Show the reader, don't tell the reader.
Repeat, repeat, repeat. I got it the first time, I didn't need the same situation repeated in different sentences (sometimes within the same chapter!).
The ending was wrapped up as if she was told it had to be within the next ten …more pages.
Plot twists were uninspired and the whole thing read like a B-rated drama.
I will not read another book by this author. (less)

Spoiler Alert!
This book was a page turner. It could have been 600 pages! I loved The Dry and was excited to see Harper had published another already. Thrillers are my favourite genre and I am grateful for a new author whose books are so captivating.

I really enjoy that …more Harper doesn't use shock - that is such a lazy way to thrill. The back and forth in time was easy to follow and kept me reading long after I should have gone to bed.

I do feel readers were left hanging. It almost needs a sequel that ties up some loose ends and explores some potentially fascinating tales.
Where did Joel go? Margot had an interesting role. I liked the twist on Lauren, but would have liked to see more of that history. Falk's father's maps didn't offer any hidden clues, any keys to Falk solving the mystery or peek into the Kovac past. The Kovac angle was dismissed almost immediately with his death and yet it was mentioned often later on. It didn't ring realistic when characters feared Kovac when they all knew he was dead/imprisoned. Daniel was excluded completely after a couple of appearances. Falk's primary investigation was downplayed and there wasn't any satisfaction in that story. Bree and Beth's back stories were explained in too much detail and went nowhere - nothing to suggest the pair were guilty of anything or tie into the present.

The ending was a letdown. So many possibilities and the most benign and uninteresting was played out.

I had visions of Alice having escaped the wild to wreak havoc somewhere or live up to her obligations as a mother and witness, or Joel having a part in her disappearance. Daniel was a seasoned hiker and his character could have been built to be a bigger player (or more believable red herring). Jill was pretty flat - no real indication she was a suspect and no true motives. She could have been a surprise help to Falk's investigation or maybe a player to Alice's escape or maybe even the true threat to Alice.

I really did love this book, I just feel there were more interesting ways it could have played out.

I admit, I'm no literary critic. I didn't want to put the book down and I am left contemplating it long after I have read it. For those reasons, the author may well have done her job! (less)