Sera is a superfan of the podcast, Murder She Spoke. When the host of the podcast, Rachel, stops recording and updating her social media, Sera is determined to make sure that Rachel does not become one of the missing women she has devoted so much of her podcast work to.
Sera goes to Rachel’s childhood home in Happy Camp, California, and begins to investigate everyone in Rachel’s life. For Sera, the mystery only grows even more complicated, as she must determine if Rachel is in danger and by extension, she is.
It took two tries to read this, as I started this book earlier in the pandemic and I think the story of a woman isolated in one place was not a book I wanted to read. I think the key to my embracing and finishing this book was that I had to stop thinking of it like a murder podcast hybrid thriller, like Sera was just going to run into a place of gasps and dark corners. It is a much more measured pace then that.
The characters and the place are so well-described that you are continuously confronted with discomfort for the situation just as you are reminded of the natural beauty of the place.
If I Disappear is also about obsession/devotion, and how spending an hour a week listening to someone, it is easy for the line between listener and friend in your head to get blurred. In recent years, a lot of true crime podcasts with female hosts have sprung up, and as a listener it can feel conversational but unlike Sera, listeners remember that it is only a segment of that hosts’ life. They are still strangers, and Sera is continuously reminded of this as she gets deeper into Rachel’s life.
Naturally, there is a twisty dark ending, but I think I respect the book more for giving me the ending I did not expect, even if I was not happy with it. Overall, I really enjoyed this book!

Thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for the ARC!

✨HAPPY PUB DAY!✨

Thank you @berkelypub and @elizajanebrazier for having me participate in the #IfIDisappear Blog Blitz!

This book was WILD you guys and I loved every second of it! Have you ever listened to a True Crime podcast and been like, oh I can totally solve that (🙋🏽‍♀️)? This is that book - but in this story, our podcaster Rachel Bard goes missing and it’s up to Sera (an avid listener and fan) to find out what happened to her.

She travels to a small town named Happy Camp in Northern California (it’s a real place!) and quickly finds out that everyone there is hiding something. The people in town are skittish around her, she is warned several times to leave by unseen persons, and Rachel’s family doesn’t seem to bothered that their daughter is missing. Additionally, she finds out that Rachel is not the only woman who has disappeared from this town - there’s a whole list of them! She feels like she’s constantly being watched and she doesn’t know who to trust.

It was tense and creepy, and honestly at times I felt like I was the one slowly losing my mind! I could not figure anyone out, and as someone who has read a lot of thrillers in her day, it was refreshing to me to not be able to solve this mystery right away.

What makes this thriller different, however, is that it’s not about a woman who disappears. Or trying to find out whodunnit, but the reasons that women want to make *themselves* disappear. It’s about struggling with your place in the world and losing yourself. It’s about misogyny and the men who make women shrink themselves in their presence. It’s about women who are fed up and fight back.

“...he has no idea what it’s like to be a woman, there are really only two choices: You can be too much or you can disappear.”

Whew! I really enjoyed this one!

Rachel is Sera's favorite true crime podcast host. Sera has listened to every episode, she knows them top to bottom.

Now Rachel has gone missing. She's disappeared. And Sera knows it is her responsibility to find Rachel. To use all she's learned through listening to puzzle out what happened, to find the clues, and to bring Rachel back.

Sera travels to Rachel's family ranch to figure out what happened - a ranch where Rachel hasn't been the only one to disappear.

And she won't be the last, either.

Oh. My. GRACIOUS! This book is something else. It is SOMETHING! Else!!!!!! It is very nearly one of the most perfect mystery books I have ever dang well read in my whole entire life. It has all of the components that I love to see. I cannot praise it better than to say I wholeheartedly recommend it for it is one of the wackiest nuttiest wildest things I've read and I just loved it.

Content warning for: rape mention, kidnapping mention, animal death, there are snippets at the beginning of each chapter outlining parts of Rachel's podcast episodes that include graphic mentions of murder

What I enjoyed:
• My goodness, all of it. It is not only the plot, of which is ridiculously creepy and utmost FREAKY. But also the characters - who are unnerving as heck for no good reason. And the atmosphere, creating this dichotomy in my head of feeling like I'm there on this ranch, in among the trees and the leaves and the creek. Alongside...........murder. And my brain is like, this is beautifully described, and a little gothic, and actually terrifying.

As well as the writing itself, which I think is beautifully done, spectacularly creepy when it needs to be. AND the TENSE it is told in, is absolutely the best tense choice the author could have made. It is written as if Sera is speaking to Rachel in her head, saying things like "I met your mother today." It is, so chilling.

• This is not an "isolated book" in the way that the characters don't ever see other people, or don't ever go to other places. But it is isolated and suffocating in the way the ranch exists, in who Rachel's mother, Addy, is. Sera feels she is being watched endlessly, she feels she can't leave the ranch without permission from Addy, she feels like she can't speak a word even to herself in the privacy of her cabin without it echoing throughout the entire ranch

• Sera is a most interesting narrator, as she is very clearly from the beginning of the book highly dependent on Rachel and Rachel's podcast, even though Sera has never met Rachel before and does not actually know her. Sera feels strongly that she knows Rachel,. She thinks she knows Rachel better than anyone else.

And the way this is written, where you're reading from Sera's point of view, who is the protagonist, who is facing a lot of very real danger and gaslighting and harm, and you're on her side. But you're also slammed in the face here and there with remembering that she's a stranger who showed up after someone she's never met, claiming she is the only person who can save Rachel. And it's a little delusional!

• The prose is haunting and lyrical, I loved it so much. It is not too flowery for the tone, nor is it too clinical or empty. Sera herself describes things in such macabre, eye-wideningly weird ways, saying things casually like, "Homer kisses his wife on her carotid artery and says that dinner smells amazing..."

• I truly had no idea what was going on for most of this book and that is one of my FAVORITE things in a mystery when it's done well. Not bad-confusing, but marvelously weird-confusing!

• Addy, Rachel's mother, is one of the creepiest mothers in literature I've read in a while! She feels like a creepy gothic figure set right down in the middle of a country ranch mystery. And Emmett, Rachel's father? What. A weirdo!

"I feel this way about a lot of what your mother says; there is something performative in every word."

"Your father is a matching game where nothing goes together."

• I'll tell ya I didn't the end coming! I had a few guesses floating around in my brain, and it is a small enough suspect pool that it's not unlikely you could figure it out if you're really thinking about it, BUT I was trying NOT to think too much about it! And oh boy, wild

Overall:
There is commentary here about how often women go ignored when they go missing, they are deemed "crazy" or "unreliable" or "run away's" by those around them, that law enforcement doesn't always take something seriously when they should. As well as how dismissive law enforcement can be, and anyone who's being too self absorbed to listen, during a situation that requires diligence and care. Whether they realize it or not, they are pushing these women aside, and gaslighting those who want to find them.

And how downright scary it would be for this disregard, this apathy towards these women, to be used as a tool against more women.

"It's like the part at the end of a horror film, where the hero is walking slowly down the hallway, clutching a bloody knife, and you're sitting there on the couch with your fingers clenched as they reach for the last door and you want to scream, Don't look! Whatever you do, don't look!"

Thank you so much to Berkley Publishing and NetGalley for an e-arc!

Sera is convinced she’s the only person that really “knows” Rachel. ⁣
⁣
No one is a bigger fan of Rachels true crime podcast. ⁣So naturally - when Rachel goes missing - Sera's the only person who can find her.⁣ I mean, duh.
⁣
She finds herself on the decrepit, creepy family ranch where Rachel lived and starts collecting clues and is almost giddy knowing that Rachel would be so pleased with her. Until she begins to realize that Rachel’s not the only woman who has gone missing from this ranch.⁣
⁣
oh, and THIS ENTIRE TOWN IS INSANE.⁣
⁣
Not even kidding. These people all seemed cuckoo to the nth degree, with a heavy dose of just plain creepy. I felt like every page gave me chills and I was literally screaming “RUN!” every time Sera met someone new.⁣
⁣
But is Sera the most disturbing and obsessive of them all? QUITE POSSIBLY.⁣
⁣
This one is so fun and strange and twisty and I felt so deliciously unsettled when it was over… in the best way.⁣

Depressed and lonely, recently divorced Sera relies on Rachel Bard’s true crime podcast, Murder, She Spoke, for comfort and company. Listening and relistening to each episode, Sera has them near memorized. When Rachel stops dropping new episodes, Sera assumes the worst—that Rachel has become one of the women she’s featured on her show, a disappeared woman, maybe dead.

Alarmed, Sera uses the personal details Rachel mentioned and heads to her home town, a remote area in Northern California. Residents and police dismiss Sera’s concerns and warm her to stay away from the Bards. Unsatisfied, she decides to use the skills Rachel taught her to unravel the mystery.

She bluffs her way into a job at Fountain Creek, the Bards’ guest ranch, where Addy, Rachel’s controlling mother rules with exacting demands and a near omnipotent knowledge of events. Jed, a troubled ranch hand from Texas, seems Sera’s only possible ally, but his many secrets make him Sera doubt him. Rachel’s father, a strange man, seems oblivious to his surroundings.

As Sera presses forward, she finds even more sources of danger, and no one appears beyond suspicion. Brazier expertly develops an oppressive, isolated setting where no one is beyond guilt—yet the danger may simply be a product of Sera’s imagination.

It took me a bit to find the beat of this book, and I was disturbed by the treatment of the animals at Fountain Creek although consistent with the Bards’ management of the ranch in general. But there were so many great details, too, such as wild blueberries run amok, and thick dust in neglected cabins; they all conveyed a verisimilitude that made the unnatural activities even more disturbing. Once I found my rhythm, I couldn’t put the book down and stayed up very, very late to finish it. I was gobsmacked by the ending and the epilogue…

Creepy in the best possible way, 𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳 flouts traditional thriller formulas while providing thematic questions about society’s obsession with true crime.

I recommend for thriller lovers, especially if you’re tired of the same storylines and stereotypical characters.

📚 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊 / 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝗪 📚⁣
⁣
Title: #IfIDisappear⁣
Author: @elizajanebrazier⁣
Publisher: @berkleypub(thanks for the free/gifted book!)⁣ / @netgalley⁣
Pub Date: 1/26/21⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
Type: #eBook⁣
Genre: #Mystery⁣⁣⁣ #Thriller⁣⁣
Must Read Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⁣⭐⁣⁣
⁣
𝐌𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:⁣
⁣
🔍 True crime lovers - REJOICE!⁣
🎧 Podcast lovers - DOUBLE REJOICE!⁣
⁣
In this chilling and twisty debut, the reader gets 2 for the price of one and boy was this book fun to read. I want to be transparent ... it took a good 40% of the book for the storyline to ramp up and I almost stopped reading it because it was moving a little to slow for me. Once things started to unravel, it picked up tremendously and I honestly couldn't put the book down. One of the coolest things? Each chapter starts out with a snippet from a previous podcast episode and features some downright SCARY serial killer soundbites. After talking with the author, some of those are real and some are false. I'd love to do more research to find out which ones are real and then read more about them! It was a really fun and unique way to kick off each chapter.⁣
⁣
I think the audiobook experience for this one would be superb, especially because of the podcasting aspect, but this was a great read nonetheless. I love debut authors, especially ones with original characters. I will say ... Sera is a little bit obsessive over a person she's never met, but it works for this storyline. They're both female characters, so its not a creepy guy obsessed with a woman (which I was grateful for). I really loved her unsuspecting friendship in the book and I am still thinking about the ending. Seriously, if true crime is your thing, you'll devour this one!

Fans of true crime podcasts will be intrigued by Eliza Jane Brazier’s If I Disappear. Sera Fleece’s life is a mess. She is lonely, can’t keep a job and her marriage fell apart. What keeps her going is a true crime podcast, “Murder, She Spoke,” presented by Rachel Bard. Sera has committed each episode of the series, about the disappearance of young women, to memory. When the podcast abruptly stops airing, Sera is convinced that Rachel has disappeared and is in danger. Sera is compelled to find out what happened to Rachel.

Sera travels to Rachel’s hometown and it is clear that the Bards are one strange family. Sera is obsessed and convinces Rachel’s parents to hire her to work on their ranch where her domineering mother, father and a good looking ranch hand ooze creepiness. But solving the mystery has given Sera a new sense of purpose and strength and while there are warning signs all over, she does not back down.

I have mixed feelings about If I Disappear. It’s a thriller that is meant to be strange and creepy and it succeeds. Even when the strange factor rises pretty high and it gets a bit claustrophobic to read, the story keeps you wanting to hang in there and find out the truth about Rachel and other possible disappearances. Was the journey worth it? Yes, somewhat. But you might absolutely love it so check this one out.

This is YA (young adult) author Brazier’s adult debut and I look forward to seeing what she writes next. A television adaptation is in the works and I'll be anxious to watch it.

If the gorgeous cover doesn’t get your attention, the intrigue of a crime behind a true-crime podcast will! I have several acquaintances who are absolutely hooked on true crime podcasts, so I felt compelled to give <I>If I Disappear</I> a try.

Sera Fleece is a bit lost after her divorce. She spends her days obsessing over a true-crime podcast, Murder, She Spoke. When the podcast's host, Rachel Bard, suddenly stops posting, Sera feels something is amiss, and she won’t stop searching for Rachel until she has answers. Oddly, Sera seems to be the only person who is disturbed by Rachel’s disappearance.

The writing is gorgeously evocative. The unconventional second-person narrative didn’t work for me and I found the start of the story somewhat confusing because of the mixed format. However, the premise and the eventual story content are intriguing (especially the snippets of Rachel’s podcast). Author Eliza Jane Brazier’s debut novel is dramatic and tension-filled. The dialogue is cracking, and the characters are unique and memorable. Ms. Brazier gives readers a reason to question many of the characters, even Sera.

You don’t have to be a true-crime podcast fan to enjoy the shady characters and remote location of this creepy mystery.

Sera Fleece, divorced, unemployed, friendless, feels lost. All she has in her life is her favorite true crime podcast, Murder She Spoke. So when the podcast's host Rachel vanishes, Sera knows she has no choice but to follow the clues - the clues she's certain Rachel has left for her in every episode - to Rachel's family ranch in Northern California and to a mystery darker than she expected...

This is a story to be gulped, not sipped, letting yourself get lost in Sera's increasingly unstable narrative. The stylistic choices - Sera's first person voice addressing Rachel directly throughout, with clips and quotes of the true crime podcast sprinkled in and beginning each chapter - are particularly successful at building an unnerving and uneasy mood. (You gotta love an unreliable narrator.) Though I'd like to be smug about my predictions being eventually validated, there were enough twists and turns throughout the book to keep me guessing for quite a while, and enough genuinely creepy characters and situations to keep your suspicions pointed in every direction at once.

Content warnings: Animal death and injury, murder, assault, alcohol abuse, vomit, gaslighting/manipulation.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the advance review copy!

2.5 stars

This sounded like everything I could have wanted and I’m in love with that cover.

I wanted to like Sera. She feels like she’s invisible and it was easy to relate to some of her thoughts and feelings. There are a good amount of characters here, but it’s firmly about Sera’s obsession with finding Rachel (which didn’t feel like it was explained).

Plot wise, it was a bit boring. There’s no tension and while I spent a good portion of the book wondering what the twist was going to be (I assumed dissociative identity disorder), it wasn’t layered enough to create suspense. Couple that with the off putting POV type of storytelling and this was something that I never really settled into.

Overall, I loved the idea, but the execution just didn’t work for me.

**Huge thanks to Berkley for providing the arc free of charge**

Our review of this book, and interview with its author goes live Tuesday the 26th. Genre Junkies can be found on Apple, Spotify and most podcasting platforms.

Brazier has crafted a beautiful, dark, poignant, feminist centric, and chilling thriller perfect for our age. Thrillers are not one size fits all. And Brazier’s style is creeping, immersive and utterly page turning. It’s an odd talent to make a reader feel both claustrophobic and then totally alone all at once. We cannot wait to read more from this incredibly author.

Ohhh the true crime podcast trope. I'm a little tired of it/intrigued by it!

This one is a little more behind the scenes. And the unusual 2nd person narration definitely made it more immersive and creepier (I'm looking at you Caroline Keepnes).

Rachel's parents were extremely weird characters and ranch hand, Jed-just so weird that it's kinda off putting?

Everyone kept saying that the ending was just WOAH. I have to agree on that point... it worked and at the same time it really didn't.

For those epilogue lovers- this one throws everything you just read out the window.

Mashups: every true crime podcast out there and YOU.

P.S. JUST LOOK AT THAT COVER THOUGH!

This is one of the strangest books I have read so far this year. The story follows Sera, who is an obsessed fan of Rachel's who has a true-crime podcast. Sera has listened to all of these podcasts so many times she probably has them memorized. When Rachel goes missing, Sera sets out to find out what happened to her by venturing up to where Rachel lived in the middle of nowhere on the family ranch.

The story is told in the second person where Sera talks to Rachel as if she is there with her or while Sera is trying to figure out what happened to Rachel. I loved the clips of the podcast interspersed throughout the book so we had a better understanding of when certain cases were mentioned. I am not a true-crime connoisseur but know many that are and they would probably have loved this podcast. There is mention of how tough the true crime community can be on each other and those that prepare the podcasts. I can only imagine how rabid some fans might become.

I'm not quite sure how I feel about Sera. It seems like her life is not what she expected with several failed marriages/relationships and dead-end jobs that she can't seem to keep very long. But at the same time, I felt like Sera was venturing out of her shell and pursuing something that interested her and doing the unexpected. Now for someone that listened to true crime podcasts, it seems like she put herself in some sticky situations that she should have known better.

The story has some twists and turns and the ending was quite a surprise and not one that I was expecting.

Overall, we give this book 3 1/2 paws.

Sera feels lost in the world, and true crime podcasts are what make her feel safe, giving her a sense of control and power she feels nowhere else in her life. So when Rachel, the host of her favorite podcast, seems to vanish completely and without warning, Sera decides this is what she has been training for, and throws herself into the life Rachel left behind. But despite all the clues Sera is convinced Rachel left for her within the episodes, there is still so much Sera doesn't know, and what she doesn't know could add her to the list of vanished women.

Brazier dives deep into views on what it means to be a woman: no one (including the woman herself) knowing where she fits if she isn't a wife and/or a mother, having to constantly be on guard because a woman never knows when someone might want to hurt her, the story that people decide about a woman if she doesn't fit into a typical mold. Even just the seemingly simple act of cooking, serving, and eating dinner becomes a highly heightened experience for the female characters in the story.

Sera is an unreliable narrator to the extreme. She has woven Rachel's podcast so tightly under her skin that not only does she have every word memorized, but her narration is directed to Rachel, who she is convinced she must rescue. Brazier explores the possible role of true crime podcasts to women, as lessons about what to watch out for to keep themselves safe, and what to do if even the most extreme precautions aren't enough.

I struggled sometimes to like Sera, but it felt that, at least to me, that was the point. She is someone completely unmoored, directing her first person narration not at the reader, but at another character. Sera is a character that forces the reader to think about why they respond to her negatively, and what that might mean in a larger context.

As the book continued, I found myself so inside Sera's head that I was on the journey with her, whether or not I trusted her. This forced me to look at every character in the book in a new light, weighing how much about them I could truly know and believe.

The ending gives me chills still just thinking about it. It hits like a storm in the best possible way. I was completely shocked even while in the head of the main protagonist.

This book doesn't always sit comfortably, which fits perfectly since the world of the story is not a comfortable one. Brazier plays so cleverly with this genre, it is definitely worth giving this book a read.

To be truthful, I was drawn to this book because of the beautiful cover. The title made it more appealing. Then, I read the description and I knew I had to read it! I have never heard of a book premise like this. A true crime podcaster goes missing and an avid fan goes to find her. As a true crime lover and a podcast lover, I was intrigued.

This is written in second person point of view, which is unique. The reader gets to be immersed as the main character. In this case, the main character is Sera, a troubled young adult, freshly divorced and obsessed with a true crime podcast put out by Rachel.

When Rachel's podcast goes dark for a few days Sera is convinced something horrible has happened to her, so she gets into her car and drives to Happy Camp, a small town in Northern California. Upon arriving she can already tell that something in this small town is weirdly off.

Sera hasn't made the best life choices and immediately decides to head to the ranch Rachel's family lives on to get a job so she can investigate herself. Surprisingly, Rachel's parents offer her a job as a ranch hand and welcome her with open arms. But their friendliness doesn't come without a cost. Privacy is non existent and they are constantly warning her not to go past the property boundary because it isn't safe. The weirdest part is that no one seems to be bothered by Rachel's disappearance. Sera starts to feel like a prisoner, but feels she has to stay to find out what happened to Rachel, since she feels she is the only person in the world who cares.

This book was interesting enough to keep me reading, but it did come with constant eye rolls, groans, and complete disbelief. There was not a single character I liked, but the author did do a fantastic job building each one and giving them a bit of depth. I also loved how the author works the scenery into the story. I had no problem imagining myself on a beautiful Northern California ranch in the middle of nowhere.

Overall, the mystery kept me reading and there were a couple twists and unexpected turns to keep me turning the pages. The ending was not at all what I was expecting.

"If I Disappear" is the first book I have read by author Eliza Jane Brazier and I wholly enjoyed it. Upon browsing her other titles, I am excited to read some of her previous releases because she does a wonderful job setting the scene, developing characters, and keeping the mystery going.

This book is set to be released January 26, 2021 so order it today so you can start reading it tomorrow! a 4 star read for me!

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for allowing me an advanced e-copy to read and give my honest review!

Happy Reading!

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkeley Publishing for an opportunity to read If I Disappear.

“We’re so happy you’re here “

When her favourite true crime podcast host disappears, Sera decides to go
investigating...

What I liked about this book :
✔️ the last 20-25% of the book. To be honest, I really wasn’t enjoying this book much until then, and all of a sudden it got really interesting - and that ending !

What I didn’t like about this book:
✖️ the first person “ let me tell you everything that happened “ narrative just doesn’t work well for me in any genre/ book, and it really didn’t work well for me here either. I do think it’s a total style/ preference thing, because the book is quite well written.

This was an interesting premise. Sera was a true crime lover and she was obsessed with Rachel, a girl she never met. The story is told through Sera’s POV and as if she was directly speaking to Rachel. There was suspense throughout the book as to what really happened to Rachel, the ranch had major creepy vibes, and all the characters were odd and untrustworthy (all could be suspects in my opinion). Unfortunately, it was a little too slow for me and the ending fell flat. I wouldn’t disregard this one though, the story was different and I would recommend to those who enjoy true crime.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Positives: The story was quick paced and kept me reading. I had to know what Sera was going to come across next and how it was all going to come together in the end. It was an eery setting that was perfect for the story that it contained. The people were all believable as the murderer. I was creeped out pretty much the entire book.

Negatives: I couldn't fully wrap my mind around Sera going to the lengths she did to try to find Rachel. She's constantly feeling like she should leave this place filled with frighteningly crazy people, and yet she stays and gets further entangled in their web. I also didn't care for the style of addressing the entire novel to a person, like an extremely long letter. It bothered me for some reason. I completely understand why that format was chosen and used though.

In the end, I would give it a 3.5 and still recommend for people to read it because it was different from your typical murder mystery/missing person story.

I thought this book had a very original plot and story. I love how it was based off a podcast that the main character was obsessed with. The mystery was woven into the story nicely.

The book was hard to read though. I understand that the way it was written was meant to be like that, but after a while I was just annoyed by it. I almost didn’t want to finish but I was intrigued with the mystery.

I’m not really sure how I feel about this book. I was, at turns, intrigued, indifferent, engaged, and irritated.

The writing holds us, or at least held me, at a distance. It’s written in first person, from Sera’s perspective, but she writes as if she’s speaking directly to Rachel. It’s like listening to someone’s one-sided dialogue with a phantom person. (example: “I jump when your mother backs into the screen door with a box of food.”) Many readers will love this approach. I didn’t, though it worked for the story, so again, I’m left wondering how I feel about it all.

Sera’s character isn’t well developed. We get to know her almost exclusively through her obsession with Rachel and Rachel’s podcast. We never learn why she latched on to Rachel specifically, or why she opted to go to such extremes in pursuit of Rachel after her podcast abruptly ended. We never learn why she can’t hold a job or function in society, despite being quite capable of chasing down a missing woman in an unfamiliar area full of intimidating and dangerous people.

All the characters are crazy, bordering, at times, on the ridiculous. The remote town is like a secretive enclave of lunatics. Consequently, it’s impossible to take the plot too seriously. Still, there’s something oddly fascinating about this place.

The ending let me down with its slide into absurdity.

So, I don’t know. Read this book if you like random craziness with an underlying theme in a weirdly intriguing story.