I was lucky enough to have enough time to just sit and read this one inside of a day, and you’ll definitely want to keep turning the pages to find out what happens next.
Frankie Elkin is your run-of-the mill, average, middle-age white woman, with a couple of things that sets her apart. First, she’s an alcoholic. She’s been clean for several years, but she still craves a drink every day, even though she claims that bartending doesn’t make the want any worse. Second, she has major regrets from her past that she tries to make amends for every day she’s still alive. And third, she spends her life searching for missing persons – specifically missing women from minority groups that everyone else has given up on finding. In this story, she finds herself in a rough Boston neighborhood, where Angelique Badeau, a smart, focused Haitian teenager disappeared from school almost a year ago.
I liked Frankie’s character in this book. She’s obviously broken – and a lot of reasons are given for this – but she’s turning her own pain into trying to heal others, which is an admirable quality. The author did a good job teasing out her past, trying to show why she continues the Sisyphean task of moving around the country, finding these missing women, in her attempt to atone for her past mistakes.
I also liked the dialogue between the characters. It seemed smart, witty, reminding me a bit of crime noir style but a bit edgier.
The only thing that bogged it down a bit for me, though, was the reason why Angelique went missing in the first place. I guess the stakes were technically high, but it just felt a bit dry in an otherwise fast-paced book.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. It has not influenced my opinion.