For context, I started reading this 6 days before Xmas so possibly the worst time of the year to find any spare time to sit and read amongst all the hubub of the season and yet here we are on the 21st, after a night of not sleeping, a day of squirreling away to read every spare second instead of running Xmas errands on the last sat before Xmas and I think that's says absolutely everything! I started and instantly was hooked. I love Karin Slaughter and have long followed the grant county series and such so I wasn't sure if I'd be quite so invested in new characters but omg! I could not get enough. This book is what all other thriller/ crime/ domestic noirs aspire to be. Its perfectly plotted out with twists and turns. It had multiple timelines but I loved that it didn't mix them which I feel like is the standard way to write these days. You have back in the day playing out and then cut to present and it was just so refreshing to not be jumping back and forth. The characters were amazing they were so realistic and human. I cried..... not gonna lie lol. I can easily say this will be one of the best books you'll read all 2025. The plot is fresh, original, so easy to get lost in and as much as it is complex woth multiple characters and things going on, it never gets muddy or confusing about who is who. I really hope this is the start of a new series because I would absolutely love to spend more time with the Cliftons!!! A must read