First published 2014
Emily Shepherd's world collapses when her father emerges from the woods carrying Ashlee Parker's lifeless body. The former soldier, haunted by PTSD, speaks only one word before falling silent: "Gone." Police arrest him for murder. Emily refuses to believe her father killed anyone. She knows him better than that. But doubt creeps in as she searches for answers. The investigation leads her to Damon Hilary, Ashlee's magnetic boyfriend who seems to know more than he admits. Emily must decide whether to trust Damon or suspect him of manipulation. Time runs short before her father faces conviction. The truth lies somewhere in that deadly night, buried beneath layers of trauma and deception. Emily will risk everything to uncover what really happened, even if the answers destroy her faith in the people she loves most.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, psychological-thriller
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: investigation, unreliable-narrator
Setting: The Woods
Period: Contemporary
384 pages · Hardcover · Chicken House
Content warnings: mental-illness, violence