Wow, how many messed up people can live on one block?!?
This book was very fast paced with so many twists and turns!
Cons: There are so many messed up people that in the end they probably all deserve to be locked up for something. (Is this really a con though??)
Pros:. It was a fast, fun, exciting read with so many great characters and crazy turns!

Here I am with another Modglin review. I listened to the audio of this one and again, wow! I think I'm going to end up saying this about most of her books but seriously, if you like thrillers where you have no idea what's going to happen, this author is one you really need to add to your to read stack.

Narrators 5 stars

Story 4 stars

I never want to have friends like these!
So many secrets and lies! A really quick but enjoyable listen.

Whoever feels that small town life would be boring needs to read this book.
   There are so many intertwined lives it’s no wonder that any secrets can be maintained at all.
   The author presented the characters in a manner that has the reader wanting to jump into the scene and either scream or lash out….especially those teenage sons who certainly need a big dose of tough love.
   Lies upon lies is the foundation of this thriller that never seems to stop shocking the reader right to the end.
   The narrators, while the back and forth allows for a mental change of face of the characters, did not express well the emotions of the characters in their delivery of the book.

Kiersten Modglin doesn’t disappoint! As usual, it is fast paced. The minor characters annoyed the S—t outta me but it is just a reflection of how true those behaviour is in real life.
I think this year is my KMod year because I have read so much of her books and this is my first audiobook of hers.

This book took some time to warm up too. The accents and the narrators were a bit much to get used too. But! It was a fast paced book where the reader is constantly guessing what these "secrets" are. It was a bit much with the open ended question at the end of each chapter. But then, holy smokes. THINGS GOT DARK. Those two twins brothers are the absolute worse, no one is what they seem. The last 20% of the book totally sold me and made me bump it to 4 stars. Solid domestic thriller with some pretty disturbing characters.

This is a book about small town secrets and the lengths people will go to keep their secrets.

It starts off with a bang - a car has driven into the river and the characters want to avoid having the river dredged. What happens next is a story of murder, intrigue, psychological thrills, lies, and loyalty. The story is told from different points of view throughout the book, so if that is your jam, this book is a good fit for you.

Overall, interesting, fast paced, and well written.

Some twisty suspense in this one! I had several "wait, what?!?" moments.

So many secrets and lies. It seemed like everyone in this neighborhood was lying about something. The characters were not particularly likeable. Hardly any of them. Yet I found myself invested in the story nonetheless.

I liked that it was told from three points of view and you got a little something different from each of them. The narrators were both great and made the book all that more enjoyable.

I wasn't sure what in the word happened right up until the very end!

Thank you so much OrangeSky Audio and Netgalley for providing an advance audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

So many twists and turns in this audio. Loved the narration. Must read! 🌟🌟🌟🌟1/2 rating from me. Thank you Orange Sky Audio, Kiersten Modglin, and Netgalley for this audio in exchange for an honest review.

How many secrets can a small town conceal? How many bodies can be sunk in a lake that is only 21 feet deep at its center? Secrets, lies and family ties all come together in this multi-mystery story told from different viewpoints that meander along, scattering details like breadcrumbs to culminate in a shattering finale.

Thank you Netgalley for the audio copy. This is my first Kiersten Modglin experience and it definitely won't be my last. Carson Glen seems like a quiet subdivision but it is a town full of lies and mystery. First a man goes missing and then someone is murdered. Is anyone telling the truth? A beautiful setting, great characters and unpredictable storyline.

I enjoyed listening to this book. About a small town neighborhood where everyone knows everyone -- but do they really? Lots of secrets have been kept and the ending was definitely a shock!

Thank you for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook. I just couldn’t get into it. I didn’t particularly care for any of the characters. I found myself thinking what?! Where did that come from!? A few times. Just not for me!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

• domestic suspense
• multiple POVs
• great twists and turns

All of the stars!! So I'm probably the last person to have discovered this author... this book was so good and it looks like I have a LOT more to read from her. So exciting!

The narrators were excellent and kept me engaged with the story. If you could turn the pages of an audiobook, well that's what I was doing! 😂

🗣️ Thank you so much to NetGalley, OrangeSky Audio and Kiersten Modglin for the opportunity to read and review this book via audiobook. All opinions are honest and my own.

2.5 stars

A missing persons case, corrupt town officials, secret love affairs, & sinister secrets made this a decently compelling premise. The writing is not the best, unfortunately. And none of the MC’s are sympathetic or admirable; in fact, I think a few of them are sociopaths 🤷‍♀️

[What I liked:]

•The intrigue does start early on, & I was interested to find out what secrets everyone was hiding. The set up is a pretty good hook.

•The tension keeps up throughout the book, with the secrets slowly coming to light without happening all at once or being drawn out too long.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•The dialogue & prose aren’t great. Not terrible, but awkward at points. Also, it’s not very nuanced. There are very on the nose & unnecessary declarations of cliché statements. That especially made several passages feel clunky & a bit cringeworthy.

•It was odd for this audiobook to have 2 narrators, each doing 2 different characters, especially since both women characters sounded the same & both men characters sounded the same. It got confusing for me to tell which character’s POV I was listening to. I would have much preferred a single narrator for the whole book.

•At 20% into the story, I had no clear idea of where this island subdivision is located, what season it is, etc. Having only fuzzy setting details annoys me, because I can’t immerse myself into the story as much as I’d like.

•Oof, Enzo is a jerk. His affair partner’s husband has been missing for 4 months, & he demands the role of being a stepfather to her teenage children. What? How does he think that is at all realistic or appropriate?

•Also, Enzo’s motivation for having done the thing that he’s keeping a secret is pretty thin! Or delusional.

•Both Stephanie & her teenage sons have sexist views about sex. Ie, girls feel emotional about sex & boys don’t, boys can’t help themselves from being manipulative sex addicts, etc.

CW: infidelity, sexism, child abuse, murder, sexual assault

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

But really what did I just listen too? This book blew my mind I was all over the place and that twist at then end. Easily five stars because I had no idea what was going on at all.
Who doesn’t like a small town setting where everyone thinks they know everyone and what was going on. Cause it this situation they were all wrong no one knew anything.

Thanks NetGalley for this great audio book. A small town can hold lots of secrets. A missing husband, a dead wife, an affair. Jude is the sheriff and his wife is the town busybody. She knows where all the bodies are buried. They are hiding their own secret. Stephanie’s husband has been missing for only four months but that doesn’t stop her from having an affair with the mayor, Enzo whose wife was killed after a robbery. Read this book to find out who did what to whom and why.

This just wasn't for me. There was a lot of drama and a lot of angst. I get it, but it was just bored me. I didn't find much in the characters to like and mostly felt sorry for them. What a depressing little place to live.

The story was twisted in ways I couldn't've imagined but the ending/revelation didn't give me the satisfaction I was expecting. I disliked every single one of the characters, maybe excluding Sophie. The writing felt a little repetitive in a way that the characters were continually insinuating that "they had a deep dark secret that shouldn't be out" and so on. yes, I know something sinister has happened and you might've had something to do with it but I needn't be reminded about it every 2 seconds. The plot twists were well played out and some of them were surprising but there were so many plot twists and turns that I had to pause in between to collect and organise my thoughts to understand what was actually happening. This can be a plus point, yes, but it got just a tad bit confusing and tiring for me. As I said I didn't really like any of the characters, I wasn't rooting for anyone or felt sympathetic with anyone for things they did throughout the book. But if that was what the author wanted the reader to feel, then she totally aced it! the plot was fantastic and the ending was surprising but somehow it wasn't as rewarding as I was hoping it would have been.

all-in-all I gave this book a 3.5 /5 rating.

I have read all of this author's books. This one was just off for me. I found most of the characters to be annoying. The teenage boys were seriously the worst.

The narrators were great though!