Elizabeth lives a wealthy life with her husband and young daughter in Manhattan, but she is haunted by her college years in Florida. The narrative shifts between the present day and Elizabeth’s life in Gainesville in the 1990s. In college, her life was devoted to her sorority. She was called Betsy and she was always with her sorority sisters, often getting drunk or high. Eventually she moved to the big city with her boyfriend Gavin, and changed her whole image. What caused such a change? The story delves into the time in college when the campus was preoccupied by a killer going around selecting college girls for his victims, and Betsy’s own encounter with him.

The novel starts slowly and stays slow for a long time. It is mysterious why Elizabeth is fearful and unable to let go of the past. There is a brief reference to the friend she left to die but it isn’t explained in the opening passage chapter. Then we are taken back to 1990 when Betsy worked in a bagel shop and the details of her former life. There’s a lot about sorority rushing and parties. It takes a substantial portion of the book until we get to any details about the first murder. There’s not much to propel the plot, and the writing, while functional, is not stylish enough to really hold one’s attention. So unless one has some particular fondness for reflections on life in Gainesville or sorority life, it is hard going.

The book isn’t really a thriller at all. It’s more a meditation on the psychological effects of coming into contact with a violent killer and losing a friend. Elizabeth has spent her time since college carrying a secret and it has been a terrible burden to her. The story resolves when she is finally able to unburden herself. This theme makes it a more unusual book, and worth persisting with.

The unabridged audiobook is performed by Johanna Parker whose dreamy languor adds to the feeling that the book is going on forever. But when appropriate, she is good at bringing out the emotion of the dialog.

© 2017 Christian Perring

Christian Perring is an avid reader.