by Lydia Millet
First published 2017
Anna escapes Alaska with her six-year-old daughter, running from Ned, her cold and cheating husband who has just entered politics. She finds refuge at a shabby coastal motel in Maine, hoping distance will keep them safe. But Ned follows them across the country, determined to track down his wife and child. The other motel guests seem odd, not like regular vacationers at all. As Ned's hunt for Anna grows more dangerous and crosses into criminal territory, he starts changing her reality in ways she never thought possible. The rundown motel becomes a trap where nothing is what it seems. Anna must protect her daughter while facing a husband who has become something far worse than an unfaithful spouse. Her fight for survival reveals threats that extend beyond her personal nightmare.
Genres: domestic-fiction, suspense, mystery, crime, contemporary, psychological-thriller
Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Alaska, Maine
Period: Contemporary
256 pages · Paperback · W. W. Norton & Company
Content warnings: abuse, domestic-violence, gaslighting, toxic-relationship