A psychological thriller that really delivers.
This will bend your mind, causing you to stop until your senses settle - before continuing, because this is hard to put down. What I am about to tell you is not the real story.
The picture of 6 year-old Lulu appears in the newspaper eleven years after she disappeared, a mystery never solved.
Several boys have disappeared over the years. Children go to the lake and never return.
Our narrator Ted Bannerman was a young man then. The neighbourhood houses were searched, his home pictured in the newspaper caused people to throw rocks through the windows. They remain boarded up with plywood, the doors triple locked.
Ted's young daughter Lauren visits on weekends, riding her bike through the house. Kids should be noisy. He calls her Kitten and worries about protecting her, remembering when she was out of control at the mall.
Today he discovered someone placed glue traps on his bird feeders, killing the local birds. Upset, he took his pills late. He wishes he could talk to a friend - but not the psychiatrist from whom he hides his true nature. Maybe online dating - although he never shows up for the date.
The second narrator is Ted's cat Olivia, spending her day sleeping in the unplugged freezer Ted made into a bed, with soft blankets and holes punched in the lid. Lauren likes to climb in there as well. Sometimes Ted spends days away, which worries them.
The third narrator is Dee, the older sister of Lulu, who still feels responsible. She breaks into Ted's home when he is out, discovering it disheveled and filthy with a strong mushroom odour. She follows and watches him bury things in the woods.
The reader slowly realizes you cannot trust what you read. People have a vision of themselves that may not be real. We worry for Ted, his mother always warned him he was damaged. There are secrets in the woods that Ted may know, or hasn't even discovered yet.
Lauren never liked Olivia, but when she returns they team up to help Ted.
This review is partially true, there is far more going on than you realize.
Fans of psychological thrillers will be impressed. Catriona Ward did a stunning job.
Widely available in all formats.
2021 / Tradeback / 368 pages
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