What if you didn’t know the person you married at all?

Hannah and Owen seem to have the perfect marriage living with his 16-year old daughter Bailey. Bailey and Hannah don’t always see eye to eye, but Hannah wants to have a relationship with her stepdaughter. One day, the doorbell rings and a twelve-year old girl is standing there with a note for Hannah from her husband. All it says is

Protect her.

Hannah knows it’s about Bailey, but doesn’t understand what it means. All she knows is that they’ll need to work together to find out why Owen disappeared even if that means bringing up a past they never knew existed.

I got this book in my Book of the Month box last month. It’s categorized as a thriller, but it is not a thriller. I would classify it as a mystery. It helps going into it knowing it’s not a thriller so you aren’t expecting too much.

I really enjoyed this story and the characters. The book goes back and forth from the present to the past. I liked how the author did this to give us some clues into Owen’s past, but also to see how real his relationship with Hannah seemed. I thought the author did a great job showing teenage angst with Bailey’s character, and I found her feelings towards Hannah to be very realistic. Hannah wanting to do anything to gain Bailey’s love, trust, and respect was also written in a way that is relatable to any stepparent.

The one gripe I had was all the risks that Hannah took when she was meant to be protecting Bailey. She definitely put them in some situations that just weren’t safe. Other than that I really enjoyed this story and Laura Dave’s writing. I look forward to reading more books by her.