If you haven’t read this book yet, I may or may not tell you more than you want to know. Some parts of it are twisty and a little mysterious. They make the book good. So if you don’t want to know anything…I’ll just say it was a great read. I flew through it. And if you like his books, this one is a little different, but carries his same ability to transport you exactly where the characters are. I have a couple issues with some parts, so once you’ve read it…come back over and let me know if they were the same parts. The end is the best part…and don’t give up before you get there.
Thanks for stopping by to read…now for those who have read it…the rest is for you!
Okay everybody who didn’t want to read the spoilers gone??
Ok. Here goes.
The book takes place, as always, in a fabulous, little, rustic and coastal town. Our heroine works at a seafood restaurant called Ivan’s. As an aside, it frequently made me want to a) move to the coast and more practically b) go to Red Lobster. We meet her and I wasn’t sure I cared for her character at first. Of course she’s our heroine so you grow to love and respect her.
For me the book picked up quickly. You very quickly are drawn into two lives. Katie (our heroine) and Alex (our hero and future love interest) Katie is new to town and Alex owns a little grocery/necessities store on the water. I could picture every facet of the store and see the little parts of the town. Slowly but surely as Alex gets to know Katie, you the reader do as well. You get to know a few things before Alex…but there is a slow unraveling of her past. It kept me flying through the pages as I wondered what had happened to her. She was broke, hoarding money in a coffee can and saving every ounce of tip money she had. And at one point described 20 dollars as the most she’d had in months. She also has some visions of her past life. A beautiful house, a fully stocked kitchen. So you pretty much gotta know what happened.
At the same time this is going on, Alex has his own mysteries unraveling. He is a widow who took over the store from his father-in-law. He is retired military and he noticed Katie right away. There is some foreshadowing here as you learn about what Alex did while serving. He helped battered women survive leaving their husbands and pressing charges. Alex has two kids and they are adorable! He is a warm, loving character who sees the best in everyone and fiercely loves his kids.
Through a series of events you see Alex and Katie getting to know each other.
You also meet a neighbor of Katie’s, Jo. She’s always just there. Kind of another mysterious piece of the book. She moved into a rental cottage by Katie and she befriends her. Their relationship is a good one. They laugh together and Jo becomes the first friend Katie has known in a long time.
Of course from here the book starts to pick up the pace and the plot thickens up. You find out that Katie is running from an abusive marriage and how exactly she ran. And when I say ran, I mean ran. Her husband’s control over her entire life actually made me sick to my stomach. He controlled everything. She had no car, no driver’s license, no money. He took her everywhere. He beat her, cursed at her, and then tried to love on her. Like I said…upset stomach central. I struggled through some of these parts b/c honestly I cannot imagine the terror and fear that would surround living with someone who hit me so hard I found blood in my urine the next day.
This is also a part of the book where I began to find myself trying to read fast just to get the suffering over with. Here, you begin to travel along with Kevin. Her husband. The cop/abuser. And he is truly a head case. His thoughts and the way he processes things, it again makes your stomach upset. So I’m not 100% I liked following along with this part. I did get a good sense of the way he saw the world. Though it was disturbingly sad and scary, I realized seeing that side of the story, made you cheer for Katie and Alex even more. If you read it…what did you think? Too much? Didn’t he give you the creeps?
When I say the plot thickens…I mean just that. I will not even go into all the twists and turns that begin to pop up, but you find out where Katie chose the name Katie. Also, as Katie begins to get comfortable and fall in love even, with Alex…Kevin gets closer and closer to finding her in this new life.
The hunt is on and the pace of the book literally flies from here on out. I could not put it down and finished the last quarter of the book in one day. You follow Kevin as he drives, raging and drunk to find Katie. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as Kevin makes it to town, sees Katie and begins to formulate plans for killing her and Alex.
Again, details are important, but if you read the book you know about the fire, the gun shots and the final ending to the story. I was so engaged in the story I could have been standing on the very street watching Alex’s shop burn to the ground as Katie and kids escaped and ran…or seeing Katie shoot Kevin as he attacks her on her front porch. It was intense to say the very least.
The book closes with a twist that I cannot bring myself to spoil here. B/c I’m fearful some might be reading anyway…but this twist is too good to see coming…and it’s also one that brought tears to my eyes and gave me goosebumps. I loved the ending of this story!
It was a great story and I thoroughly enjoyed my time in between the pages.
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