Rob has been running from Sundial her whole life. She just wants to be normal. As the mother of two girls, she's content with the short end of the stick if it means that stick is within the boundaries of civilization. Sundial is secluded desert land, harboring secrets Rob refuses to unearth. Until her youngest daughter, Callie starts showing signs of the family sickness. Rob has seen this before, and she won't let her daughters suffer. Sundial is where it all began, so Sundial is where they must return.

Sundial has a lot going on. Moving between past and present, Rob recalls her time at Sundial as a child while she's visiting with her daughter, Callie. The storylines that are occurring during the different time periods are vastly different, and while they aren't hard to keep up with it's simply A LOT. I won't divulge the details but, there are about 5 different sub-genres Ward explores. This may work for some but, some aspects had so little backstory they left me with questions that were left unanswered.

The prose exuded a foreboding aura which kept me engaged but, the events were repeated instead of giving the reader breathing room to interpret and come to their own conclusions. Ambiguity isn't always necessary but, explicitly explaining easy to understand plot points leads me to boredom.

Rob's detached bond to Callie is a force that drove me to care for these characters but, as a result, I felt nothing for Annie or Irving. They only had glimpses of time throughout, despite being integral parts of the story. Their distance were noticeable, and helped me piece together part of the puzzle. Despite the revelations this allowed, indifference affected the impact the events had on me.

The last 20-25% of the book is impeccable. The twists left me awestruck, the shadow of the sundial finally moving to the perfect position, revealing the truth(s). If you're a psychological horror/thriller reader you'll enjoy this.