Critique du Publishers Weekly
At the start of this gripping thriller from bestseller Stevens (That Night), the three teenage Campbell sisters flee their rural Canadian home in the summer of 1997 after the youngest, Jess, kills their widower father, an abusive alcoholic. When the sisters' truck breaks down near a town called Cash Creek, they encounter Brian and Gavin Luxton, sadistic scions of a local ranching family, who rape and torture them for five days until the girls escape. Eighteen years later, the Campbells live under different names in Vancouver, but the past still haunts them. When Crystal, the middle sister, experiences a troubling flashback, she decides to return to Cash Creek to kill the Luxton brothers. Stevens skillfully builds suspense, but often draws characters with broad strokes, sacrificing depth for pacing, and a few niggling details (such as the timing of Brian's marriage) remain unexplained. Despite its flaws, this fast-paced nail-biter will keep readers up late-and may evoke a few tears. Announced first printing of 150,000. Agent: Mel Berger, William Morris Agency. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Critique de Kirkus
It was a British Columbia summer, "so hot you couldn't walk outside without feeling your skin cook," when 14-year-old Jess killed her father. It was a fitting response to multiple abuses. This time, home from the Alberta oil fields and drunk, he attempted to drown Jess' older sister Courtney in a toilet. Dani, oldest of the Campbell girls, took charge. The sisters buried the body in a hog pen and set off for Vancouver, running out of money in the worst possible placeCash Creek. Gavin and Brian, two boys from a nearby ranch, offered work, but that was a ruse. Brian, while amoral, is the lesser villain, but Gavin, danger "rolled off him in waves, a dark and cold energy," is a fearsome psychopath. The sisters are held prisoner, tortured, and raped. There's a fight. The girls escape. No police, because of the father's death, but Allen, an ex-con bar owner with a pay-it-forward mindset, helps the sisters get to Vancouver. Jess narrates this story, with anger, confusion, and regret over the shooting spilling out. In Vancouver, a friend of Allen's helps with new identities for the sistersthey're now called Dallas, Jamie, and Crystal. Then Jess/Jamie turns up pregnant, and there's a moving portrayal of the elemental connection between mother and a child in womb. Seventeen years later, the novel's second half unfolds from daughter Skylar's, point of view, its violent climax triggered when Skylar's curiosity sends the always-unstable Courtney/Crystal to seek revenge at Cash Creek. Thinking "I was the reason she decided to take off," Skylar follows. There, "betrayed, angry, scared, ashamed, and terrified," Skylar makes a surprising discovery. Tense, believable, and action-packed, made more vibrant by Stevens' sense of place. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Critique du Library Journal
Stevens (That Night) uses a horrific kidnapping to mold three sisters into survivors. Jess, Courtney, and Dani Campbell live on a remote ranch in western Canada with their abusive father. Eventually, they're pushed to the breaking point and run away, but when their truck breaks down in a small town, events spiral out of control. They change their names and do their best to start over, but 18 years later, none of them has really moved on from that summer. Then one of the girls disappears. Narrators Jorjeana Marie, Emily Woo Zeller, and Nicol Zanzarella provide outstanding characterizations. VERDICT The author vividly conveys justice, loyalty, hatred, and sisterly love. The suspense is so well done that listeners will race to reach the final conclusion. ["Such an engrossing, suspenseful tale that readers will wish they could warn the protagonists of the dangers that lie ahead. Highly recommended for fans of the genre who relish nail-biting suspense": LJ 3/15/15 starred review of the St. Martin's hc.]--Sandra C. Clariday, Cleveland, TN © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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