“Freedman grips right out of the gate with dual timeline narratives that weave together more and more tightly until they meld into a mind-bending twist of a climax.” — LORETH ANNE WHITE, bestselling author of The Patient’s Secret In a riveting psychological thriller for readers of Lisa Unger and Karin Slaughter, Grace’s healing solitude is shattered when she becomes a suspect in a gruesome series of murders. Grace DeRoche escaped the fundamentalist Mormon compound of Brigham and worked to prosecute its leaders. But when loyalists, including her own family, commit mass suicide to avoid jail, Grace retreats into solitude. Racked with guilt and suffering from dissociative identity disorder brought on by childhood abuse, Grace’s life is fragmented and full of blind spots. Dissociative triggers are everywhere, and she never knows when an alter personality will take the reins. When other Brigham escapees die under suspicious circumstances, Grace’s tenuous hold on reality crumbles. Notes left at each scene quote scripture and accuse the deceased of committing sins so grievous that atonement can only be achieved through the spilling of blood. As evidence mounts against her and one of her alter personalities becomes the prime suspect, Grace must determine if she’s a murderer ... or the next victim.
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In this engaging psychological thriller, S.M. Freedman deftly takes us inside a funadmentalist Mormon community in British Columbia, where girls are preyed upon by the elder males in charge and boys are left wanting.
When Grace DeRoche finds herself in an untenable situation, she decides to escape the physical, emotional, and sexual abuse by two powerful males. She convinces others to escape with her. But her departure and collaboration with the police have consequences. To avoid jail, some of her family and others loyal to the community's extreme religious beliefs commit suicide. Overcome with grief and guilt, Grace is left to pick up the pieces of her life. She's further challenged because she's developed multiple personalities to cope with any new threat in her life. When she discovers that a few Mormons who escaped with her have died mysteriously, she wonders if she's next, or is she somehow culpable for their deaths.
The power of faith and community to support or destroy is the heart of this wonderful novel. A highly recommended read.
