“Sometimes someone else’s pain is the only thing that makes yours better“(I downloaded this title from Minotaur Books via Edelweiss but the book expired before I had a chance to read it – SO… at long last, I ended up reading a library copy on the Libby app. I’ve had a ‘hold’ on this title for quite some time and my hold finally became available. I always fulfill my review commitments, even if it is not always in a timely fashion.)

What a page turner! I thought at first that this would be like all the other ‘abducted child’ thrillers, but it couldn’t have been more different.

With characters that were not that likeable, I was surprised that they kept me riveted to their story, but they definitely did.

Three days before Christmas, at Seattle’s very busy Pike Place Market, Marin Machado lets go of her four year old son’s hand to answer a text on her phone. In just a few seconds he is gone!Now, fourteen months later, Marin is a wreck and depends on prescription pills to get her through each day. She has unsuccessfully tried to end her own life, and is still entertaining thoughts of suicide. Her marriage has turned distant and cold. Though she and her husband Derek are both wealthy business people, Marin finds that there is little in life worth anything without her beloved son. For they never found him… no ransom demands, no leads, nothing.  Not knowing his fate was torture for her and she couldn’t share her feelings with her husband, as he was dealing with Sebastian’s disappearance in his own way…. by having an affair.

When Marin learns of this affair, she breaks, and her mind goes into dangerous territory. She wants rid of this woman. She will do anything to have her marriage back – and she makes a disastrous (and criminal) decision. Her lifelong friend Sal introduces her to a ‘fixer’, and Marin’s life spirals from there. But Derek’s mistress has her own agenda.

With a convoluted twisty plot, devious characters, lots of emotion, myriad secrets and deceptions, this is a domestic thriller that really packs a punch. A novel with themes of hope, betrayal, and greed. Recommended to all fans of the genre.

Jennifer Hillier in born in Toronto, but she spent eight years in the Seattle area, which is where all her novels are set. She is married with a young son. Her favorite author is Stephen King. She loves writing when it’s raining, sleeping when it’s sunny, and reading after everyone else has gone to bed.
Jennifer Hillier is a member of Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers, and Crime Writers of Canada. She is also a regular columnist at The Thrill Begins, where she talks a lot about her writing journey.

You can find Jennifer Hillier on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.