Imagine that a chance encounter with a young girl, rain-soaked and crying with worry over her injured dog, triggers in a young woman long-ago memories of her younger sister, frightened and looking for their mother in a violent thunderstorm. Young veterinarian Rachel Goddard finds her world spinning out of control when she begins to experience unexplained flashes from her past that makes no sense to her. In this award-winning thriller, Parshall's first mystery, the author weaves together the enticing story of a family haunted by past tragedies and secrets that threaten to destroy the delicate balance of their lives. A prominent psychologist with a controlling personality, Judith Goddard was widowed tragically at a young age, but has raised her two daughters, Rachel and Michelle, to be confident and successful women. In her intense grief over the loss of her husband, Judith has trained her daughters to put their painful past behind them and refuses to share details of life with their father or of his death. She has lovingly and relentlessly used her professional skills to shield Rachel from the pain of a past that she claims might be too much for her to bear, suggesting that delving into the circumstances of her father's death when she was five and Michelle was three years old might stir up guilt strong enough to destroy Rachel's emotional balance.
I found Parshall's characters just a little bit stilted and stereotypical, but by the time I was halfway through the book I didn't care! This is a page turner! Parshall has a wonderful talent for drawing in the reader right from the start. I couldn't wait to get back to this novel when I was otherwise occupied and I hated to put it down. I would highly recommend it!
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