"...traumas were never forgotten. They had a way of hanging around, ready to ambush when you least expected it."
The synopsis provided on this page is a bit misleading. This detective novel focuses on 3 characters whose lives will intersect in a plot that's quite complicated and only barely comes together to make sense toward the end.
Deputy US Marshal Cady Maddix holds her own secrets about something she did as a child so she is messed up emotionally and has trouble with relationships. She has returned to North Carolina to supervise her aunt's care of Hannah, Cady's mother, who has early onset Alzheimer's. She's assigned to track down an escapee from Fristol Forensic Center --Samuel Martin Aldeen -- who has been confined there for the last five years after the kidnap, rape, and cannibalization of children. Fristol is a facility for the criminally insane. The third character is Eryn Pullman, now 21, who has spent 12 years in Rolling Acres Resort, a secure mental health facility, for the murder of her mother. Eryn is transitioning out of their care to her family home and will be living with her uncle, aunt and nephew there. There are other characters including those from various areas of law enforcement as well as acquaintances of Aldeen who helped in his escape and during his time as a fugitive. So a lot of people to keep track of and very convoluted relationships that tie Aldeen to Eryn. NO SPOILERS.
The narrative is quite jumpy going from past to present in Eryn's voice as well as the voices of Cady and Aldeen. I found the story hard to get into and it lagged as details labored to be revealed. I guessed certain truths at the outset and was irritated that it took so long for the convoluted history to come out. The payoff, for me, wasn't worth the slog through. I know this is meant to be the first in a new series but I don't think I'll be reading another as I really didn't care for Cady -- but perhaps I'm just tired of books that feature females that are so emotionally messed up.
Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the e-book ARC to read and review.
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