A pulse-pounding new Southern thriller from the author of the runaway bestseller A Flicker in the Dark.
Twenty-two years ago, Claire Campbell’s older sister, Natalie, disappeared shortly after her eighteenth birthday. Days later, her blood was found in a car, a man was arrested, and the case was swiftly closed. In the decades since, Claire has attempted to forget her traumatic past by moving to the city and climbing the ranks as an investigative journalist... until an unexpected call from her father forces her to come back home and face it all anew.
With the entire summer now looming ahead—a summer spent with nothing to do in her childhood home, with her estranged mother—Claire decides on a whim to accept a seasonal job at Galloway Farm, a muscadine vineyard in coastal South Carolina less than an hour away from where she grew up. At first glance, Galloway is an idyllic escape for Claire. A scenic retreat full of slow-paced nostalgia, as well as a place where her sister seemed truly happy in that last summer before she vanished, it feels like the perfect plan to pass the time. However, as soon as Claire starts to settle in, she stumbles across an old diary written by one of the vineyard's owners, and what at first seems like a story of young rebellion and love turns into something much more sinister as it begins to describe details of various unsolved crimes. As the days stretch on, Claire finds herself becoming more and more secluded as she starts to obsess over the diary's contents… as well as the lingering feeling that her own sister's disappearance may be somehow tied to it all.
Galloway was supposed to be a place to help her move forward, but instead, Claire quickly finds herself immersed in her own dark and dangerous past.
oooh interesting start (view spoiler)[ well, can't help but wonder if the farm and people there are going to somehow be tied to what happened to her sister
wonder what's on that roll of film. . .
and wow, the diary of Marcia - Marcia didn't seem to . . .aware - I wonder what we'll learn of their relationship
and I'm really sad her mom wasn't happier to have her daughter there. My mom would be so excited to have me just as I would love having my kids here with me! (hide spoiler)]
(view spoiler)[ it's getting creepy! Interesting that I don't think it's the same Lily - but what does that mean? hmmm. . .
and I like Liam but I get the feeling he knows more and is trying to make sure she's okay. But I get the feeling that he kind of "chose" her - if that makes sense.
and I wonder if Marcia is not the innocent we think she is. Could she have gotten jealous that Mitch wasn't just hers? Could she be a danger and that's why they are drugging her? or is Mitch really gross - just gathering up teens and hurting them or keeping them?
I wonder how this all ties to her sister? how many kids have gone missing over the years
OH and I hate that she isn't going into town at all - to get her own supplies or anything. She can easily disappear now - there's no record she was ever there. or that she's even in town (hide spoiler)]
hmm for some reason (view spoiler)[ I thought her sister was just missing and no one had been convicted
I just knew it would go back around to that summer she spent working there but WOW I never guessed that the mom would be tied to the farm too! Yikes!
and wow, the camper. I wonder if she'll find it.
and omg hiding in the house. but it really seemed like Liam knew she was in there, right? I still think he might not be the best guy. . .I worry he's been there so long that he helps Mitchell stay under the radar for whatever he's doing.
interesting how the detective and her sister's best friend different stories about where the info came from. . .
(view spoiler)[ wow, I never expected all those twists! Siblings! never guessed it and that the mom would come swooping in - even though she had kind of already saved herself at that point with Liam's help
and wow! that it was Lily. I did wonder if she was actually violent, just never guessed the different Who!! (hide spoiler)]
Twenty-two years ago, Claire Campbell’s older sister, Natalie, disappeared shortly after her eighteenth birthday. Days later, her blood was found in a car, a man was arrested, and the case was swiftly closed. In the decades since, Claire has attempted to forget her traumatic past by moving to the city and climbing the ranks as an investigative journalist... until an unexpected call from her father forces her to come back home and face it all anew.
With the entire summer now looming ahead—a summer spent with nothing to do in her childhood home, with her estranged mother—Claire decides on a whim to accept a seasonal job at Galloway Farm, a muscadine vineyard in coastal South Carolina less than an hour away from where she grew up. At first glance, Galloway is an idyllic escape for Claire. A scenic retreat full of slow-paced nostalgia, as well as a place where her sister seemed truly happy in that last summer before she vanished, it feels like the perfect plan to pass the time. However, as soon as Claire starts to settle in, she stumbles across an old diary written by one of the vineyard's owners, and what at first seems like a story of young rebellion and love turns into something much more sinister as it begins to describe details of various unsolved crimes. As the days stretch on, Claire finds herself becoming more and more secluded as she starts to obsess over the diary's contents… as well as the lingering feeling that her own sister's disappearance may be somehow tied to it all.
Galloway was supposed to be a place to help her move forward, but instead, Claire quickly finds herself immersed in her own dark and dangerous past.