For a good chunk, I enjoyed it. In the end, it suddenly went off the rails in a way I could have liked if it wasn’t so rushed. The story ended at the most exciting part!  

Energy: Watchful. Confidential. Marching. 

Scene: 🇺🇸 Mainly set near cottages and islands by a lake in Minnesota.  

Perspective: Two timelines. In present, we follow a dedicated chief of staff who starts questioning why the congressman they trust is being so dodgy after what appears to be nothing more than the typical random threat. In the past (~15 years ago?), we follow four lifelong Besties (one of whom is the Congressman from our current timeline) spending their last summer together after graduating high school through the perspective of the teen whose family owns the cottage they’re staying at. 

 

🐕 Howls: The past timelines once it was obvious what was going on.  The ending ‘twist’ felt abrupt/out of character.  

🐩 Tail Wags: Current day Krista amateur sleuthing. The motivation for Krista’s loyalty. 

 

This is a mystery with thriller moments that involve a politician, but calling it a political thriller may be disappointing for some (we don’t get the politician’s perspective). If you’re thinking government and legal suspense, conspiracies, war and terrorism scheming or espionage type stuff, it isn’t that. 

 

This could be a fun read at a lake or cabin for an added spooky effect. I loved how the action started in the past timeline and was easy to imagine.

 

Except then the past timeline was dragging on for me. Not sure if it’s because we already knew the outcome, so the cat-and-mouse escape scenes felt too drawn out, or if I am not a fan of reading those types of scenes (I kept losing where all the characters were in relation to each other). 

 

The final twist came out of nowhere. I didn’t predict it so yay, but that’s also because it seemed way out of character for that person to do what they did. I’m still not sure how I feel about it. 

 

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🎬 Tale-Telling: Straightforward and a little reflective in the high-stakes scenes. 

🤓 Reader Role: Observing from afar, ghost in the room picking up a trickle of thoughts from certain characters. 

🗺️ World-Building: Mostly immersive, sometimes a bit sparse but not lacking.

🔥 Fuel: In the present timeline, there’s the question of who is sending the threats, why Harry seems rattled by them, and how he’s connected to an incident on Pike Island that was in the news. In the past timeline, we have the suspense of how the boys may be involved and how they escape. Near the ending, there’s a bit of who to trust suspense as the two timelines collide. 

📖 Cred: Moments that felt very realistic and down-to-earth, with some over-the-top but not implausible twists.

🚙 Journey: Movie night at the cottage. 

 

Content Heads-Up: Home invasion, confinement. Drugs (dealing). Overdose (off-page). Alcohol use. Alcoholism (mention; off-page). Corruption. Gun violence and threats. Murder. Verbal child abuse (recall; off page). 

Rep: Lesbian. Heterosexual. Cisgender. White and ambiguous Americans.

 

📚 Format: Advance Reader’s Copy from Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley.