I had heard so many good things about this book that I was almost afraid to read it. I have this problem where if something is super hyped, I end up usually being let down. That was absolutely not the case here. This book had me glued to the pages. I seriously couldn’t put it down. It is a suspenseful and thought-provoking novel that takes readers on a chilling journey through the minds of women caught in the web of a serial killer. It’s told using multiple points of view – all from women who know the man. This approach adds a surprising amount of depth to a familiar story.

At the heart of the story is Aidan Thomas, a seemingly ordinary family man living in a small upstate New York town. Everyone loves Aiden. He is kind and respectful and always goes out of his way to help his friends and neighbors whenever they are in need.

The problem is that Aidan hides a sinister secret – he is a serial killer. Having already claimed the lives of eight women, Aidan is waiting to claim his ninth victim: a woman he calls Rachel, whom he has held captive in his shed for the last several years.

When Aidan’s wife passes away, he is forced to relocate with his thirteen-year-old daughter, Cecilia. There is no shed to lock “Rachel” up in, but he does have a spare room where she can stay, so he introduces her to Cecilia as a “family friend” in need of a place to stay. He keeps her locked up in her room, handcuffed to her bed when she’s not with him, and Aiden feels pretty strongly that after holding “Rachel” captive for years, he has broken her down enough that she won’t try anything.

That’s what he thinks. Rachel sees this as a new opportunity to escape and begins to test the boundaries of her new living situation. As time passes, a tenuous connection forms between her and Cecilia. Could this be Rachel’s ticket to freedom?

As the story progresses, unexpected twists and turns propel the narrative forward. The tension builds as Emily, a local restaurant owner, unknowingly becomes entangled in Aidan’s web and grows dangerously close to discovering his dark secret. Emily has a crush on Aiden and looks forward to the days when he comes in and visits with her. To her, he is the kind widower that she’s crushed on for the last several months. She dreams of the two of them falling in love and building a life together. As she becomes more obsessed with him, she becomes even more entangled, placing herself in danger, propelling the story to a crazy and tension-filled conclusion.

I loved that we hear the story from “Rachel”, Emily, and Cecilia’s points of view – but never from Aiden. We get to see different sides of Aiden through each of their eyes. We have his daughter, who sees him as her loving father and protector, and then we have Emily, who sees him as the single father and nice, helpful guy that everyone around town adores. And then we get Rachel, who knows only the dark side of him. Peppered among these three narratives are brief accounts from all of Aiden’s victims – all nameless – as they recount the moments before their deaths.

The way this was written, it almost reads like a true crime documentary in that we’re focused on the monster – the serial killer himself – and we get very little information about the victims. The spotlight remains on Aiden, and the victims are nothing more than collateral damage. It’s sad, but this is such a common thing in true crime.

The writing here is top-notch, and the author expertly gives each of the three women their own voice. The book is also perfectly paced. Michallon ensures that readers are fully immersed in the story from beginning to end, carefully unraveling the layers of secrets and despair within Aidan’s treacherous world.

I highly recommend this book to fans of thrillers. The author managed to take a familiar story and turn it into something that felt fresh.