I won a copy of this in a StoryGraph giveaway and I’m grateful for free read. 

This was a fast-paced and suspenseful read. I will admit that the first 30-50% was so dark and intense that I was actually afraid to go to the bathroom after reading in bed. For a thriller, that’s a plus… I was deeply unsettled. 

As with the first book, I strongly recommend that readers heed the content warnings. Between the details of Casey’s murder and Hannah’s mental health and harmful coping mechanics, there’s a lot that could be hard for some readers. As with the first book, I struggled with how OCD showed up in Hannah’s character as it felt more like a checkbox than a fulsome part of her. 

Throughout the first book, I was intrigued by Hannah’s backstory and I was definitely hooked by the promise of digging into that mystery further. I was definitely invested in the serial killer story, and the rural cop dynamics felt in line with the story. Hannah was tough as hell throughout the book, and also got herself into trouble that felt out of place even if it did move the plot along. 

While I was invested in the core storyline, I will say I was a bit underwhelmed by the ending. I definitely didn’t have it solved,

but that’s because I couldn’t have. The killer came out of left field. I think that could have been fine if we’d also gotten to learn why he did what he did, what drove him, and maybe how that tied to something else we know about Laramie or something, but there just wasn’t that kind of payoff.

 

All of that said, it was still an intriguing enough read to get through in two bedtimes, and I felt like I could mostly just go along for the ride.