I have a hard time being super enthusiastic about it mostly because I just don’t tend to enjoy thrillers focused on depressed, anxious protagonists with substance abuse problems. It just gives the whole book a kind of a tiresome, lugubrious atmosphere, which is not my favorite. Book Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Crime, Fiction, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Suspense, Thriller House refers to a building in which someone lives. A house becomes a home only when there is an emotional connection. That is why some philosophers say that a home is a place where the heart is. When people can convert physical space into one where they feel safe, comfortable, and loved with their family, it is called a home. We can see the author trying to discuss this difference to make us understand the difficulties faced by people in homes that are not safe. This story is full of twists, turns, and red herrings. Chloe has tried to keep a damper on her feelings and fears and doing so is going to destroy her if her use of drugs and alcohol doesn't do it first. She has let her paranoia go too far before and she's not sure who she can trust. This all leads to bad decisions, faulty assumptions, and a sense of more danger and death to come, with no way to stop it. The story is riveting although it's hard to put aside the fact that a drugged and drunken main character can only be trusted so far.

Yes, I predicted the who of the whodunnit, but I couldn't get to the end fast enough to see if I was right. When Chloe Davis was 12-years old, her father was arrested for the kidnapping and murder of six teenage girls, based on evidence that Chloe herself had uncovered. That alone is stressful enough, but when local teen girls begin to go missing, one of them a patient of Chloe's, she's triggered into a really dark place; her past.When Chloe Davis was twelve, six teenage girls went missing in her small Louisiana town. By the end of the summer, Chloe’s father had been arrested as a serial killer and promptly put in prison. Chloe and the rest of her family were left to grapple with the truth and try to move forward while dealing with the aftermath. I would say the main strong points of this book are the compelling premise and a mostly solidly plotted-out mystery. The killer is pretty guessable, but there’s also enough other suspects and possibilities to keep you on your toes. I think it did a good job of planting clues while offering up enough snarls in the plot to make it a little less obvious. Some of the smaller details make less sense than I’d ideally like, but those were mostly more minor aspects of the story. When a protagonist is an unreliable narrator struggling with substance abuse or Psychiatric problems. Chloe Davis, a thirty two year old psychologist in private practice in Baton Rouge, has a family past that will haunt her for the rest of her life. What her father did, when she was twelve, tore families apart and terrified a small town. A serial killer kidnapped and killed six girls, that killer was her father, and he's now rotting in prison, having ruined the lives of so many people. The next day, Chloe awakes to learn that Riley, her friend's stepdaughter is missing. By now, Chloe is certain that Daniel is the killer. She knows that the killer has been killing the girls and then leaving the bodies somewhere to be found a few days later. As she thinks of where Daniel could be keeping these bodies, she remembers that she told him about how her childhood is still sitting, empty in Breaux Ridge.

The ending is Chloe arriving at her former(?) fiancé's sister's house. She drove to Mississippi to return the ring (certified mail anyone?), but she doesn't actually want to talk to Ken-doll. In retrospect, and aside from not asking permission for the choking, he wasn't so bad. He's a pharmaceutical rep and she's a drug "addict." Match made in heaven, DUH. Cooper admits to all the killings, plus one more (Tara King) who was the actual first girl. It turns out their father found all the jewelry hidden under his floorboards but Cooper convinced him not to say anything. However, Chloe ended up finding it in the closet. Chloe also realizes her father must have told her mother the truth before he was arrested, and her mother kept the secret but it caused her to unravel. As for Tyler, he was just a lonely person who Cooper convinced to help in his plans. I guessed a major twist early on, so I’m tooting my own horn (Btw, has anyone else considered how wrong that sounds? Or is it just me?🤷). However, there is plenty of deflection and red herrings that had me second guessing my suspicions. On top of that, there were other welcome surprises in store. If this is her debut, I predict a long and successful career in Willingham's future. I definitely plan to be following along.Chloe is your classic unreliable narrator, often referencing her difficulty separating what's real from what isn't, which isn't helped by her pharmaceutical habits. She's paranoid, convinced that these new victims are someone specifically toying with her, setting her on her own amateur investigative path to find who's copying her imprisoned father's past actions, since virtually no one else believes her suspicions. years later, Chloe is now a psychologist. She’s happily engaged, but still fights her demons in the form of prescription drugs. She feels she’s been coping to the best of her ability. There are many ways to find out whether a person is emotionally unstable. The author is sharing a few of them in this book.

To be fair, this type of protagonist pops up a lot in mystery-thrillers, and I never really like it. So, I realize my opinion on this is fairly subjective and perhaps you won’t mind it so much. Beyond that, she and other characters also behave in mildly nonsensical ways like withholding information and doing incriminating things in obvious ways. I understand why this happens in mystery-thrillers, but it did feel a little contrived. Mostly though, I really liked the way the author seemed to have a handle on the childhood experience...the sense of fear of the figurative darkness and the pervasive and erroneous idea that adults know everything. Chloe has tried to move on, with her practice, which reminds her too much of the past, and with her upcoming wedding to Daniel. Really, though, Chloe is a mess, self medicating with prescription drugs and alcohol. She rarely visits her mother, who lives in a care home after trying to commit suicide. Her older brother, Cooper, is dealing with their past in his own way, staying close to Chloe but also adding more stress to her life. For some reason, he's disliked her fiancé from the first time they met and he's always at her that Daniel isn't who she thinks he is. And now, it appears that there is a copy cat killer, going after a girl who was last seen by Chloe.The pattern of the current crimes isn't just similar to that of her father's, it's identical. Is there a copycat working in Baton Rouge? Is there a copy cat killer imitating her father’s method or was his father convicted to lifetime prison sentence for the crime he didn’t convict!