Hold on to your hats! We've got a live one.

I've grown a bit tired of psychological thrillers that promise a roller coaster ride and end up feeling more like a casual ride in a golf cart through a 65 living community. This one is more like the real deal. Maybe not Mario Andretti-fast, but at least we are on the race-track.

Told in reverse-chronological order, this one will have you guessing who is telling the truth and what is going on among this group of unreliable narrators. There was one point, about half-way in, that I got a bit confused. The same way I did when watching "Memento" all those years ago (any one else remember that movie?) I just stuck with the book for a couple more chapters and was back in gear.

4 solid stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Mystery

This book hooked me almost immediately and I stayed up most of the night reading! Lots of twists and turns-and this is one I didn't figure out halfway through the book. Great characters. Believable dialogue. Enjoyed every minute I originally picked this up because I got an advanced copy of The Perfect Stranger but I loved this! I also already finished the second book review to come! ( )

This is another book that has been on my TBR for a while. It is the first book that Megan Miranda wrote for adults. I have read two subsequent books by her, but just now got around to reading this one.

Nicolette Farrell escaped backwater Cooley Ridge ten years ago and is a counselor in Philadelphia, engaged to a wealthy, handsome attorney. She is called back home by her brother to help prepare her childhood house for sale, as her mother is long deceased and her father now in a facility, afflicted with dementia and in need of the money. Nicolette left home right after her good friend, Corinne went missing, never to be found. Now that she is back home, another young woman has gone missing after contacting the local police saying she had information about Corinne’s disappearance.

Suspicion falls on Nicolette, her brother, her father, and her high school boyfriend, Tyler, whom she can’t seem to stay away from. The story is told in reverse, from day 15 to day 1 and then jumping back to the present for the resolution.

There are twists, turns, red herrings throughout. A slow burn, I didn’t really engage with the book until about the 70% point when it finally drew me in. It certainly was a mind exercise following a story backwards; I really needed to be attentive! I didn’t find the ending all that satisfying. The book certainly raises the question: How far would you go to protect someone you love? ( )

The style of this book was a little different, being that it was told backwards, but overall it held my attention and I could not put it down at the end. I think every girl that reads this can relate to Corinne and Nic's relationship - everyone has been them at one point or another in their lives. This is the first book I have read by Megan Miranda and I am anxious to read another. ( )