Loved the book. Not as suspenseful and riveting as the Cara series, but still a very enjoyable book. I look forward to the next in the series. A mother losing her daughter to being abducted and missing for a year, with the police not doing much. Lou, the mother, takes a road trip following her daughter's trip, to see if she can find what happened to her, and who took her. Along the way she discovers other girls missing in the same way as her daughter. Don't put it down until you finish it! Highly recommend.

Review of advance copy received from Netgalley

March 25, 2026

Wow what a ride. Pun intended. While I feel for all of the characters losses I admire Lou so much. Her daughter is missing. Many daughters are missing but Lou will not sit back and let this happen to her family without action. She is a force to be reckoned with and you will love her. She doesn’t just stop with her daughter she is determined to help each family she encounters. I love the addition of a young journalist and the relationship they develop. They don’t pull punches and care deeply for each other and the work they are trying to do.

The book is written with an excellent partner team that I hope is the beginning of more to come. As always, the sights and sounds bring this book to life. I don’t think anyone does a better job with the “feeling of being there” than Alexandra Sokoloff.

Keep writing and making the readers happy!

Lou Gomersall’s 19-year-old daughter Abby disappeared a year ago, while driving south on I-5 from the University of California, Berkley.

Even though the police seem to have given up searching for Abby, Lou hasn’t.
She’s been driving through the highways and back roads of Northern California for nearly the whole time, talking to people at truck stops and campsites.

Certain she can find a pattern if she tries hard enough, Lou has begun tracking other young women who have vanished while driving in the same area.

Lou is nothing if not determined, and during her travels, she finds people who gather information for her. She even finds a few detectives who are in her corner, though they contend that Lou could be putting herself in danger.

The title comes from a stretch of I-5 in Kern County through the Tejon Pass, with Fort Tejon at the north end and the unincorporated town of Grapevine at the south, and most of the story takes place in the area surrounding The Grapevine.

Lou is intelligent woman, certain of her mission, and though some might call her stubborn rather than persistent, she’s still a sympathetic protagonist.

Thriller aficionados will find the story riveting, though I might include trigger warnings for physical and psychological trauma, especially for parents of young women.

Highly recommended, though with trigger warnings for physical and psychological trauma, especially for parents of young women.