Thank you to @smp @minotaur and @macmillan.audio for the #gifted copies of this book. 

 

Gritty and dark.  This is one disturbing read.

 

Clive Reynolds and his 1978 Porsche Widowmaker went missing nearly 20 years ago.   

 

Morgan Mori swore she’d never again set foot in Black Harbor, the setting of her traumatic childhood.  But a cryptic note and a skeleton key unexpectedly pull her home. 

 

When the detective on the Clive’s cold case is murdered in front of Morgan, a disturbing web of connections and lies begin to unravel.  And it just might lead to… a total ruin. 

 

Morrisey creates an atmosphere for Black Harbor that is palpable.  Bleak and dreary.  Between its seedy criminal underbelly and the oppressive snow and bitter cold, I felt weighed down and utterly chilled.  

 

But it was the lies and deceit that led to the intensity within this book.  Deception that led to disturbing scenes of abuse and murder.  This might not be a Stephen King horror story, but when a red balloon showed up, it was equally menacing.

 

Heed the content warnings.  This one is graphic and involves child abuse.  

 

While I appreciated the dual narrative storytelling, it didn’t translate as well in the audiobook.  Separately, both narrators, Xe Sands and Adam Verner, well portrayed their characters.  Cumulatively, the narration didn’t match.  The speed with which the two narrated varied greatly, and I found myself constantly speeding up or slowing down the audio.   This small frustration built as the story progressed, and for that reason, I’d recommend the print version.