New Jane Harper Novel Announced!

Here’s a new legal thriller that follows an entire case from beginning to end. The case is not simple: Gabriel Soto is accused of murdering Melina Mora, but the remains recovered weren’t enough to tell much of what happened to her.

Readers are taken directly into the jury room, into the prosecution’s side as they build their case out of court, into the defense side as they build their case and meet with the defendant, inside the judge’s chamber, and of course inside the courtroom as the case is tried. There is discovery that happens during the actual trial throwing both the prosecutor and defense into loops trying to right their case again.

A thing I really liked about this one was how we get backstories for everyone showing how there is no such thing as being impartial, since we carry around with us our experiences.

(TW presumed sexual assault case discussed in prep, trial, interrogations/ police racial profiling, racism/ homophobia/ domestic abuse/ mentions child death case/ alcoholism, addiction / murder suicide case/ Sept 11th on news)

I need more popcorn thrillers in my life! And by that I mean books that hook me immediately with a premise that makes me want to sit with a tub of popcorn, inhaling both the book and the treat, as I race to find out what happened. Barclay has become a consistent writer of popcorn thrillers for me and his recent release was no exception. I listened to the audiobook in less than 2 days (if you’re a fan of multicast narrations, pick up the audio format).

The premise: a wife disappears while her husband is on a weekend fishing trip with his best friend. Years later the husband has changed his name and moved because he’s remained a suspect when the woman is seen returning to where her home had been, freaking out and running away. And so what is happening?! Where has she been? Why did she disappear again?!

These are all questions the police have, and her husband appears to also have (he is now living with his girlfriend and her teenage brother who she has custody of). You get to follow along different points of view starting with the night of the disappearance (there is a moment that legit scared the daylights out of me!) as we slowly come to find out all the answers to what happened then, and what is happening now…

(TW quick mention past parent death, car accident, heart attack/ past alcoholism/ a mother with terminal cancer, death)