by PJ McIlvaine
Publisher: Bloodhound Books
Pages: 317
Format: eARC
Buy the Book: Amazon
Goodreads: Decades after a brutal childhood trauma, a famous novelist finds his life shattered once again, in this unsettling psychological mystery thriller.
After years of turmoil, Brooks Anderson is sober and has a stable life with his wife and two kids. He should be enjoying life, but the persistent nightmares and sleepwalking tell a different story.
As hard as he’s tried, Brooks can’t run away from the defining event of his life: the senseless murders of his mother and brother during a vacation in Montauk. An eight-year-old Brooks was the sole survivor of the carnage, which left him in a catatonic state. He buried his pain and eventually overcame his demons. Or so he believed.
Now an unscrupulous journalist is threatening to write about the deaths. Fearful that the truth will be twisted to suit sordid ends, Brooks decides to write his own book, despite the grave misgivings of his agent, wife, and father.
However, when the journalist is brutally killed, Brooks finds himself in the authorities’ crosshairs. To prove his innocence and exorcise the past, he digs deeper into his psyche and that fateful summer. His relentless pursuit of the truth soon leads Brooks down a slippery slope that challenges everything—and brings him face-to-face with the real monster of Montauk . . .
Kritters Thoughts: What a mystery read where the bodies kept dropping chapter by chapter! Brooks Anderson is about to write the book that he has had churning his entire life. A traumatic event that happened when he was just a young boy has stayed with him and with the threat of someone else writing his story he decides now is the time.
What a ride! While I may have known from the very beginning the culprit and maybe a bit of the how, I was not disappointed to take the ride and see how it would all unfold. It reminded me of my romance reads where you know where you will end up, but the ride is just as fun! And still there were some twists and reveals that took me by surprise and I wanted to talk them through with someone immediately.
I may be a little partial in that I tend to steer myself to read books with female main characters and ones that are near my age range, I still enjoyed reading Brooks' point of view and watching him contemplate where he was at in his life and what he wanted his legacy to be. I hope PJ McIlvaine has more up their sleeve as the writing style and pacing were just right for me.
Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row
Ebook 2023: 5 out of 100
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one copy of this book free of charge from Laura Marie Public Relations. I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Thank you so much!!!
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