Synopsis
From the bestselling author of The Perfect Child comes a shocking thriller about the disturbing complexities of a mother’s love and the deadly consequences of unravelling family secrets.
On a humid summer day in Alabama, a mayor’s wife turns up brutally murdered under a railroad bridge. Standing next to her body is fourteen-year-old Mason Hill, the autistic son of former Miss USA Genevieve Hill. The locals are quick to level their verdict on young Mason: he did it.
The town detective calls in local autism expert Casey Walker to consult on the case. At first, Casey tries to keep an open mind. But the more time she spends with Genevieve, the more her unease grows, and she suspects that Genevieve is doing more than just protecting her son.
Casey’s misgivings surrounding Genevieve’s story only intensify when she meets Savannah, Genevieve’s nineteen-year-old daughter. Savannah, as it turns out, has some disturbing secrets of her own. But as Casey dives ever deeper into the Hill family dynamic, her search for the truth leads to another shocking murder―one that shatters her understanding of the human condition in ways she never imagined.
Review
I mean…I know I’m kind of phoning it in with this one on FearForAll, but I forgive me…
Here’s another I read for my book club, the Hudson Valley Housewives, and it’s another I probably would not have read without it being someone’s pick.
This is a kind of crime mystery, but instead of a cop or detective, the main POV is a recruited children’s psychologist, Casey Walker, that specializes in autism. The mayor’s wife has been killed, and an autistic teen, Mason, son to a kind of celebrity content creator, was found at the scene covered in blood and uncontrollable.
I’ve never read this author, was unfamiliar with them, so throughout the continuously deep information dumps on autism and therapy, all I found myself thinking was, “god I hope this was well researched.” And after finishing and seeing the author’s bio, I do feel more at ease on the knowledge part, but I found villainizing a special needs teen was super risky.
I would say that the information in the above paragraph, as well as the way it was weaved into the possibility of a murder happening, was definitely one of the few things that kept me engaged and roped in. There are several attempts at unseen twists, however they are so straight forward that there’s little to no surprise with almost all of them, IE. Casey thinks the mother is doing something and the twist is…simply that she’s right??
The ending has a winding lead up to a scene right in front of a swamp, the author kind of remarks on the possibility of animals within the water, and then it literally leads to nothing at all. The final twist involves something that I do not believe was well threaded into the story, to the point where it comes out of left field. It felt wasted, or like being cheated.
The cover had me thinking that they could have been going for like a southern belle/beauty pageant thing with the crown. The watery swirls could have been some hint to the swamp at the end or something, but I think honestly, the most likely thing is that this was a real cheap stock cover that got zero thought. And while the title’s color certainly pops, I’d much rather have a cover that matches the story somehow.
Overall, I will say that I was at least never bored while reading this. Pretty much everything about Casey Walker, the way she carried herself, the way she talked, the way she just kind of wide-eyed ended up in the danger, all made me think of Maika Monroe’s character in Longlegs. A story of a mother’s love, or lack thereof, and her willingness to do anything for attention.
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