Synopsis

When a teenaged girl disappears from an insular small town, all of the community’s most devastating secrets come to light in this stunningly atmospheric and slow-burning suspense novel—perfect for fans of Megan Miranda and Celeste Ng.

The town of Whistling Ridge guards its secrets.

When seventeen-year-old Abigail goes missing, her best friend Emma, compelled by the guilt of leaving her alone at a party in the woods, sets out to discover the truth about what happened. The police initially believe Abi ran away, but Emma doesn’t believe that her friend would leave without her, and when officers find disturbing evidence in the nearby woods, the festering secrets and longstanding resentment of both Abigail’s family and the people of Whistling Ridge, Colorado begin to surface with devastating consequences.

Among those secrets: Abi’s older brother Noah’s passionate, dangerous love for the handsome Rat, a recently arrived Romanian immigrant who has recently made his home in the trailer park in town; her younger brother Jude’s feeling that he knows information he should tell the police, if only he could put it into words; Abi’s father’s mercurial, unpredictable rages and her mother’s silence. Then there is the rest of Whistling Ridge, where a charismatic preacher advocates for God’s love in language that mirrors violence, under the sway of the powerful businessman who rules the town, insular and wary of outsiders.

But Abi had secrets, too, and the closer Emma grows to unraveling the past, the farther she feels from her friend. And in a tinder box of small-town rage, and all it will take is just one spark—the truth of what really happened that night—to change their community forever.

Review

I have mixed emotions about this book. The characters are small-minded, racist, homophobic, and misogynic. Very few of the characters are likable outside of the children. Even then I’m not too sure because they aren’t painted with the best brush either. What happens throughout the book could happen anywhere and the twists kept me guessing.

The book does jump back and forth in time, but not in any specific pattern. We see bits of pieces from the past that shapes the characters into who they are today.

What we know – Abi has gone missing but what we don’t know if she is dead or alive. There are some tidbits of information that might lead you to believe one way or another as information is shared. What unfolds would shock most towns and people. I know I was dumbfounded that people can act this way (and there are too many examples to list) because it goes beyond human decency. I suppose I shouldn’t have been too surprised because there are many people out there that live in a bubble and don’t know what to do outside of that bubble.

I did feel for Noah, Abi’s brother because of how he was treated by his father for being gay. And his brother Jude? That was an even sadder story. Their whole family was dysfunctional from day one and it did not get any better. Emma is Abi’s best friend and seems to be the only one that really wants to find out what happened to Abi. Unfortunately, what she uncovers will devastate many.

It did take me a bit to get into this book. It was harder for me to read because of the characters. At least the story is somewhat wrapped up at the end, but not completely.

Overall, we give it 3 1/2 paws.

About the Author

Anna Bailey grew up in Gloucestershire and studied Creative Writing at Bath Spa University, before moving to Texas and later Colorado. In 2018, she returned to the UK where she enrolled in the Curtis Brown Creative novel-writing course. She currently works as a freelance journalist in Cheltenham, where she lives with her three cats.

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