A Concussion Victim, a Missing Child, and Complex Police Investigation

Nicky's car sails off the road. It's like flying until she ends nose down at the bottom of a steep ravine. She's injured, but she has to help Vero. The climb to the top takes all her strength, but she has to find Vero. When she reaches the top, a motorist spots her and calls the police. She tells him she has to find Vero; she's just a little girl.

Sargent Wyatt Foster of the North County Sheriff's Criminal Investigation Division gets the case. The first job is the unhappy one of looking for a young child. The police pull in all available personnel and use dogs, but there is no sign of Vero.

Foster visits Nicky in the hospital and learns from her husband that this is her third concussion since they moved to their new home in the wilds of New Hampshire. Thomas says that Vero isn't real. She's the result of his wife's repeated concussions. Foster isn't convinced, and the investigation begins.

The novel moves back and forth between Nicky's viewpoint and Foster's investigation. The author does an excellent job of bringing us into the distorted world of Nicky's damaged mind. Contrasted with these chapters is the straight police investigation led by Foster. It keeps the tension high and highlights the twists in the plot.

I highly recommend this book if you like a good thriller. The pace is fast and the ending unexpected.

I reviewed this book for Net Galley.