This is another good suspense/mystery book by Lucinda Barry.
Three lifelong best friends — Lindsey, Kendra, and Dani — now each have a son — Jacob, Sawyer, and Caleb — who are also lifelong best friends. But at a sleepover one night, something happens that leaves Sawyer dead of a gunshot wound, Jacob in a coma, and Caleb in such extreme shock that he’s barely functioning or talking. As the parents desperately try to find out what really happened, they end up learning about many more secrets than they bargained for.
The premise started off horribly sad, so pack the tissues for this one (and keep them close.) The author did a really good job capturing the raw emotion of the three women. Some of the depictions of the teenage boys left me nervous for my own children as they get closer to that age, but I’d like to hope (albeit potentially naively) that I wouldn’t be quite as blind — or quite as forgiving — as these parents were when it came to their children’s extreme underage drinking.
I did figure out one of the big twists pretty early on, and while it was a good twist, I didn’t think the author went far enough with it. The stakes didn’t quite seem high enough for this outcome.
My other complaint — hopefully without giving away too much but SPOILER ALERT here just in case– was the Dani-Bryan relationship. There was a lot of build up and then the whole thing fizzled without really going anywhere.
All in all, though, this was a quick read — more sad than fun, but still an enjoyable read in this genre — and a good book to spend a day or two with.
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer in exchange for my honest review. It has not influenced my opinion.