In the new nail-shredding novel from New York Times best-seller Laura Lippman, Eliza Benedict's past returns to haunt her when the serial killer she escaped from as a young girl walks back into her life.
Twenty-five years ago, he stole her innocence. Now he wants to get in touch. Eliza Benedict cherishes her quiet existence with her successful husband and children in the leafy suburbs of suburban Washington. But her tranquillity is shattered when she receives a letter from the last person she ever expects - or wants - to hear from: Walter Bowman. In the summer of 1985, when she was 15-years-old, Eliza was kidnapped by serial killer Walter Bowman, who targeted young girls like Eliza in a sexually motivated killing spree. Now facing lethal injection on death row, Walter is keen to make contact with Eliza, seemingly motivated by a desire to atone for his sins before he finally meets his maker.
Carefully, with some reluctance, she lets Walter enter her life, first by letter, then in person. Walter is keen to convince Eliza that he has changed, but it becomes clear that Walter has more of an agenda than he first revealed. Cunning and manipulative, Walter is never more dangerous than when he can't get what he wants, and he wants something very badly. Disturbingly, he seems to have an ally working in the outside, one who seems to know everything about Eliza's life - including where she lives.
As Walter once again manages to exert his malign influence, Eliza must draw on all of her reserves of wisdom and strength as the battle of predator and prey once more plays out and she must face the past head on if she is to survive.
A taut and mesmerizing novel by the highly-acclaimed author of Life Sentences and Every Secret Thing.
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"I liked the writing style of this author a lot. This book was something I randomly picked up at the library, & when i finally got around to reading it, i was immediately drawn in. This is the story of a 15 year old girl who was abducted for 39 days, & raped. The man who took her, Walter, killed all his victims except her. The story flips around, from 1984 when the crime happened, to now, 20 something years later. From Eliza's point of view, to Walters, and sometimes other people's as well. All these years later, Walter, who has been in jail the whole time, is finally coming up for his death sentence, and he wants to talk with Eliza. The ending is a bit anticlimactic. The main woman, Elizabeth/Eliza, is not that likeable. Walter is actually more relatable as a person...Eliza is very much just..there. That's something that a lot of the characters in the book address though, so it didn't bother me because it wasn't just bad writing, it was something to think about. Very interesting book!"
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Merredith (4 out of 5 stars)