Review by Booklist Review
Sam and Bryden Frost seem like the perfect couple--attractive, happily married, with a cute kid, good jobs, an expensive lifestyle, and nice friends. But their pleasant world evaporates when Bryden disappears. Her purse and phone are still in the condo. There are no odd withdrawals from her bank account. She and Sam seemed happy together. Detective Jayne Salter is assigned to the case, and based on past experience, the first person she suspects is the traumatized Sam. But there's no concrete evidence that Sam murdered his wife. According to friends and family, Sam and Bryden were devoted to each other. However, as Jayne digs deeper, she unearths dark and shocking secrets--affairs, betrayals, abuse, drug use, lies, murder for gain, sociopaths, and a dangerous group of internet "amateur sleuths" out for fame and acceptance. Every new discovery makes Bryden's murder more horrifying, but Jayne is determined to solve the case. A twisting, gripping, gruesome read with dark undertones, unrelenting psychological suspense, and a shocking conclusion that will stay with readers long after they've finished the book.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A woman with a seemingly idyllic life in the suburbs of Albany, N.Y., is brutally murdered in Lapena's solid latest (after What Have You Done?). When Bryden Frost fails to pick up her daughter from day care, her friends and family start to panic. After the police find nothing missing from her condo, they send a K9 unit to search the entire complex. Soon, they discover Bryden's dead body encased in a plastic bag and stuffed inside a suitcase in one of the building's storage lockers. Over the next week, the police--led by detective Jayne Salter--question several suspects, each with their own secrets. There's Bryden's neighbor, who's warding off accusations of assault; her sister, who's been jealous of Bryden since birth; her best friend, who's become a little too entangled in Bryden's home life; and her husband, who's prone to violent outbursts and acting visibly nervous. Lapena lays out the puzzle with a sure hand, and ties everything together in a satisfactory conclusion. This gets the job done. Agents: Felicity Blunt and Rose Pierce, Curtis Brown U.K. (July)
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Review by Library Journal Review
Lapena (What Have You Done?) returns with another suspense-laden suburban thriller. Bryden and Sam Frost live in a luxury apartment with their daughter, have successful careers, and by all accounts are living the dream life. So when Sam receives a call from his daughter's school because Bryden hasn't come to collect her, he knows something is terribly wrong. Bryden had worked from home that day and apparently disappeared into thin air. Her phone, purse, and car have all been left behind. Sam, Bryden's true-crime enthusiast sister Lizzie, Bryden's parents, and Bryden's best friend Paige come together to figure out what happened. When law enforcement gets involved, Lizzie begins to take a disturbing interest, suggesting K-9 assistance and offering helpful suggestions to the detectives. Meanwhile suspicion around Sam grows, and Bryden's parents are forced to take a closer look at their son-in-law. VERDICT Lapena has written another solid domestic thriller with all the twists and red herrings that her readers have come to expect. The author's fans and those who enjoy twisty domestic thrillers will flock to this one.--Cynthia Price
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
So many suspects, so little evidence in Lapena's latest tale of domestic suspense. Busy mom Bryden Frost doesn't see it coming after a morning fender bender involving a Tesla and its charming owner, Derek Gardner, sets her on a collision course with fate. Or does it? Just as in her other fast-moving, women-centric novels, including her breakoutThe Couple Next Door (2016), Lapena's female protagonists appear to be living normal lives that some people might even envy--at least at first. When Bryden's husband, Sam, returns home from work in Albany, New York, to find her missing but her purse and phone still in their apartment, a police investigation ensues. Did Bryden run away? Was she kidnapped? Or could she still be somewhere in the building? Sam is the prime suspect until police Det. Jayne Salter and her team hear from a source that Bryden was having an affair with Derek, something he denies. As Lapena builds her twisty plot, we soon see that these two men aren't the only people who could be responsible for Bryden's disappearance. Her sister, Lizzie, who has always been jealous of Bryden, has an addiction she's hiding from the police, and Bryden's best friend, Paige, carries a damaging secret as well. And what about the neighbor who was recently accused but not charged with kidnapping and raping a woman? Lapena excavates everyone's secrets, exposing what's really going on in the lives of Bryden's family and friends. None of it is pretty. Lapena's timely tale mixes the formidable dangers involved with online true-crime addiction with classic police work in a story that will make you wonder what secrets your family and friends are hiding and who, if anyone, you really know or can trust. Lapena's talents shine in this irresistible novel about revenge, betrayal, and secrets. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
