Review by Booklist Review
What happens when everything you thought you knew is suddenly turned upside down? This is the question three estranged siblings grapple with when they gather for the mundane job of sifting through their deceased mother's home. Eldest sister Beth (who alone heard their mother's cryptic final words, "Don't trust . . . "), erstwhile middle child Nicole (29 days sober), and successful younger brother Michael (reluctantly back in their small town) alternately narrate their uneasy reunion, during which one videotape shatters any calm. The tape revisits the date 23 years ago that irrevocably changed their family. The siblings are shocked to see images of Emma Harper, the girl who vanished that summer night, and their frantic parents with her body. With palpable urgency, they unravel the secrets left by the father who abandoned them and the mother who cooperated with him, their own deceptions straining their tenuous familial trust, building to a stunning revelation. Set in Rose's (You Shouldn't Have Come Here, 2023) own rural Wisconsin hometown, this is a breathless stand-alone thriller.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Secrets await when the late Laura Thomas's adult children return to the rural community of Allen's Grove, Wis., to settle her estate in the taut if occasionally far-fetched latest from bestseller Rose (You Shouldn't Have Come Here). Dutiful eldest sibling Beth feels drained from juggling her factory job with caring for her cancer-stricken mother, whose husband disappeared seven years earlier. Meanwhile, strung-out middle child Nicole is fighting a losing battle with addiction, and Michael, the youngest, is a tech entrepreneur in California who wants as little as possible to do with the rest of his family. As the trio, who take turns narrating, sort through Laura's belongings, they stumble across a smoking gun: a 1999 VHS tape showing their bloodied father, a dead body, and their distraught mother agreeing to help dispose of it. Unsure what to do about the discovery, the squabbling siblings agree that Beth and Nicole will start sleuthing, and they'll formulate a decision based on their findings. In short order, someone breaks into the house, Laura's diaries reveal a spate of chilling clues, and the siblings begin to see their parents in a new, unflattering light. Though a few of the plot twists strain credulity, Rose demonstrates a formidable command of character. The author's fans will enjoy the ride. Agent: Sandy Lu, Book Wyrm. (Apr.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Three siblings on very different paths learn that their family home may be haunted by secrets. Eldest daughter Beth is alone with her fading mother as she takes her final breath and says something about Beth's long-departed brother and sister, who may not have disappeared forever. Beth is still reeling from the loss of her mother when her estranged siblings show up. Michael, the youngest, hasn't been home since their father's disappearance seven years ago. In the meantime, he's outgrown his siblings, trading his share of the family troubles for a high-paying job in San Jose. Nicole, the middle child, has been overpowered by addiction and prioritized tuning out reality over any sense of responsibility, much to Beth's disgust. Though their mother's death marks an ending for the family, it's also a beginning, as the three siblings realize when they find a disturbing videotape among their parents' belongings. The video, from 1999, sheds suspicion on their father's disappearance, linking it to a long-unsolved neighborhood mystery. Was it just a series of unfortunate circumstances that broke the family apart, or does something more sinister underlie the sadness they've all found in life? In chapters that rotate among the family's first-person narratives, the siblings take turns digging up stories and secrets in their search for solace. Answers are hard to come by in this twisting tale designed to trick and delight. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
