" A series of choices, some bad, some good, some seemingly meaningless- could lead you places you'd never set out to go. Because everywhere, all around, other people were making choices too."
BLURB:
Abducted. Terrorized. Imprisoned.
At nineteen-years-old, college student Josie Stratton was kidnapped by a madman and held shackled for ten months in an abandoned warehouse before she finally escaped her hellish prison.
Eight years later, when the body of a young woman is found chained in the basement of a vacant house, Cincinnati Police Detective Zach Copeland is instantly reminded of the crime committed against Josie Stratton. Zach was just a rookie on the perimeter of that case, but he’s never forgotten the traumatized woman with the haunted eyes.
As more information emerges, the crimes take on an even more sinister similarity. But Josie’s attacker died by suicide. Does the city have a copycat on its hands? A killer who picked up where the original perpetrator left off? Or are they facing something far more insidious?
Josie has spent the last eight years attempting to get her life back on track, but now there’s a very real chance she could be the unknown suspect’s next target. As Zach vows to keep her safe, and Josie finds herself responding to him in a way she hasn’t responded to any man in almost a decade, the investigation takes on an even more complex edge of danger.
As past and present collide, Josie and Zach are thrust toward a shocking and chilling truth. A revelation that threatens not only Josie’s life, but everything she’s been fighting so desperately to reclaim.
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BOOK REVIEW
You'll enjoy this if you like:
~ Thrillers
~ Suspense
~ Characters in Law Enforcement
~ Strong Heroine
TO NOTE:
Trigger warning:
WRITING STYLE: 5/5
CHARACTERS: 5/5
PLOT: 5/5
PERSONAL ENJOYMENT: 5/5
OVERALL RATING: 20/20
This is a highly emotional read. Full of suspenseful and heartbreaking moments, this storyline was extremely poignant and it brought me to my knees emotionally.
This was a tough read in some places as we find out in flashbacks to what extent Josie suffered in the hands of her abductor.
But it also shows the astonishing strength some people have inside them. Josie is a survivor and though she has come out of that nightmarish situation traumatised and scarred she fights for herself and what is hers. She is an example of what we can live through and still find it in us to push ourselves to fight another day, for the sake of those we love. It is this resilience and strength that first draws Detective Zach Copeland to wanting to help and protect Josie. I loved how he saw her as more than what had happened to her. That she was not broken or flawed because of it. But rather a survivor and a fierce one at that.
Mia Sheridan’s writing has always drawn me in, and its no different here, she kept me right there with Josie and it was a highly emotional experience.
The thoughts Josie has and the emotions she experiences and the decisions she ultimately makes. I was right there with her, for all of it. It left me raw and I cannot fathom the strength it takes to make the heartbreaking decisions that Josie has to make.
Then while we are on this emotional rollercoaster, Mia Sheridan throws us into a scary cat and mouse situation with the current kidnappings and murders. While you try to make sense of it all you realise you cannot because nothing is as it seems.
VERDICT: I enjoyed this book immensely, it was emotional, heart-wrenching and completely immersive so much so it left me emotionally raw and hurting. Yet the main feeling was hopeful and I was fully satisfied with how the story unfolded. I couldn't envision it any other way. I would highly recommend it, with the proviso that if you require trigger warnings then to check my "To Note'' section first.
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Favourite Quotes:
“This woman had changed something fundamental about him, and a distant part knew that, however this all played out, he’d never again be the same.”
'' Love never died. Love went on and on, like a swiftly moving river. No matter the obstacle, it continued forward, an unending force moving around, over, into-carving away at the rocky shores in its path.''
''For choosing to stand over and over again after we collapse, for working to heal the broken parts of ourselves so the shards don't wound the world''
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