I bought it on a whim, without having read it, after skimming a description by NPR's 'What We're Reading This Week'. I have found myself drawn to these kinds of stories lately, stories that draw attention to violence against women. The views from which this story was approached was both helpful and frustrating at times, jumping from person to person and from one point in time to another. This seemingly jumbled approach, once I was used to it, drew me into the world of Haeden, NY. I followed Wendy's story and at a few points wanted to stop when I saw it was her turn. I watch violence in television shows and movies, but the few brief pages of Wendy after she was taken had much more weight, perhaps because I had to be more mentally engaged. I wanted full retribution for what had been done to Wendy; I saw the plot following that of a Criminal Minds episode where another girl is taken and she is saved in the nick of time - bad guys caught, girl at home damaged but alive, and the moral is that bad men can come from anywhere. Truly I should have seen the real ending coming, but the fact that I didn't made reading the book that much better. I also liked how at the end when the plot from the scattered pieces was stitched together the text went from third person to first for Alice. Of all the pieces before this the only one to be presented in first person was Flynn, the reporter.
I would say more but I don't want to ruin the outcome - I highly recommend adding this novel to your shelf.
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