First published 2001
Emily Graham needs to start over. The lawyer has endured a painful divorce and a terrifying campaign of anonymous threats that shattered her sense of security. Seeking refuge and a connection to her family history, she purchases a Victorian house in the seaside town of Spring Lake, New Jersey. The house once belonged to her ancestors, and Emily hopes it will provide the peace she desperately craves. But her dream of a quiet retreat quickly turns into something far more dangerous. The house holds secrets that someone will kill to protect, and Emily discovers that her arrival has stirred up mysteries that have remained buried for decades. As she tries to rebuild her life, she finds herself caught in a web of past crimes and present danger that threatens to destroy everything she hoped to find in her new home.
Genres: suspense, mystery, contemporary, thriller
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fresh-start, new-home, secrets-and-lies
Setting: Spring Lake, New Jersey
Period: Contemporary
320 pages · Hardcover · Simon & Schuster, New York
Content warnings: anxiety, depression, emotional-abuse