Lauren Walsh is a young Westchester, NY suburbanite still devastated by the breakup of her marriage, made even more so by the fact that her husband left her for another woman, and the not-unexpected effects that has had on her three children.
Elsa Cavalon is trying without much success to recover from the disappearance of her son, Jeremy, at the age of seven. He had simply vanished, and despite the passage of 14 years she has never really given up hope that she can some day achieve ‘closure,’ whatever that may mean, and discover whether or not he is still alive.
The third story line of this book deals with a ruthless “bad guy” who seems beyond the reach of any kind of justice, and whose efforts to stay that way have far-reaching and unpredictable ramifications. The point is made, and made again, that “bad things happen everywhere.”
The novel shifts from Lauren to Elsa seemingly every few pages, increasing the suspense as, I am sure, is intended, but proving disconcerting to this reader, who would have preferred to linger a bit longer along the separate plotlines. The back-story of each of the three main characters is doled out very slowly as the tale unfolds, over and beyond the first two to three hundred pages and beyond. As it does, the reader – and the characters – are unsure who is what he, or she, appears to be and who can be trusted. I for one was totally unprepared for the point at which they converge. All does not even start to become clear until well over 300 pages have been turned, as the tale shifts into overdrive. Suspenseful and eminently readable, the book is recommended. [The reader is given a peak at the next novel by this author, Scared to Death, in which at least some of these characters reappear.]
