Author: Megan Miranda
Published: April 2017, Simon & Schuster
Format: ARC E-book, 352 pages
Source: Netgalley
In the masterful follow-up to the New York Times bestseller All the Missing Girls—“think: Luckiest Girl Alive, The Girl on the Train, Gone Girl” (TheSkimm)—a journalist sets out to find a missing friend, a friend who may never have existed at all.
Confronted by a restraining order and the threat of a lawsuit, failed journalist Leah Stevens needs to get out of Boston when she runs into an old friend, Emmy Grey, who has just left a troubled relationship. Emmy proposes they move to rural Pennsylvania, where Leah can get a teaching position and both women can start again. But their new start is threatened when a woman with an eerie resemblance to Leah is assaulted by the lake, and Emmy disappears days later.
Determined to find Emmy, Leah cooperates with Kyle Donovan, a handsome young police officer on the case. As they investigate her friend’s life for clues, Leah begins to wonder: did she ever really know Emmy at all? With no friends, family, or a digital footprint, the police begin to suspect that there is no Emmy Grey. Soon Leah’s credibility is at stake, and she is forced to revisit her past: the article that ruined her career. To save herself, Leah must uncover the truth about Emmy Grey—and along the way, confront her old demons, find out who she can really trust, and clear her own name.
Everyone in this rural Pennsylvanian town has something to hide—including Leah herself. How do you uncover the truth when you are busy hiding your own?
My thoughts: This was the first book I've read by Megan Miranda...but it surely won't be my last. I have her other book, All the Missing Girls, but never got around to reading it...and all I can say now is that I will definitely be picking it up as soon as I get a chance.
I really enjoyed this book - it kept me on my toes, guessing as to what was really going on. I found myself constantly wondering whether what Leah was telling us was real or whether she was making it all up. I was also confused...I didn't know if what was happening was really happening to Leah, if it was Leah's mind playing tricks on her or if it was someone else doing it to her. Is she reliable or is she just crazy?
The writing kept me wanting to keep going - I had to know how this would all play out. It was twisted and every time I thought I had come up with a viable guess, something new would pop up to throw that out the window. There's something so simple about this book, yet it keeps you on edge - quite a brilliant feat to this psychological thriller! I definitely found myself flipping the pages at top speed to figure out what would come next - it's tense, taut and kept me on edge until the very end.
This was such a great story and now I definitely need to find the time to pick up All the Missing Girls pronto, especially if it's anything like this one! Megan Miranda is definitely going on my must-read list...is she on yours?