I love reading my favorite authors early books because you can see so much of their greatness developing. As with all of Keith's books, this is very much a character driving tale. While it has a bit of supernatural elements, they are the sub-plot.

This book tells the stories of various families in Riptide, and how they are all connected to each other through various misadventures. This six degrees of Kevin Bacon but with tragedy instead of movies.

The use of multi-POV adds elements to the story that draw you deeper into the grief of the cast. Many of them have no idea why they are connected, but seeing their lives unfold from all angles make the last few chapters hit harder. I 100% had an oh shit moment towards the end. All of the pieces slipped into place, in a way that was foreshadowed, but still completely unexpected.

You'll love this book if you love light plot, but heavy character reads that mix in just enough paranormal to make you wonder if it really was paranormal or the eyes playing tricks. ( )

So unnecessarily detailed and it felt like an excuse for trauma porn. Every other page was like “this is detailed but if I had to hear it so do you” but like no false that’s just— what ( )

Jenny Kramer is an innocent, likeable carefree young girl until the night that innocence is savagely ripped away when she is viciously, brutally raped at a party. Her mother believes that having a controversial drug treatment to erase all memory of the rape will help her get over it. Her Father reluctantly agrees but in his heart he feels it isn't the right thing to do. Too late they realize this treatment didn't really help Jenny and will only make it more difficult to bring the rapist to justice. A psychiatrist is brought in to help Jenny deal with her emotional turmoil and to help her recover her memory, but he has a secret agenda of his own.
This was a very suspenseful psychological thriller with twists and turns that I never saw coming,

I received an advance copy for review
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This was a really strong, gripping, disturbing and intelligent thriller. It centres on the aftermath of the rape of a teenage girl in a small town, with the events narrated by the local psychiatrist who is treating the girl and other key characters. To say much more than that would give away to much (in fact there is already a teeny spoiler in what I’ve said so far), but it’s a rich, dark treat of a book, complex but understandable and filled with all the twists and tension you could wish for. The narrator in particular is a fantastic character, and one who grows and morphs as the story unfolds. The subject matter makes it hard reading at times, but I really enjoyed it, although the dispassionate style can make it hard to connect with emotionally at times. ( )

Plenty of drama and twists and turns, hard to put down. ( )