In yet another edge-of-your-seat suspense novel, Fielding keeps the reader guessing until the very last pages. Marcy Taggart is the grieving mother of Devon, who disappeared in Georgian Bay two years before, and the daughter of a manic-depressive who took her own life when Marcy was fifteen. When her marriage to uptight orthodontist Peter (who appears as a character only in Marcy's mind and on the telephone) falls apart, Marcy decides to travel to Ireland, their second honeymoon destination, on her own. While enjoying a cup of tea in a busy pub in Cork with Vic Sorvino, a fellow traveler, Marcy glimpses a girl who looks like Devon on the street outside, and thus begins a series of heart-wrenching gut twisting adventures as Maggie follows lead after lead trying to find Devon, whom she now believes is alive.
There are a lot of questions in this novel: Is Maggie even sane, or is she losing her grip as her husband and sister believe? Who in her life can actually be trusted? Can she trust her own eyes or her feelings for Vic and Liam? Will she find Devon alive or is she deluding herself completely?
There were times during this novel where I doubted Maggie's grip on reality. Her overwhelming guilt over her mother's suicide and her perception of her own inadequate parenting drive her life and most of her actions. In fact, a great deal of the dialog in the book takes place in Maggie's head as she replays old conversations and conflicts, lending credence to the idea that this "psychological" thriller might include more than a touch of "psycho." Some of Maggie's conclusions and actions seem a little far-fetched to me, but as a mother perhaps on the brink of a breakdown she is amazingly rational and perceptive at times. This is a real page turner. I couldn't put it down once I started it. It was definitely more intriguing than the Oscars broadcast!
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