Stacy Willingham’s sophomore novel brings us more incredible creepy Southern atmosphere like her debut, but her writing has clearly grown and the twists here are both unpredictable and incredibly insightful. 

The first half of this book moves slowly, establishing Isabelle and Ben- parents to a toddler who went missing one year ago. Isabelle is determined to keep her son in the news, speaking at numerous true crime events, while suffering with extreme insomnia. Sleep has always been her Achilles heel, Isabelle fluctuates between periods of sleepwalking and insomnia. Ben has left her and says they should accept their son is dead and move on. 

Then enters Waylon, a true crime podcast host, who wants to present Isabelle’s story. But things soon go sideways. This story moves to deep and dark places that make a fascinating and important statement about our society and motherhood. I can’t say more without treading too close to spoilers. Once I got to the halfway mark, I couldn’t put this down. I highly recommend this thriller. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.