Release
Date: July 29, 2014
Publisher:
Harlequin MIRA
ISBN:
978-0-7783-1655-8
ARC Source: Harlequin
*No spoilers ahead
Twenty-four year old
Mia Dennett is the daughter of Chicago Judge James Dennett, a man of old money
and dismissive family responsibilities, and British Eve Dennett, a homemaker
and socialite. Sister to Grace, the oldest and a lawyer just like their father,
Mia doesn’t buy into the family lifestyle; instead, she is an art teacher.
Jason, her inconsistent boyfriend, is supposed to meet her on the night she is
kidnapped but calls to say he has to work late.
From the beginning of
the novel, the reader is aware that Mia has been taken by a man named Colin
Thatcher and that he kept her in cabin in Minnesota. In fact, Mia has already
been found only a few chapters in. What follows is a mixture of multiple
perspectives, both before and after Mia is found, telling the story of how Mia,
who refers to herself as Chloe, copes with her kidnapping, how Detective Gabe
stops at nothing to find her, and how her mother Eve tries to solve Mia’s trauma-induced
amnesia and help her remember the truth.
While many will suggest that Kubica’s novel follows
in the same vein as Gone Girl, I
actually found this to be much more entertaining. I could not put this book
down whereas I struggled through Flynn’s multiple narrators. What works for
Kubica is her uncanny ability to seamlessly weave both time and storytelling.
The chapters are short, and each character’s narration adds something new and
unique to the plot.
Colin’s “Before” chapters are the most interesting
because it is through his eyes that you see what actually happened to Mia,
which she doesn’t remember. I found myself anxiously skimming through some
other chapters just to get to the Colin pages. Detective Gabe’s chapters are
interesting as well because you can watch as he puts the pieces together to
find Mia while also developing a closer relationship with Eve. Perhaps least
interesting are Eve’s “Before” accounts because she tends to be a little “woe
is me” whereas her “After” chapters are fascinating because the reader watches
her become the mother she wants to be.
