Nora Aberdeen has been a mess since her mother died. Once a promising young journalism student, she's dropped out of school, stopped taking care of herself, and cut off most of her friendships. On a whim, she ventures out of her comfort zone to the deteriorating small town of Woodbridge, Pennsylvania, to meet a blind date, where she is embarrassingly stood up. Nora finds herself on edge on her desolate trek back home, and before she understands what's happened, a visibly distressed - and bloody - young woman darts in front of her car, causing Nora to veer off the road and headfirst into a tree. When Nora regains consciousness, the woman is gone.
Nora's estranged uncle, a Sheriff's Deputy, comes calling with information about a growing list of young women turning up dead in Woodbridge, including the woman who caused Nora's accident-whose death has been, to Nora's shock, declared a suicide. His colleagues have written the women off as drug overdoses, but suspicious circumstances and the department's ineptitude point to something more nefarious. Unsure if she can trust the only family she has left, Nora finds renewed passion and purpose as she dusts off old journalism skills to uncover the secrets of the missing young women and her connection to them, and to her blind date, whose online presence has been scrubbed without a trace.
Written from varying perspectives, including the missing women and the killer himself, the strange motive unfurls. Will Nora uncover the truth before the killer claims another victim?
Equal parts creepy and sentimental, this chilling psychological thriller is a grieving adult orphan's investigation into abduction and murder is a haunting exploration of the relationships we have with our mothers, even after they're gone.
