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I went into this thinking it was a domestic thriller but ended up being so much more. This is one of those books that ends up being an entirely different story than what you initially thought.

So we follow our main character Abigail Baskin who works for a publishing company in New York. She is in love with and is marrying a charming tech billionaire named Bruce Lamb. They are busy planning their wedding, and Abagail feels like the luckiest woman in the world.

Then during her bachelorette party weekend in California, she ends up getting a bit too drunk and has a one-night stand with an attractive guy. Both Abigail and the man agreed that they wouldn’t exchange their real names, so she refers to him as simply “Scottie.” Afterward, she attempts to put the tryst behind her and forget about the man, as she is convinced now more than ever that she wants to spend the rest of her life with Bruce.

So the wedding happens, and then Bruce whisks her off to Heart Pond Island for their honeymoon, an exclusive resort off the coast of Maine where there is no wi-fi, no cell phone service, and minimal electricity. The resort was a former summer camp surrounded by dense woods.

So imagine Abigail’s surprise and utter shock when Scottie shows up at the island resort where she and Bruce are honeymooning. The man catches Abigail alone and insists that their night together could be the beginning of something special and that the’s tracked her down to prove it to her. He’s confident that they are soulmates. In a panic, Abigail debates whether to ignore the man and risk him telling her husband about the affair or come clean with Bruce and risk putting not only her honeymoon but her entire marriage in jeopardy.

Then, the book makes a 180-degree turn and gets really, really dark. What we get is the mother of all twists, and it’s at this point where the story ends up being completely different than what I thought it was. Just when you think you’ve figured out the story, everything changes.

In fact, the atmosphere of the novel begins to feel totally unreal and dreamlike (and not in a good way), and my anxiety increased with each chapter. Right from their arrival on the island, there’s this intense sense of foreboding — a feeling that something’s not quite right.

The story veers from a happy honeymoon to extremely suffocating and claustrophobic, and Abigail’s vacation quickly spirals out of control. The eerie summer camp vibe also helped ratchet up the creep factor, which kind of gave it a Friday the 13th vibe to it. I’d say that it’s at this point where the story stops being a thriller and delves into horror territory.

I tend to especially enjoy stories that take place in isolated locations in which people are trapped, such as on yachts, at a resort during a snowstorm, or on an island, so the setting here was ideal for me. I also liked how resourceful and focused Abigail becomes as she’s forced to do whatever it takes once her situation escalates.

Though the story started out a tad slow, it ends up being quite a fast-paced adventure once the twist is revealed. There is virtually no let-up once this story starts moving along to an inevitable conclusion, and what we think is a stalker story turns out to be an adrenaline-fueled heart-pounding story of courage. I was on pins and needles the entire time.

And the resolution was absolutely bonkers! It was wild, far-fetched, and way, way out there, yet it worked for me. But really, you do have to suspend disbelief a bit and just sit back and enjoy the ride. Every Vow You Break ended up being a very disturbing examination of relationships, masculinity, and human nature with plenty of heart-in-your-throat moments in which you have no idea who to trust.

A compelling and cleverly plotted tale that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Purchase Every Vow You Break on Amazon

Blurb:

Told in alternating points of view between the living and the dead, Jessica Hamilton’s debut novel will be perfect for fans of THE LOVELY BONES.

Idyllic Avril lsland, owned by the Bennett family, where their hundred-year-old cottage sat nestled in acres of forest. Forty-year-old June Bennett believed that the island had been sold after the summer of her father’s disappearance when she was only twelve years old. It’s months after the shocking death of her older sister May in a fatal car accident, that June finds out that the cottage was never sold. Avril Island is still owned by the Bennett family and now it’s hers.

Still reeling from the grief of losing her sister, June travels back to Avril lsland in search of answers. As she digs, she learns that the townspeople believe her father may have, in fact, been murdered rather than abandoning his family in the dead of night, as she was led to believe by her mother. And that’s when she begins to notice strange things happening on the island–missing family possessions showing up on her bed, doors open when she had locked them closed. It takes June no time at all to realize that her childhood summers at Avril Island were not at all what they had seemed to be.

Review:

This is a haunting story told from the point of view of two sisters, one dead and one alive. After the death of her mother and of sister May, June finds out that she is now the owner of Avril Island, a place she hasn’t been to since her father’s sudden disappearance when they were children. Her mother told her that she’d sold the island years ago, so June was more than surprised that it was still in the family and now belonged to her. Unaware that her dead sister’s ghost accompanies her, June returns to the isolated family island cottage for the first time in decades to find out why her mother lied to her about selling the cabin. She also hoped to find out perhaps why their father left them that night, never to be heard from again.

She begins digging through decades worth of clues and uncovering all sorts of creepy family secrets in the process. Surprisingly, she learns that residents of the nearby town assume that her father may have been involved in a murder or may have been murdered himself rather than merely having “left them,” as her mother had always claimed. As she learns, her father was not the only one to go missing. The family caretaker, Will, also went missing a short time later.

What follows is a gripping, multi-layered mystery (with just a touch of the paranormal) as June slowly begins to put the pieces together and eventually learns the shocking truth of what really happened that night. The suspense really gets ratcheted up when strange things start happening at the cottage while June is there alone, such as dead birds at the door and phonograph records playing by themselves.

What we have here is a wonderfully crafted and thrilling tale about loss, grief, love, lies, betrayal, and dark family secrets that I absolutely loved. This was such a vivid and atmospheric book, which at times made me feel as though I were right there at the cottage along with them. I also thought the addition of May’s ghost as a narrator with a fun and innovative touch.

All in all, an exceptional read with an exciting plot and gripping characters with twists galore. Recommended!

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Blurb:

A detective hiding away from the world. A series of disappearances that reach into her past. Can solving them help her heal?

Anna Hart is a seasoned missing persons detective in San Francisco with far too much knowledge of the darkest side of human nature. When overwhelming tragedy strikes her personal life, Anna, desperate and numb, flees to the Northern California village of Mendocino to grieve. She lived there as a child with her beloved foster parents, and now she believes it might be the only place left for her. Yet the day she arrives, she learns a local teenage girl has gone missing. The crime feels frighteningly reminiscent of the most crucial time in Anna’s childhood, when the unsolved murder of a young girl touched Mendocino and changed the community forever. As past and present collide, Anna realizes that she has been led to this moment. The most difficult lessons of her life have given her insight into how victims come into contact with violent predators. As Anna becomes obsessed with the missing girl, she must accept that true courage means getting out of her own way and learning to let others in.

Weaving together actual cases of missing persons, trauma theory, and a hint of the metaphysical, this propulsive and deeply affecting novel tells a story of fate, necessary redemption, and what it takes, when the worst happens, to reclaim our lives–and our faith in one another.

Review:

I read The Paris Wife by this author, which I loved, so I thought I’d give this one a go as well. First off, let me say that this book is nothing like the Paris Wife — rather than a historical fiction story, McLain gives us a heart-in-your-throat thriller with just a touch of historical fiction. I’m impressed by the talent and versatility of this author.

Set in the early 1990s, “When the Stars Go Dark” follows Anna Hart, an emotionally damaged detective specializing in searching for and finding missing children. After a horrendous tragedy in her life, Anna escapes to her hometown of Mendocino to try and figure out her next move and find herself. Once there, however, she’s asked by an old friend who is now the Sheriff to assist in the case of a missing 15-year-old girl named Cameron. Alternating between the past and present, Anna not only uncovers similar disappearances in other nearby towns but also unearths information about a missing child case that occurred while she lived in Mendocino years ago. One of the cases that comes to light is the kidnapping case of Polly Klaas, a true-life event that occurred during this time period. I thought this historical true-crime element added extra intrigue to the narrative.

As the case progresses, Anna also dredges up secrets about her own past and personal life. I loved how Anna’s poignant backstory was revealed a little at a time. resulting in a compelling character-driven story. We get to see first-hand the heartache Anna carries from her childhood as well as that from her recent life. We also see how Anna’s family life suffered due to her obsessive drive to solve her assigned cases.

Though this is undoubtedly a gritty and gripping mystery with many unexpected twists and turns, it also illustrates the extent of how trauma can affect someone’s life. So at its core, the story is about trauma, vulnerability, opening up, and resilience. Because of its dark subject matter — the kidnapping, abuse, and murder of children — the book is heartbreaking and tough to read. I knew this subject will be a gut puncher- but was woefully ill-prepared for how much. It kinda destroyed me for a few days, truth be told.

But at the end of the day, what we do get is a complex, utterly addictive character-driven thriller about tragedy and grief, but also about redemption and growth. I was captivated right to the end by the lyrical, superlative writing. Definitely recommended for those that love their thrillers peppered with a bit of true crime.

Purchase “When The Stars Go Dark” on Amazon