Missing girls had a way of working their way into someone’s head. You couldn’t help but see them in everyone – how temporary and fragile we might be. One moment here, and the next, nothing more than a photo staring from a storefront window.

I’ll admit it my whole judgement of this book hinged on whether the unique way of storytelling involved in it would be a success or a failure.

The story begins with Nicolette Farrell coming back to her hometown Cooley Ridge after 10 years to settle her family’s business and tie up loose ends. But when a young girl goes missing Nic’s life is put into turmoil because this also brings up the unsolved disappearance of Nic’s Best friend Corinne which caused Nic to abandon her town in the first place.
Other than the prologue, which sets up the story and the epilogue, the events of the fifteen days since the disappearance of Annaliese is told in reverse. This was what intrigued me into reading this book. Because if this was a gimmick to sell the book it could’ve have gone so horribly wrong; mystery thrillers are traditionally meant to build up to the reveal as time passes.

The wonderful reason why the reverse storytelling works is because it's meant not to actually reveal the ‘killer’ but to reveal the real nature of each of the characters in Cooley ridge. The story told in the normal sequence of events would still have the reveal but less macabre than these characters deserve. The writer insists the reader to understand that not everyone is who they seem to be; that everyone in Cooley ridge had a monster inside them making them do things.

“I have to tell it This way, in pieces. I have to work my way up to it. Work my way Back to it. I have to show you the beautiful things before I get to the ugly.”

At first, I was very sceptical about this approach. The story read more like a literary fiction than a crime novel but the build-up was worth it and changed my view entirely. The paragraph at the very beginning addressed to the reader rings so true.

You will be spellbound. You will not be able to stop reading. Because you have to know what happened to those missing girls and because you have to know if Megan Miranda can pull off this stunningly original narrative feat.

As for the characters, almost everyone especially the main gang – Nic, Daniel, Corinne, Tyler, Jackson, Bailey are as unreliable as they are realistic. If at the beginning, you thought the narrator was stable and reliable you would easily start doubting her halfway through the book. Miranda also drops very clever subtle hints and foreshadowing that makes the experience of reading the book a second time much better. The ambience of the town and the woods is so beautifully woven in with the events that it feels so befitting and like its actually happening. The reverse storytelling requires the reader’s utmost attention, like pressing a refresh button at the end of each day but with clues leading to even darker territories as the character’s reveal more and more depressing truths about the town and also themselves. In the end, the sign of an interesting mystery novel would be having the reader read it again despite the lack of the surprise at the end.

Thank you Simon & Schuster for providing a copy of this book.