"No matter how many times I've seen the remains of a murder victim, it never feels like less than a rape of the psyche. The human mind wasn't built to make sense of this."
 It's a special book that hooks you from page 1.
 I can't say I've ever read anything quite like When th3 Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain. It's a literary suspense/mystery at the heart but also much more, defying description. 
 Detective Anna Hart has experienced loss throughout her life. She makes her living investigating missing child cases, and while back in her hometown of Mendocino, she comes across a new case. Fifteen-year-old Cameron Curtis is missing and her case coincides with those of other missing girls.
 The fiction intertwines with real-life events, including the 1993 kidnapping and murder of Polly Klaas. 
 The timeframe also takes investigation techniques back to landlines, fax machines and shades of early Internet. 
 The reveals throughout the story are measured, and yet at no point does it feel slow or stilted. 
 There's more than plot going on in this book; it's feeling. Pain, trauma, relationships, reflection and healing all tie together to pull you in.
 This is definitely a top read for me of the year - recommended!