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This is one of those thrillers that gets inside your head and leaves you thinking after you finish it. Lori Rader-Day\u2019s book isn\u2019t as much terrifying as psychologically detailed and often heartbreaking\u2014which is the kind of thriller I like. The main character is Anna Winger, and the book opens with the chilling scene of her \u201cdeath.\u201d And while what she\u2019s doing can be called \u201cliving\u201d you might beg to differ.<\/p>\n
Because of fear (she\u2019s hiding from someone and it\u2019s pretty clear early on that it\u2019s probably an abusive husband) she\u2019s made her life as small and controllable as possible. She\u2019s a handwriting analyst at a very high level\u2014she can basically work from anywhere, and she has a contract with the FBI. She lives in a tiny podunk Indiana town with her son, Joshua. Joshua is 13, so he\u2019s doing his best to make his mom\u2019s life hell.<\/p>\n
As you read, you\u2019re kind of on the mom\u2019s side, here\u2014the kid is definitely hanging with the wrong crowd, lying about skipping school and ultimately, disappearing. But I think a really good writer can show both sides. Sure, the kid is up to no good, but on the other hand, his mom has made him move with such regularity he has no friends, she is out of contact with any kind of family\u2014and he\u2019s starting to ask\u2014and the kind of claustrophobia most 13-year-olds feel being stuck with a parent at\u00a0breakfast must really be nothing compared to being stuck with only <\/em>your parent all<\/em> the time.<\/p>\n But as Anna\u2019s carefully constructed world begins to become unglued, she must change. She\u2019s called in by the local sheriff to consult on the case of a missing toddler (everyone assumes the mother is the guilty party, and Anna is not convinced) and she\u2019s asked by a neighbor for help. Her world is beginning to crack and let other people in. When her son goes missing, she\u2019s all in\u2014she has to go back and confront her past.<\/p>\n I think one of Rader-Day\u2019s strengths as a writer is the unexpected in terms of character. She\u2019s not writing in black and white but in shades of grey. With the exception of the ultimate villain, you can kind of see everyone\u2019s point of view to a degree. I also loved the handwriting analysis portions of the book\u2014they gave Anna an excuse to be involved and they give her extra insight. Even the doubtful sheriff begins to come over to her side.<\/p>\n Anna is an indelible character\u2014and Ms. Rader-Day has created an indelible novel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is one of those thrillers that gets inside your head and leaves you thinking after you finish it. Lori Rader-Day\u2019s book isn\u2019t as much terrifying as psychologically detailed and often heartbreaking\u2014which is the kind of thriller I like. The main character is Anna Winger, and the book opens with the chilling scene of her … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[14],"class_list":["post-2206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-psychological"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2206"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2208,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2206\/revisions\/2208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/auntagathas.com\/aa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}