Print Length: 283 pages
Publisher: Storm Publishing (July 30, 2024)
From Goodreads.com: Twenty years ago she was taken. Now her daughter is next.
Seventeen-year-old Ellie was last seen at a party with her boyfriend, star quarterback Josh, before she went missing…
Twenty years later, Ellie has rebuilt her life. The man who ruined it is behind bars. He can't hurt her now. But as Ellie leaves her therapy group, a face she hasn't seen in decades appears before her. Josh, her high school boyfriend, is back in town.
As they reconnect after years apart, trying to make sense of their shared trauma, a few streets away, Ellie's seventeen-year-old daughter Jess vanishes.
Is history repeating itself? Ellie is about to discover the shocking truth about the night she was taken but can she unearth long-buried secrets to save her daughter?
*******************
My Rating: 1 star out of 5
The synopsis of this may have been intriguing, but the execution was very poorly done. In fact it takes until the 59% mark (yes I went back and looked) to jump forward to present day. Which might not have been a problem if the first part of the book hadn't been bogged down with way too many unnecessary details surrounding football, and the mundane day to day of two high school students. I didn't care about their relationship, and honestly, I found it a bit silly that despite all of her misgivings about Josh, their relationship, and his family, she still refused to break up with him even though at times it seemed like she really wanted to. I never felt like we got inside her head enough to understand her motivations, especially when at one point she claims to be in fear for her life.
Also, who goes to a party with their boyfriend who was suspected of murdering his last girlfriend at a different party (although similar circumstances), especially when as I said before she had serious misgivings and fears about him). I understand that there needed to be some build-up so that we got to see just what kind of person Josh's father was and what their relationship was like, but it dragged down the storyline too much, making it easy to set the book to the side and go do something else.
I thought things were picking up once Ellie was kidnapped, as I found the interactions between her and "the voiceless one" as she called them to draw me in. I wondered what their end game was, while also admiring Ellie's determination in figuring out a way out of her predicament (although it's interesting that her kidnapper claimed to be watching her at all times, but did nothing about her finding a potential escape route). Sadly, their interactions only lasted for a short time before things were set in motion and Ellie was able to escape and be rescued.
Cue the time jump where we meet a now grown Ellie who is running a support group for women who are survivors, as well as working as a real estate agent and being a single mom of a 17 year old girl. One day, seemingly out of the blue, she is approached by none other than Josh, you know her ex-boyfriend? They hit it off and start spending time together, once again Ellie has some misgivings, but pushes them aside in order to explore what is between them. And then Jess goes missing.
And the story goes off the rails. Because even though Ellie calls the police, it would seem they have no idea what happened to Jess. In fact, after the press conference where we are told they were "wading through all the tips that had come in", we never see the police involved again. Ellie hires a private investigator, who is only slightly better at his job, but seems to have absolutely no qualms about bringing Ellie with him to interview people, or sending her and Josh off alone into potentially dangerous situations. During one instance of this, Ellie and Josh run into something they both recognize (although where they know the person from neither can put their finger on), and yet it doesn't seem to dawn on them at all that this could be a person from their past. There were a few times when Ellie suggests going to the police with what they know, only to be told they have "nothing but a hunch" and need more "concrete information."
All of the running around and investigating on their own eventually leads them to a suspect. The truth comes out, stuff happens, and everything is wrapped up with a tidy little bow. And yes, it happens about that quick once they realize who they are looking for. Again, a disappointment for me as a reader. I was really hoping we would get some chapters from Jess' point of view so we could see her interactions with her kidnapper, and if what was said would mirror anything from her mother's time in captivity.
At the end of the day, this for me felt less like an adult thriller novel, and one geared more for young adults. Maybe that had something to do with the first half of it being spent more on a teenage Ellie and Josh, their relationship, high school drama, football games. However, I do believe there will be an audience for this book that will enjoy it more than I did.
DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.
Post a Comment
0 Comments