I have been so disappointed lately with the new-release thrillers that I kind of backed away from the genre. This one was worth the read. It kept me guessing right up until the very end and beyond. It was a narrative that went back and forth from September 2018 to September 2019, with a few side trips to further back in time. The setting is Littleport, Maine - a town right on the edge of the ocean. It sounds like a place I want to visit some day. Is it possible for one to "have an ocean"? Well if it is, the Atlantic Ocean is "my" ocean. It's perfectly majestical, powerful and awe-inspiring and this book depicts this very well because the ocean is an essential part of the plot. The book begins in 2018 with these words: "I almost went back for her. When she didn't show. When she didn't answer her phone. When she didn't reply to my text." - the opening lines of the book. We begin at the beginning when Avery's dearest friend Sadie is found at the bottom of the bluffs - partly in the Atlantic Ocean. From there Avery takes us back and forth as she tries to reconstruct that night. The search forces her to face some of her own demons, and forces her to re-examine her life from when it irreparably changed at the age of 14, Piece by piece, she figures out what happened on the night of Sadie's death, and as she searches, she finds that everything that she remembers from the night when she lost Sadie, firmly puts her in the frame. Can she figure it out and clear her name? Awesome book. The tension ratchets up at the beginning and does not let go until the very last pages. Highly recommend.
