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In this riveting, if overly ambitious thriller, Stevens raises significant themes—bullying, troubled families, the difficulties ex-cons face—but doesn’t do them all justice.... Despite some wooden secondary characters, this is an exciting page-turner with an incisive twist.
Publishers Weekly


(Starred review.) [A] suspenseful thriller with [a] tale of heartbreak, the cruelties of fate, and redemption.... The reader follows Toni on a journey marked by cruel classmates and a hateful mother as she eventually discovers the shattering truth behind her sister's untimely death.... A compelling, exceptional read. —Mariel Pachucki, Maple Valley, WA
Library Journal


Toni Murphy...[is] about to be paroled from a Canadian penitentiary. When she was 18, she and her boyfriend, Ryan, were convicted of killing Toni’s younger sister. Flashbacks to the months before her sister was killed and the years she spent in prison help the reader understand the woman Toni is today.... [A] suspenseful tale. —Karen Keefe
Booklist


Stevens draws a dark crime drama from the beautiful blue-green of Canada’s Vancouver Island.... Stevens has woven a warped psychological drama, a melancholy tale that comes to an existential and yet hopeful conclusion.... Stevens' dark psychological thriller...[features] damaged people and distinctive senses of place.
Kirkus Reviews