My Review
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Quite an intriguing book that I got my hands on. Author Brandi Reeds made me feel as if the story was being told from both ends of the spectrum, rushing toward each other to clash into a final reveal.
Holly at age 4 disappeared for 3 months, but was returned back almost intact, except for loss of memory for only those 3 months. After 20 years, children were disappearing again, but were returned back. DEAD. The Detective in charge had a theory. Both Holly and her mom Cecily knew something. Holly couldn’t remember, and Cecily was in coma post an accident.
My first book by this author, initially it took me time to get oriented to the story as there were two POV, but the timelines weren’t clear. Slowly the picture started coming to light as the rays from the author’s pen strokes made the picture clearer one page at a time.
The writing smoothed out for me after the first few chapters, and I got to see what was happening in the present time with Holly, and Cecily in her comatose state provided me the backstory. There were many things hidden in the days prior to the disappearance.
Suspense was built up slowly, though it seemed slightly erratic at places. A sharper prose would have helped. Nevertheless, unreliable narrators, a few suspects, some twists, and fast paced storyline from 30%, it was quite a suspenseful story.
My Rating
Book Links
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Book Blurb
Three months after four-year-old Holly Gebhardt was kidnapped, she was inexplicably returned to the same park from which she’d vanished…with no memory of the ordeal. Though a local handyman was convicted, suspicion also fell on his friend—Holly’s mother, Cecily. The troubling doubts about her involvement shattered the family, forever driving a wedge between mother and daughter.
Twenty years later, another girl goes missing under eerily similar circumstances. It’s just the latest in a series of kidnappings that Detective Jason Guidry thinks Holly can help solve. Though Holly has tried to move on with her life, a young girl’s life hangs in the balance. All she has to do is try to remember…
With her memory still mostly blank, Holly is missing vital pieces of the puzzle, and she believes her mother can put them in place. In desperation and fear, Holly and her mother come together again. But in a chilling rush toward the past, Cecily still has secrets she’s yet to share with her daughter. Should she dare to breathe a word, she could lose Holly all over again.
Book Details
Publication Date: August 2020
I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher, and this is my journey into its pages, straight from the heart!! STRICTLY HONEST AND UNBIASED. All my reviews can be read here
10 Responses
Wow.. sounds like a good mystery Shalini.
Very helpful review (as usual), Shalini! Sounds like the plot was quite intriguing…Children’s testimonies must be quite difficult to obtain, and, of course, you need help of a qualified psychologist to help the minor through the process. I don’t remember much from before the age of 5, so I’d have to suspend my disbelief for this aspect of the plot. Love an unreliable narrator, though – they are the best!😁
I am intrigued – you have poked my curiosity
I poke your curiosity quite a lot, don’t I?
Yes, you do – I’m all bruised!
I read a book today which I so want to gift you as I think you would love it. Let it get released Maybe you are in that tour. hehehe
Love when you get both POVs only for them to clash at the end for an epic reveal or something! Great review, Shalini. 😀
Thank you so much. You are very sweet to like my reviews.
Great review Shalini. I have just downloaded something else from this author, called Oak Avenue. I had never heard of her before someone recommended it. Now she pops up on your feed!
You were rewarded for sticking with it through the less smooth parts. I’m glad it worked out well for you.