Publisher: William Morrow
Published: May 17, 2022
Source: ARC E-copy via Netgalley
Summary:
From the New York Times bestselling author of Find You First and Elevator Pitch comes a gripping psychological thriller about a formerly missing woman who has suddenly returned under mysterious circumstances.
One weekend, while Andrew Mason was on a fishing trip, his wife, Brie, vanished without a trace. Most everyone assumed Andy had got away with murder–it’s always the husband, isn’t it?–but the police could never build a strong case against him. For a while, Andy hit rock bottom–he drank too much to numb the pain, was abandoned by all his friends save one, nearly lost his business, and became a pariah in the place he once called home.
Now, six years later, Andy has finally put his life back together. He sold the house he once shared with Brie and moved away. Truth to tell, he wasn’t sad to hear that the old place was razed and a new house built on the site. He’s settled down with a new partner, Jayne, and life is good.
But Andy’s peaceful world is about to shatter. One day, a woman shows up at his old address, screaming, “Where’s my house? What’s happened to my house?” And then, just as suddenly as she appeared, the woman–who bears a striking resemblance to Brie–is gone. The police are notified and old questions–and dark suspicions–resurface.
Could Brie really be alive after all these years? If so, where has she been? It soon becomes clear that Andy’s future, and the lives of those closest to him, depends on discovering what the hell is going on. The trick will be whether he can stay alive long enough to unearth the answers.
My thoughts:
This is the second book I’ve read by Linwood Barclay and I really like his writing style. He’s got this binge-worthy, addicting quality to his writing and I don’t know why I haven’ read more of his books. Thanks to Cindy and her Patreon early reads group, I was able to not only read this one early and discuss it with our group but also chat with the author and I just loved being able to hear how he came up with the idea for this story and everything.
This book kept me engaged and frantically flipping the pages from start to finish. I loved that I had so many questions running through my mind as I read – this is definitely a case where I was totally an active reader throughout the book – my mind just wouldn’t stop trying to figure out what was going on and coming up with question after question. And, as I found out in our book discussion I definitely wasn’t the only one. I had so many theories as to what happened to Brie and while none of my ideas came to fruition, I still enjoyed this one immensely. Yes, I did have to suspend belief a few times, but I find that sometimes happens with thrillers and I’m totally ok with that.
This one is so cleverly plotted and the twists and turns really kept me on edge and fully engaged. I am definitely looking forward to reading Barclay’s backlist as I didn’t realize just how prolific an author he is. If you like a good, fast-paced thriller, I highly recommend adding this one to your summer reading list – it’s out May 17th!
