The Roberts' family lives a comfortable life in a spacious home in suburban Washington DC. Erin and Cole have two children, Sam and Breanna. Erin is a stay-at-home mom involved in volunteer activities and John is a successful executive. Sam, 14, is gifted academically and Brenna is a typical 16-year old girl, who is Sam's best friend. This perfect family facade begins to crumble with the first sentence of the book when a devastated Sam learns that Breanna has vanished without a trace.

Their economic status is impacted severely by a life-altering lapse in judgement by Cole, which leads to a move to a job at a Waffle House in Alabama. Erin sinks more deeply into a dysfunctional way of coping, and Sam is left to navigate living a lie. When Brenna is discovered alive, it is a moment filled with elation, followed by heartache This broken family has to heal enough to communicate with each other about what really matters and find a way to love each other without reservation.

Secrets and resentments abound within the family, and each deals with the aftermath of Brenna's disappearance in different ways, but always individually. The story evolves from their separate points of view over an agonizing two years following Breanna's disappearance. Each character is fully developed and revealed to the reader, but never to each other until the poignant conclusion. There is graphic violence in this book that is relevant to deeply troubling issues. The violence is disturbing, but not gratuitous.

This is a well-written book that deals with relevant, difficult issues. I am grateful to BookSirens and the author for the opportunity to read this ARC. ( )