Wow. I put off reading this book for so long because I was convinced it was a thriller and a suspense and I hate thrillers and suspenses. I have only read 2 other books by Ms. Hoover and both of them were romances, not suspense like at all. I wasn’t sure if Verity was a change of pace for her, or if most of her other novels were suspense. Curiosity about this book won and I decided to try it. It is definitely a suspense novel, there’s a bit of romance in it, but for the most part my heart hovered in my throat for a good chunk of the book. About halfway through I knew I was going to give it 2, maybe 3 stars, but then something happened. Around 3/4 of the way I couldn’t stop reading. I was scared and I didn’t want to keep going but I couldn’t put it down. When I did have to put it down to drive the dog to the groomer and my daughter to school I couldn’t stop thinking about it. That, in my opinion, is what makes a 5 star book. As soon as I came home I gobbled up the last 1/4 of the book. That, in my opinion, is what makes a 5 star book. I started it wanting to not like it, but it had me gasping from the get go and while I’m still not a huge fan of suspense books, I’m very glad I finally decided to give this one a try.