A dark, cleverly constructed mystery.
Mancini’s latest is a sharp, spiraling thriller in which a missing baby binds three adults to a past none of them can escape. Lauren has rebuilt her life in a quiet Spanish seaside town, trying to outrun a grief she can’t name. Hope, living her dream life back home, is shattered when her infant son, Sam, disappears. When police report a woman in Spain with a child who looks exactly like Sam, Hope dares to believe he’s been found—until Lauren insists the boy is hers, complete with documents to prove it. Now both women cling to the same child. But only one knows the truth.
The novel’s reverse-chronology structure and rotating perspectives create a steady undercurrent of uncertainty, inviting readers to question every version of events. Characters shift their stories in subtle but significant ways, building a sense of mounting mistrust that fuels the narrative. Though the timeline and POV changes require attention, the clarity of the voices keeps the story grounded, resulting in a tense, engaging exploration of truth, memory, and motive. A page-turner.
Harper Perennial
Pub date December 2, 2025
ISBN 978-0063340596
Price $12.99 Kindle edition
