First published 2024
Bailey Meadows arrives at Jack Beckham's isolated Topanga Canyon estate with a secret mission. She's supposed to be his writer-in-residence, helping the bestselling thriller author return to the top of the charts. But Bailey has her own agenda. She's searching for Sam Morris, a community advocate who dedicates her life to finding missing people and has now vanished somewhere in the dangerous canyons surrounding Beckham's property. The drought-parched forest harbors wildfires and mountain lions, but Bailey discovers these natural threats may be the least of her worries. Other women have disappeared from these same canyons, and strange incidents from decades past at the Beckham estate suggest a darker pattern. As fire season approaches and the canyon grows more perilous by the day, Bailey must separate truth from lies before she joins the ranks of the missing.
Genres: suspense, mystery, contemporary, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, hidden-agenda, secrets
Setting: Topanga Canyon, California
Period: contemporary
384 pages · Paperback · Thomas & Mercer
Content warnings: violence