This is one of those books that I had no expectations from before I started reading. I was pleasantly surprised and read it in one sitting. The author's detailed writing kept me engrossed. I felt for both Nikki and her family and for Andrea, which shows how good the writing was! Writing via different points of view allowed me to become invested in each character vs only one or two. I will definitely be looking for more of this author's work!

The story was interesting enough to keep me reading to the end, but it was a bit repetitive and it all ended a bit tamely. There was something strange about the style it was written in which I can't quite put my finger on. The beginning with the hot tub and the eye infection was strange and misleading. The characters were introduced abruptly and appear to be one thing then change into something else - Dobs was a scripwriter then he suddenly wasn't, Andrea was a bizzarre, dangerous character then she was revealed to be a professional artist Why it took her fifteen years to start looking for her daughter was not explained. The father came out of nowhere, surprisingly turned out to be a successful author, and then disappeared again. The daughter Allison kept going off with this weird mother despite knowing how unstable she was, then stopped wanting to have any contact. The younger daughter Jaime and Dob's daughter were irrelevant characters. Nikki did not ring at all true as a foster/adoptive mother. The death plot and the other incidences of violence seemed to be unnecessary. The police were pretty useless.
To sum up, this had the bones of an interesting plot but the characterisation was poor.