Review by Booklist Review
When Katie takes a job as a caretaker for an expansive nature preserve, she doesn't know what to expect. In her old life, she co-owned a company that tanked, along with her marriage. At least she's working with her best friend, and she has a house amid the trees and trails. But the last caretaker, Grace, has left all her personal belongings behind, and Katie can't reach her. The situation becomes even stranger when a distraught woman wakes Katie in the middle of the night. The woman is escaping from a dangerous ex, and Katie is shocked when she finds a safe room tucked away on her property. Grace was part of a secret group called The Sequence, which helps abused women disappear--and now Katie is part of it, too. With so many secrets hiding on the preserve, can Katie stay safe herself? Strawser (The Next Thing You Know, 2022) presents a fresh premise and compelling plot. The twists are unexpected, and Katie is pulled along through the adventure until she finds the courage to stand up for herself.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review
Katie, recently divorced and trying to make a new start, accepts her friend Bess's job offer to serve as caretaker at the nature center where she works. The previous caretaker, Grace, left under mysterious circumstances, and Bess is scrambling for a replacement. When Katie arrives at the caretaker's residence--her new home--she sees the personal effects Grace left behind and becomes obsessed with figuring out why Grace left as she did. Then, in the middle of the night, Katie gets a visit from a woman desperate for help and convinced that Katie's home is where she can find it. Soon Katie understands that Grace was a caretaker of more than the nature center grounds. When Katie decides to take on the heightened caretaking responsibility, she gets involved in a secret organization designed to help abused women, but it's not long before she starts to wonder whom she can trust, who might know more than they admit about the danger Grace is in, and whether Katie will find herself in similar circumstances. VERDICT Strawser's latest fast-paced page-turner (following The Next Thing You Know) grabs readers at the start and doesn't let go. For fans of Sally Hepworth and Liane Moriarty.--Karen Core
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