First published 2023
Amber Patterson slips out of her house in the middle of the night and hitchhikes across state lines to meet a man from her high school past. She carries secrets that drive her desperate escape from her old life. Armed with social media skills and a talent for exploiting strangers' kindness, Amber crafts a new identity and sets her sights on Gunnison, Colorado. There she plans to infiltrate the world of wealthy vacationers and find herself a rich husband. Every move must be calculated perfectly. One wrong step could destroy everything she has worked to build. As Amber transforms from small-town nobody to skilled manipulator, the question remains whether anyone can truly escape their past.
Genres: mystery, crime, contemporary, thriller
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Colorado
Period: 21st-century
126 pages · Paperback · Lco Productions LLC
Content warnings: gaslighting