Casket, 2016, etc.) continues her quest to identify all the reassuring certitudes mystery novels take for granted and demonstrate how much fun it is to toss them overboard. There's no point in objecting to the coincidences and implausibilities required to launch this brilliant nightmare: resistance is futile. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
