Well told story, but very dark. ( )

When a bridge collapses in Scotland, a woman's car is recorded by the security camera as one of those that plunge into the river below. However, she had sold the car to an illegal immigrant man who was actually driving the car with his young daughter as a passenger. The woman needed the money so that she can establish a new life away from her husband who doesn't want the child she is carrying. Because she feels guilty for their deaths, she wants to share the purchase price of the car with the man's widow, who doesn't know her family has died. The two end up sharing a home while "Annabelle" recovers her strength and the widow, Silva, waits for her husband and daughter to come home. The audio version was great to listen to. I'm not sure I would have had as much patience with the characters' secrecy if I were reading the book. I didn't understand what made the characters tick, but I wanted to know what happened and could empathize with each of them. ( )

Amazing story especially the last hour it made the whole book!

Have you ever thought about starting your life over? What if by a chance of fate you could start anew? When unbeknownst to her husband a pregnant woman sells her car and soon after that car is being shown on all news outlets plunging into the river after a bridge collapses, her husband was not happy about the pregnancy so she decides to stay “dead” and becomes Annabelle. The only problem is she sold the car to a man who had a child with him and they are actually the ones who went into the river, and the guilt of this is hard on her. She makes her way along the river and ends up at the cabin of a woman named Silva, who also happens to be wife and mother of the man and child in the car. There she tries to make a new life never telling Silva the truth and her only other companion is Ron the boatman the 3 of them and their secrets fill the cabin. But secrets never quite stay hidden and when all these secrets come out there is no telling what may happen.

This is not a happy book these three people are all mourning something and keeping secrets and dealing with guilt, however this is a beautifully written book that kept my attention from beginning to end. And as I said the last hour was edge of my seat, nail biting, tummy flipping suspense when one secret bubbles to the surface yet is misunderstood and the tension is palpable.

The narration is wonderful and really enhances this sad story I had forgotten how much I love Robin Sachs voice, his narration was superb he had many different accents and the Scottish man working on the bridge was great, and the ladies Kate Reading & Cassandra Campbell WOW great accents, and such a great range of emotions that make you feel everything these women go through. This is a book to listen to just for the fabulous narration if nothing else. But I did like this story yes it is sad but it is also a very powerful story of what ifs.

Highly recommend this on audio!

4 Stars

5 Stars narration ( )

This was a tough one. On the plus side, the writer really nailed the creeping horror of guilt and madness. On the other hand, the writer really nailed the creeping horror of guilt and madness, and it made me really uncomfortable. It gave me mood swings: One minute, I wanted to put the book down and stop reading it, because it was so disturbing, and the next minute, I couldn't put it down, because I had to know what happened, next.

The characters were insidiously powerful and well-written, but I mostly didn't like them and occasionally had trouble understanding them. (Just like real people, now that I think of it.) They made me consider how different other people might be, from me, and also how unfounded are my assumptions about how I would handle being in a particular situation. Would I *really* handle it any better than Anabel, or Silva, or Ron, if I were in their shoes? I'd like to think I would, but....would I?

I can't say I enjoyed the book (hence, the three stars) but it was powerful, and I think it will stick with me for awhile (possibly in the form of nightmares.)

Also: Ambiguous endings suck. ( )

truly creepy climax...I like psychological thrillers but for me this veered into an unexpectedly dark place. ( )