What’s Done In Darkness, By Laura McHugh ~ 4.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Assault, Implied Rape, Kidnapping, Mystery, Ozarks, Religious Fanaticism, Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: June 22nd, 2021

256 Pages

Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Sarabeth has become increasingly rebellious since her parents found God and moved their family to a remote Arkansas farmstead where she’s forced to wear long dresses, follow strict rules, and grow her hair down to her waist. She’s all but given up on escaping the farm when a masked man appears one stifling summer morning and snatches her out of the cornfield.

A week after her abduction, she’s found alongside a highway in a bloodstained dress—alive—but her family treats her like she’s tainted, and there’s little hope of finding her captor who kept Sarabeth blindfolded in the dark the entire time, never uttering a word. One good thing arises from the horrific ordeal: a chance to leave the Ozarks and start a new life.

Five years later, Sarabeth is struggling to keep her past buried, when investigator Nick Farrow calls. Convinced that her case is connected to the strikingly similar disappearance of another young girl, Farrow wants Sarabeth’s help and he’ll do whatever it takes to get it, even if that means dragging her back to the last place she wants to go—the hills and hollers of home, to face her estranged family, and all her deepest fears.

In this riveting new novel from Laura McHugh, blood ties and buried secrets draw a young woman back into the nightmare of her past to save a missing girl, unaware of what awaits her in the darkness. (Goodreads)

What’s Done In Darkness is an unsettling thriller that illustrates how much can be packed into a relatively short book in the hands of a talented author. The book alternates between the years leading up to Sarabeth’s abduction and the ordeal itself, to five years later in the present day, when Sara is now trying to make a normal life for herself, away from her family and strict religious community that she was trapped in for a good portion of her childhood. McHugh created a wonderful character in Sara, with both her past and present selves. She comes across as not only relatable, but as a real flesh and blood person. The other characters are equally well written, and so realistic that this could have been a documentary. The setting of the story in the Ozarks was a brilliant decision and added to the claustrophobic atmosphere of this religious cultish community. The mystery as to who abducted Sara was in part predictable, but there were some nuances that still surprised me. In summation, What’s Done In Darkness is an emotional, evocative, and mesmerizing read that I guarantee you won’t be able to put down. This is the first book I’ve read by Laura McHugh, but I liked it so much I’m determined to go back and read her three previous books. 

Girl 11, By Amy Suiter Clarke ~ 5.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Child Abuse, Kidnapping, Mystery, PTSD, Serial Killers, Suspense, True Crime Podcasts

Thanks to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

April 20th, 2021

352 Pages

Synopsis: Once a social worker, specializing in kids who were the victims of violent crime, Elle Castillo is now the host of a popular true crime podcast that tackles cold cases of missing children in her hometown of the Twin Cities. After two seasons of successfully solving cases, Elle decides to tackle her white whale—The Countdown Killer. Twenty years ago TCK abruptly stopped after establishing a pattern of taking and ritualistically murdering three girls over seven days, each a year younger than the last. No one’s ever known why, why he stopped with his eleventh victim, a girl of eleven years old, or why he followed the ritual at all.

When a listener phones in with a tip, Elle sets out to interview him, only to discover his dead boy. And within days, a child is abducted following the original TCK MO. Unlike the experts in the media and law enforcement who have always spun theories of a guilty suicide,  Elle never believed TCK had died, and her investigation was meant to lay that suspicion to rest. But instead, her podcast seems to be kicking up new victims. (Goodreads)

I need to begin by saying if you choose to pick up Girl, 11, be prepared to leave some expectations of rationality at the door. I also need to tell you that there are some scenes of child abuse which could be difficult for some readers. With those warnings out of the way, you guys—THIS. WAS. PHENOMENONAL! You know, in the way that you’re supposed to be doing laundry, and other real life stuff, but nothing gets done because you can’t put down the book you’re reading! Well, in my defense I did finally get the laundry done albeit much later than I had planned on. Seriously though, Girl, 11 had me from the very first page and it dug its hooks into me even more as I got deeper into the story.

Elle is a flawed and emotionally complicated character who never makes you question her motives, but does make you doubt her methods. She’s stubborn, obsessive and impulsive, which starts out as annoying, but as Amy Suiter Clarke drops little hints to an unknown childhood trauma, it’s obvious why Elle is so determined to do what she thinks is right, even when those around her have doubts. Unfortunately, in her quest for the truth she puts not only herself, but others in danger. But then, in the final chapters, comes the bombshell to end all bombshells regarding Elle’s past, and everything she’s done up until this point makes much more sense.The secondary characters are equally well written, but the standout for me is Martin, Elle’s dishy Mexican husband, whose skills as an ME are quite useful. Their relationship is really sweet, and I loved the dialogue between them.

The story is told mainly from Elle’s perspective and alternate with her podcast transcripts, but there are a few chapters scattered throughout where you hear from someone else which add some interesting layers to the story. The ones from the killer are chilling and made my flesh crawl. Another compelling aspect of this ripped-from-the-headlines plot is the question that’s raised about the positive vs the negative of focusing so much attention on the monsters who commit such evil atrocities. I can honestly say I was kept guessing right up until the end, and I’m glad I finished in the afternoon, because if I had done so right before bed, I never would have gone to sleep.

To sum things up, Girl, 11, is one of the most impressive debuts I’ve had the pleasure of coming across in recent memory. If you’re a fan of true crime podcasts, complex characters, twisty mysteries, and heart-pounding suspense, I highly recommend this. Without being a psychic I can almost guarantee that this will become a series, and if it doesn’t, I’ll be extremely disappointed.

The Last Secret You’ll Ever Keep (Jane Anonymous #2), By Laurie Faria Stolarz ~ 4.0 Stars

Tags

Death of Parents, Kidnapping, Mental Illness, Movie Nostalgia, Mystery, Suspense, YA Fiction

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Press/Wednesday Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: March 16th, 2021

336 Pages

Synopsis: Four days…

Trapped in a well, surrounded by dirt, scratching at the walls, trying to find a way out. Four days of a thirst so strong, that when it finally rains, I drink as much as possible from the dripping walls, not even caring how much dirt comes with it.

Six months…

Since my escape. Since no on believed I was taken to begin with—from my own bed, after a party, when no one else was home…Six months of trying to find answers and being told instead that I made the whole incident up.

One month…

Since I logged on to the Jane Anonymous site for the first time and found a community of survivors who listen without judgement, provide advice, and console each other when needed. A month of chatting with a survivor whose story eerily mirrors my own: a girl who’s been receiving triggering clues, just like me, and who could help me find the answers I’m looking for.

Three days…

Since she mysteriously disappears, and since I’m forced to ask the questions: will my chance to find out what happened to me vanish with her? And will I be next?

The Last Secret You’ll Ever Keep has a few issues, but somehow still wound up a winner for me. The problems included: underdeveloped secondary characters, police being portrayed in a negative light (which happens far too often in YA novels), certain character’s actions not making sense, and a few predictable elements. However, what saved this for me was Terra, who I really connected with despite some of her appalling decision making. She’s an unreliable narrator who tells her story from the past when she was taken, as well as the present. To say my heart broke for her, doesn’t quite describe my feelings. I was infuriated by the callous and unfeeling way she was treated by her aunt, the police, former friends, and even her therapist, all who decided she made up this story about being taken to cope with an earlier trauma. Terra finds comfort in the online chat rooms of Jane Anonymous which was created as a safe space for victims of similar crimes. I felt the dialogue between the girls in the forum did slow things down a little, but there was also a direct tie-in from the previous book, so this is a minor complaint. Terra is so lost and confused for the majority of the story that it was a relief when a love interest named Garrett was introduced, who actually supported her and was determined to discover what actually happened. This poor girl desperately needed someone in her corner and Garrett filled that purpose. The ending took a truly bizarre twist, which I both liked and disliked. It came out of nowhere, yet was creative and memorable. Overall, while I don’t think The Last Secret You’ll Ever Keep is as tightly written as Jane Anonymous, thanks to a strongly written and sympathetic main character, I was engrossed from the first chapter. I believe fans of the previous book will enjoy this, and you needn’t have read Jane Anonymous, to read this as the characters are new here.

Descent ~ By Tim Johnston – 4.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Family Relationships, Kidnapping, Mystery, Suspense

Thanks to NetGalley and Algonquin Books for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

376 Pages

Synopsis: The Rocky Mountains have cast their spell over the Courtlands, a young family from the plains taking a last summer vacation before their daughter begins college. For eighteen-year-old Caitlin, the mountains loom as the ultimate test of her runner’s heart, while her parents hope that so much beauty, so much grandeur, will somehow repair a damaged marriage. But when Caitlin and her younger brother, Sean, go out for an early morning run and only Sean returns, the mountains become as terrifying as they are magestic, as suddenly this family find themselves living the kind of nightmare they’ve only read about in headlines or seen on TV.

As their world comes undone, the Courtlands are drawn into a vortex of dread and recrimination. Why weren’t they more careful? What happened to their daughter? Is she alive? Will they ever known? Caitlin’s disappearance, all the more devastating for its mystery, is the beginning of the family’s harrowing journey down increasingly ivergent and solitary paths until all that continues to bind them together are the questions they can never bring themselves to ask: At what point does a family stop searching? At what point will a girl stop fighting for her life?

Descent wasn’t quite the fast-paced thriller I was expecting, but for the most part I still quite liked it. The first part, which is the set up for Caitlin’s disappearance immediately hooked me. Partly because I knew from the premise what was coming, but also because I enjoyed the banter between her and Sean. After she goes missing, the story turns into more about a family in crisis. Sean and his parents have different coping mechanisms but the sad truth is that all of them are really just mired in the same place and they can’t move on with their lives until they discover the truth, wherever that leads them. At this point the pacing slowed down and just when I was thinking “Hmm. I’ve read too many other stories like this”,  The story shifted to Caitlin who is still alive and fighting to remain so. Tim Johnston’s writing is beautifully descriptive. The scenes where Caitlin is being held in the Rockies were particularly evocative and it was easy to understand why the search for the missing girl was so difficult amidst the towering peaks and dense shadowy forests along the slopes. The characters are all imperfect but well written, especially Grant, the father, who stays and refuses to give up hope and Sean, who blames himself for his sister’s disappearance. Up until the end, the kidnapper remained a hidden and menacing figure who went quite well with the setting. My biggest issue lies with the ending which wraps things up a little too neatly after what this family has gone through. The search for Caitlin goes on for years and during that time Grant and Angela become estranged and the guilt-ridden Sean goes on a cross country odyssey before rejoining his father to search for Caitlin. And some of the things Caitlin does trying to escape–well let’s just say that even with years of therapy, the average person would face many challenges in overcoming the trauma. Yet everyone suddenly gets a happy ending? It just didn’t quite ring true to me. But still, there is no denying that Tim Johnston can write and for the majority of the book I was completely immersed. I definitely recommend Descent to any mystery lover who likes their suspense to slowly build rather than being non-stop. 

She’s Not There ~ By Joy Fielding – 4.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Family Relationships, Kidnapping, Mystery, Psychological Suspense

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for providing an e-Arc in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: February 23rd, 2016

Synopsis: A lifetime ago, every year Carole Shipley looked forward to her wedding anniversary. But then a celebratory trip to Mexico for the occasion with with her husband and friends ended in the unsolved kidnapping of her infant daughter, Samantha. Now, fifteen years after that horrific time, divorced and isolated, Carole is forced to relive the kidnapping by reporters who call every year on the anniversary of Samantha’s disappearance. However, this year when the phone rings, Carole hears the sweet voice of a girl claiming to be her long-lost daughter. Plunged back into the world of heartbreak, suspicion and questions that led the case to run cold so many years ago, Carole doesn’t know who or what to believe. But when she she starts to figure it out, she finds the answers dangerously close to home.

As soon as I read the synopsis for She’s Not There, I was reminded of Madeleine McCann who disappeared from a resort in Portugal in 2007. Although there are similarities, Joy Fielding has created a fascinating story that examines family relationships in the wake of a tragedy, as well as how quick the media and public are quick to judge even when we don’t have all the facts.

The story primarily focuses on Carole, and jumps from the present to the past, 15 years previously, when young Samantha disappears from the family’s hotel room after she and her sister Mary are left alone while their parents have a celebratory dinner downstairs with their friends and family. Carole’s husband Hunter is the one who comes up with the brilliant idea of leaving the two small children alone after there’s a mysterious mix-up with the babysitter they booked. He talks his reluctant wife into the scheme, telling her they’ll take turns checking on the children every half hour. I know. You’re probably thinking: “Who in their right mind would do this?” I know I did, both with the McCann case and with this book, but honestly, how often are children left alone while a parent runs a quick errand? When I was a children’s librarian I was horrified at the number of times children under the age of six were left alone while the parents ran upstairs to check out books or even completely left the building to run a quick errand while their little one was participating in a program like storytime. You see, parents thought of the library as a “safe zone” and didn’t take into consideration that anyone could walk in. Anyway, I wound up feeling quite sympathetic toward Carole, who is trapped in a never-ending hell of guilt, depression and uncertainty. She didn’t want to leave her daughters alone to begin with, but because of all the time and expense her husband put into their anniversary, she goes against her better judgement. Adding to her difficulties is that the media and the public have passed judgement, and made her the scapegoat, while Hunter is pretty much given a pass. 

Except for Carole’s supportive and loyal friend Peggy, the rest of the characters are all pretty unlikable, including the remaining daughter Michelle. She was annoying even before her sister’s kidnapping, and grows even more so as the years pass. Her relationship with her mother is contentious, and while a lot of this is Carole’s fault, Michelle is also to blame. I found Hunter to be extremely one-dimensional and I wish the author had fleshed him out more. Carole’s brother, Steve and her mother Mary are horrible, and this helps explain some of Carole’s poor decisions.

There are two mysteries here. The first is what really happened that night, and the second is whether or not the sweet teenager who contacts Carole in the present, is truly the long-lost Samantha. Both questions are satisfactorily answered at the end of the book. While I wasn’t surprised at the identity of the villain, I was at my emotional response of fury, that had me longing to leap into the book to throttle them!

Overall, She’s Not There is a perfect example of why Joy Fielding is so popular as a writer of psychological suspense. If you’re a fan of writers such as Mary Higgins Clark, and Lisa Gardner, I highly recommend this. It’s a page-turner that I wound up finishing in one sitting.  

 

 

The Feathered Bone ~ By Julie Cantrell – 5.0 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Depression, Domestic Abuse, Human Perseverance, Human Trafficking, Kidnapping, Suicide

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for providing an e-Arc in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: January 26th, 2016

Synopsis: In the pre-Katrina glow of New Orleans, Amanda Salassi is anxious about chaperoning her daughter’s sixth grade field trip to the Big Easy during Halloween. And then her worst fears come true. Her daughter’s best friend, Sarah, disappears amid the magic and revelry–gone, without a trace.

Unable to cope with her guilt, Amanda’s daughter sinks in to depression. And Amanda’s husband turns destructive as he watches his family succumb to grief. Before long, Amanda’s whole world has collapsed.

Amanda knows she has to save herself before it’s too late. As she continues to search for Sarah, she embarks on a personal journey, seeking hope and purpose in the wake of so much tragedy and loss.

Set amidst the murky parishes of rural Louisiana and told through the eyes of two women who confront the darkest corners of humanity with quiet and unbreakable faith, The Feathered Bone is Julie Cantrell’s master portrait of love in a fallen world.

Feathers–no matter what size or shape or color–are all the same, if you think about it. They’re soft. Delicate. But the secret thing about feathers is…they are very strong.

The Feathered Bone is not an easy book to read, yet it’s a hauntingly memorable one that you won’t soon forget. Julie Cantrell has done an incredible job weaving a mesmerizing tale about people who are faced with unimaginable loss, and how they react. It invokes feelings of shock, outrage, sadness and anger, yet in the end, I am so glad I read it.

The story follows both Amanda and her family, and friends as they try to cope with the devastating loss of Sarah as well as Sarah herself as she desperately tries to survive the hell she’s put into. Although the plight of Amanda, and her daughter Ellie, each of whom struggles with feelings of guilt, are difficult to read, it’s the innocent and ever hopeful journal entries of Sarah that are the most gut-wrenching. One of her captors gives her some notebooks and pens. She’s at her lowest when she thinks Ellie is also being held captive. It’s her writing and a little sparrow outside her window that keeps her going. Just to give you an idea, here is an example:

Hello, Sparrow, I asked The Man if I could see Ellie. He hit me. He said I wasn’t being good enough, and that Ellie was going to be put in the box because of me. I didn’t cry, even though blood was all around my eye. He said The Boss is mad at me. I have to do everything they all tell me, even when the other men come to visit. I have to stop fighting. I will try.

Things I Am Thankful For:

1. My sparrow (that’s you)

2. My notebooks

3. My pen

4. Turkey and mashed potatoes (even though they were cold)

5. The Man didn’t come see me today

6. The Lady is nice sometimes

7. I don’t have to stay in the box anymore

8. I am still alive

9. God is with me (I think) I know

Heartbreaking right? But despite the horrific topics explored in this book including: human trafficking, teenage depression, suicide, and domestic abuse, the story’s true message is that we are all deserving of love, and to always hold on to hope.

So many novels tackle big, weighty issues with varying degrees of success. Julie Cantrell’s book though, is in a class of it’s own. This isn’t a book that gratuitously feeds off the news. Rather, it’s an intimate look at its characters who are representative of far too many in our society. The issues explored are not rare, but they’re ones we prefer not to talk about. I personally feel these are subjects we all should be discussing which is why I think this is a perfect book to share with friends, co-workers, and in book groups.  The Feathered Bone may not be for everyone, but it’s one I highly, highly recommend.