Author: Tami Hoag
Publisher: Dutton
Publication Date: January, 2015
Genre: Mystery / Thriller / Suspense
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible
Description: Dana Nolan was a promising young TV reporter until a notorious serial killer tried to add her to his list of victims. Nearly a year has passed since surviving her ordeal, but the physical, emotional, and psychological scars run deep. Struggling with the torment of post-traumatic stress syndrome, plagued by flashbacks and nightmares as dark as the heart of a killer, Dana returns to her hometown in an attempt to begin to put her life back together. But home doesn’t provide the comfort she expects.
Dana’s harrowing story and her return to small town life have rekindled police and media interest in the unsolved case of her childhood best friend, Casey Grant, who disappeared without a trace the summer after their graduation from high school. Terrified of truths long-buried, Dana reluctantly begins to look back at her past. Viewed through the dark filter of PTSD, old friends and loved ones become suspects and enemies. Questioning everything she knows, refusing to be defined by the traumas of her past and struggling against excruciating odds, Dana seeks out a truth that may prove too terrible to be believed…
My Thoughts: Really enjoyed this story about a woman who survives the unthinkable horror of being the next victim of a serial killer. Dana Nolan had a great life as a TV reporter living the dream. Then she is kidnapped and nearly killed by a notorious serial killer. Her will to survive and live enables her to overcome the horror but not without many scars on the outside and the inside.
She returns to her hometown to put her life back together but learns there are questions and dangers there as well. Dana’s best friend, Casey, disappeared right after high school graduation and has never been seen or heard from since. Dana realizes that in order to heal from her ordeal, she has to look to the past to find the answers to questions she cannot remember, which makes her also realize that she doesn’t know whom she trust.
The reader doesn’t meet Dana prior to her encounter with the serial killer so the Dana we know is one who is plagued with PTSD and nightmares. She isn’t the sweet and happy girl her friends and family remember. She speaks her mind, quite brutally at times and seems to have lost the ability to have feelings of empathy or compassion. So you can imagine the shock and dismay people feel when Dana starts asking blunt questions about Casey and her disappearance, unaware and probably not caring whose toes she steps on or who she offends.
I liked Dana, though I found her a little hard to relate to at times. I understood her anger and irritability, but it was still a little shocking at times. The author does an amazing job of weaving the past and present together, slowly peeling back layers into Dana’s past, without revealing too much too soon. When the killer is revealed, I can’t say I was too surprised, but more that Dana didn’t catch on sooner. The ending was typical nail-biting edge-of-your-seat intense that this author does so well.
My Final Verdict: Readers who enjoy intense storylines with a mystery to solve and a thrilling ride along the way will enjoy this offering. I also highly recommend it to everyone who enjoy a good story with damaged characters who survive against all odds to come out ahead.
