I read “Hidden Pictures” by this author last year and really enjoyed it. Because of that, this book was one of my most highly anticipated of the fall season. This book is totally different from Rekulak’s last book, which I appreciate. I get annoyed with authors who write a hit and then continually write the same thing over and over. That said, I felt this one lacked tension, and when I finished, I was kind of like – “meh.”

This book focuses on 50-something-year-old Frank Szatowski, a UPS driver whose wife died several years ago and whose daughter hasn’t spoken to him in three years. Frank wants nothing more than to reconnect with Maggie (his daughter), so imagine his surprise when one day – out of the blue – Maggie calls him to let him know she is getting married. When she invites him to her lavish wedding in New Hampshire, he jumps at the chance to mend their strained relationship.

As Frank navigates the opulent world of Maggie’s fiancé, Aidan Gardner, son of a tech billionaire (who also happens to be Maggie’s boss), he grapples with feelings of insecurity and alienation. He also feels as though the family is hiding something, and that fear is heightened when he discovers that someone Aiden was seeing went missing, and her family feels as though Aiden may have killed her. If this is true, is Maggie in danger now? And will Frank be able to figure out what happened to the missing woman before the same fate befalls Maggie?

The setting of the novel really works. I enjoyed the isolation of the estate and the creepy atmosphere that Rekulak describes. As far as characters go, I thought they were fine for the most part. My problem was that I felt the minor characters had more depth and personality than Frank – our MC – did. He lacked growth and was pretty one-note the entire way through. Another weird thing to me was that Frank was in his early fifties, but his outlook on the world and the ways he spoke made him seem much older. In reality, he is close to my age, but some things he thought, said and did were things my 70-year-old father would do or say – not me.

The novel’s pacing is steady and mostly engaging, with shorter chapters that helped move me through quickly. However, I found the plot to be somewhat predictable. Once we find out what happened to the missing woman, the rest of the book is just kind of meh. There was no real mystery – mostly because I had pegged early on what was happening. Once the big mystery was solved, there was really nowhere to go, and the last 1/3 of the book dragged for me.

Overall, this one was just okay, in my opinion. The story was decent, and while I felt the book’s pacing was steady, it felt like the story peaked too early, leaving the rest of the book feeling a bit anticlimactic. The reveal was predictable, and the lead character was a little bland and lacked growth. That said, those who find comfort in a straightforward mystery and predictable plot points will likely enjoy this one.