Slow Burn Family Mystery With Explosive Twist. Let's get a common criticism dealt with up front: No, this is NOT a Jane Doe novel. That dispensed with, this *IS* a great example of Stone's ability to tell more than one type of story in more than one way. What we get here is a compelling slow burn family mystery involving killers, rapists, mistresses, and one confused kid. Told in dual timelines from the modern era and the 80s, we see mom and daughter explore their situations and come to startling revelations - though neither is quite prepared for the explosive revelation at the end of the tale. This picks up some of the creepier elements of Christopher Rice's Blood Music while spinning an engrossing gothic - in the classic sense of the word, involving a foreboding building - mystery all its own. Very much recommended. ( )

Review of eBook

Childhood is something Lauren Abrams survived rather than savored. Raised by her mother, Donna, they were constantly on the move [as if being hunted]; her father, Michael, was imprisoned for murder, thanks to the lies Donna told in court. But when Lauren was ten. Michael was cleared and released from prison; Lauren finally met her dad and his mother, her grandmother, Elizabeth.

Much to her delight, Lauren discovers that her father and grandmother are perfectly normal and she loves spending time with them. Then, to Donna’s surprise and dismay, Lauren, angry for the lie that sent her father to prison, turns her back on her mother and goes to live with her father.

Now, Lauren lives in Los Angeles and works as a freelance graphic designer. But her relationship with her boyfriend, Bastian, has become rocky and, after three years of living together, she fears they’ve reached a parting of the ways.

The unexpected [and unwelcome] news of her grandmother’s stroke sends Lauren back to Sacramento and to the ranch where she’d had some of her happiest times. Now her grandmother wants to sell the ranch to her and move to assisted living. After a momentary balk, Lauren agrees and moves into the ranch.

As Lauren settles in, mysterious notes begin to arrive in her mailbox. But when she's renovating the house, Lauren makes a shattering discovery that changes everything she thought she knew.

Told alternately by Lauren in the present and Donna in the past [1985], the unfolding story is, at its heart, a story of the complex relationships within a family and the lengths to which some people will go to protect those they love. The revelation of long-kept secrets and the exposure of lies work to change everything the readers’ understanding of the characters’ actions as the family drama plays out.

Although the characters are reasonably well-drawn, they are all rather unlikable. Lauren, the character at the center of the story, is hesitant and unsure of herself, an oft-illustrated characteristic that finally grows old. And while Donna is irascible and outspoken, Michael is just plain smarmy. Grandmother Abrams is a bit of a puzzle . . . beneath the gentle and pleasant exterior she shows to others, there are signs of some strong anger.

The relatively straightforward plot plays out slowly; astute readers will identify the truth before its revelation late in the telling of the tale. The story has a tendency to plod along, but it’s a quick read story that readers may find engaging.

I received a free copy of this book through the Goodreads First Reads program ( )