About the Book:
When Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls went missing in her small Louisiana town. By the end of the summer, Chloe’s father had been arrested as a serial killer and promptly put in prison. Chloe and the rest of her family were left to grapple with the truth and try to move forward while dealing with the aftermath.
Now 20 years later, Chloe is a psychologist in private practice in Baton Rouge and getting ready for her wedding. She finally has a fragile grasp on the happiness she’s worked so hard to get. Sometimes, though, she feels as out of control of her own life as the troubled teens who are her patients. And then a local teenage girl goes missing, and then another, and that terrifying summer comes crashing back. Is she paranoid, and seeing parallels that aren’t really there, or for the second time in her life, is she about to unmask a killer?
In a debut novel that has already been optioned for a limited series by actress Emma Stone and sold to a dozen countries around the world, Stacy Willingham has created an unforgettable character in a spellbinding thriller that will appeal equally to fans of Gillian Flynn and Karin Slaughter.
My Review:
What a powerful debut novel from Stacy Willingham!
This book is an emotional story combined with both a psychological thriller and police procedural. I am not a huge fan of crime fiction, but the author deftly weaves together a gritty, tense plot with domestic drama elements.
Chloe Davis is now a medical psychologist who has tried to keep her dark family history well hidden. When she was young, her father was sentenced to life in prison for the murders of six teenagers in her hometown of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. )I need to give major kudos to the author here for setting the book in the “Crawfish Capitol of the World” and if she isn’t a Louisiana native, you’d never know it.)
Chloe obviously never saw the dark side of her father, and she has spent her life trying to reconcile that monster with the caring parent she knew. Her family broke apart after his conviction. All of this has (justifiably in my opinion) led her to self-medicate her own anxieties. She is certainly not a perfect main protagonist.
She is finally looking forward to the future with her upcoming marriage. But when local teenagers go missing, the police think there might be a copycat killer at work.
I loved the back and forth timeline of the book, with Chloe’s childhood alternating with present day events. This book has already been optioned for the small screen by Emma Stone’s production company and I can see why! This story is dark, moody, fast-paced and very atmospheric. I loved the tense conclusion and can’t wait to read more from this incredibly talented author!
(Thank you to the publisher for providing a review copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)
