Synopsis

From New York Times bestselling author Mia Sheridan comes a chilling take on second chances, where a brutal break-in comes back to haunt the sole survivor with a new threat―and another victim.

Eleven years ago, Cami Cortlandt’s mother and sister died cruelly in a violent home invasion. The trauma and notoriety still linger, but Cami has managed to build a life in her hometown despite everything she’s lost.

Then one day it all comes rushing back.

A distorted voice on the phone: Would you like a do-over? A disturbing video of a room with bars on the window, trapping a young boy inside who looks achingly, impossibly familiar. Four days to find him.

With the help of Rex Lowe, an old classmate whose past is inextricably tied to her own, Cami races to uncover everything she can about the boy―where he is, who he is, and why she’s the only one who can save him.

But as Cami and Rex unravel one clue after another, the past and present converge in an explosion of secrets they never saw coming…and a truth they never could have imagined.

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Excerpt

Excerpt from Chapter ONE

Cami was in no mood for a party. And yet there she was, clad in a bikini with a Jell-O shot in hand as a boisterous game of chicken fight was being played in the pool next to her. Her boyfriend, Hollis, had invited every member of the varsity football team and cheerleading squad to his house for a pool party. It appeared they were all having the time of their life. Except her. Buck up. What is wrong with you? Except that she knew exactly what was wrong with her. She’d been plagued by a deep fatigue and lingering nausea for the last week. And her period was MIA.

She plastered on a smile as she gazed around nonchalantly and then, confident no one was looking her way, dropped the small plastic cup filled with spiked red Jell-O into a hydrangea bush.

The sun beat down on her bare shoulders, and a fellow cheerleader on one of the O-line’s shoulders let out a shriek of laughter as she was knocked into the water by the whack of a pool noodle.

“Hey, Cam,” Tia said as she approached, handing her another Jell-O shot. Great. Her friend tipped her head back and used her tongue to scoop out the shot, and then swallowed and grinned.

“Here, have mine too,” Cami said. “I’m not feeling it.”

Tia’s brows dipped, and she peered more closely at Cami. “Are you okay?” Tia asked, adjusting her bikini top that had ridden up. “You do look slightly green.”

Cami gave her a halfhearted smile and stepped to the side to avoid the incoming tsunami caused by a linebacker who’d just cannonballed into the deep end. “I’m fine. I think I just ate something that didn’t agree with me.”

“I hope it wasn’t one of the hot dogs. I saw Ray drop half the package on the ground, and then throw them on the grill anyway. He assured me ‘fire cleanses.’” She did air quotes and rolled her eyes.

Cami barely suppressed a grimace as she looked away. The talk of hot dogs had notched her nausea up at least a few levels. A couple more and Tia’s French pedicure would be covered in vomit. “I need to use the bathroom. I’ll be back.”

“Okay—”

Cami dipped around a group of guys goofing about near the covered patio and headed for the pool house. “Hey, Cam, what’s the rush?” Kent, the team’s fullback, asked, his head tilting as he leaned to the side to make a show of checking out her ass.

“Secret mission. I’m not at liberty to discuss it,” she shot over her shoulder with a flirty wink.

“Sounds hot.” His laugh drifted behind her as she turned into the air-conditioned space.

She walked to the bathroom at the back and locked the door behind her. “Damn,” she muttered when she found that her period was still MIA. “Don’t panic.” There might be other explanations than the one she was most worried about. Cheerleading practice had been intense lately, and she’d been working out more than usual. Plus, finals were coming up, and she’d been stressed. Her dad expected her to maintain a 4.0 GPA on top of all her extracurriculars, which—back to current concerns—included sex with her boyfriend for an entire weekend last month when his parents were away on business. She’d lied to her mom and dad and told them she was with Tia, cramming for a big algebra test on Monday.

But she’d gone on the pill, and she hadn’t missed one. She’d protected herself. She’d been smart.

So where the hell is my period?

Cami washed her hands and then grabbed the hand towel hanging next to the sink and stared at her reflection. Tia was right—she looked like she might have eaten an ant-covered hot dog. Oh God, don’t think of that food item. She pressed her lips together and pulled in a breath through her nose. Other than appearing a little peaked, as her mom would say, she looked like herself—glossy auburn hair pulled back in a ponytail, wide hazel eyes, and a face and body that had caught the attention of the star quarterback of their high school football team. Hollis Barclay III was arguably perfect—rich, gorgeous, and obviously headed for greatness and Cami was the envy of all the girls in school, likely of all the girls in the small town of Aspen Cove, Virginia.

God, he’d freak if—

She tossed the towel aside and turned away from her reflection. Nope. She wasn’t going to spin out of control. This might be—it probably was—a false alarm.

The sounds of music and raucous laughter filtered in from outside, and for a minute she considered staying right there, where it wasn’t hot and noisy and where she wasn’t expected to be chatty and giggly and fun. But she couldn’t hide inside indefinitely either. And it was almost time for her to go anyway. Her dad was leaving on a business trip in the morning, and she’d already told Hollis she had plans with her family.

Just one more hour. You can do it.

She left the bathroom just as a few of the other cheerleaders burst through the door of the pool house, singsonging hellos to her as they passed by. She brought forth her carefree grin and greeted them back.

When she stepped out into the bright late-summer day, the glare of sun blinded her momentarily, so that she squinted and turned her head as she waited for her eyes to adjust. When they did, her gaze was focused on the tops of the swaying trees in the Barclays’ side yard.

All too soon, the leaves would be changing, and the pool parties would come to an end to be replaced by tailgating and bonfires. Eyes raised, she walked in the direction of the trees, away from the party and into the shade of a patio overhang that was situated next to the pool house.

As she watched those swaying trees, Cami felt an odd dwindling inside that she could only attribute to the impending end of one season as it shifted into another. But she also had this sense that it wasn’t exactly that, and though she couldn’t pinpoint it now, she’d be able to later . . . the way she sometimes looked back at a moment she’d experienced in her childhood that she hadn’t known then was the final sled ride down a particular hill, or the last sleepover with her sister on her grandpa’s porch before he passed away . . .

Review

Wow, this novel kept coming with new twists just when you thought things were resolved.

Cami is one character who has endured a lot, but still came through it all in the end. I can’t imagine being in her shoes, and what happens to her in the beginning is horrific. However, I was glad to see her life turn around by the end of the book. She struggles, but doesn’t give up the fight until the end.

Rex was caught up in an event that was not of his doing, but eleven years later, he is there to help Cami right some wrongs. It doesn’t hurt that they finally admit their feelings for one another!

It was weird to read along, have one situation resolved, and then a whole new cast of characters was introduced. It took some time to understand their purpose, but once I did, it added depth to the story. The stories then merge at the end, and it still blew me away by the deception some characters displayed. I enjoyed how just when you thought a story was done, it really wasn’t.

If you have issues reading books that include abuse in all forms, this may not be the book for you. However, it does tie the story together when all is revealed.

We give this book 5 paws up.

About the Author

Mia Sheridan is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of over 28 novels, including Archer’s Voice (2014), Heart of the Sun (2025), All the Little Raindrops (2023), Most of All You (2017), and Leo (2013). Mia lives with her husband in Cincinnati, Ohio. They have four children here on earth and one in heaven.

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