Two sisters vanish from a popular beach in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky with only one witness. As months pass with no progress, their disappearance reverberates throughout the peninsula, unearthing long held mistrusts and prejudices. Julia Phillips gives you not a police procedural but a series of interconnected hopeful, desperate, and at times devastating glimpses into the lives of both native and Russian women in this small pocket of the world. Through their eyes, we come to know Kamchatka, their dreams, their fears, and what keeps them tethered to this harsh land while clues slowly reveal themselves around them.
You'll have to read this novel because there is so much more that I cannot put into words.
Zweig here captures two striking truths. First, the transition from child to adult comes not by steady gradualism but in catalytic episodes in which the membrane between the two worlds thins by means of betrayal, violence (emotional and otherwise), and critical acts of independence. Second, a shocking number of life's Big Moments would entirely resemble cheap melodrama if not for the transmuting--almost alchemical--effect these moments initiate deep in the souls of innocent parties who are snared in the drama's orbit. A compulsive read!
Meet Amber. She's immobilized in a hospital bed, unable to move or speak but capable of hearing all that goes on around her. How she got here is the one thing she doesn't know. What don't we know about Amber? Everything.
And you'll have to read to the very end to find out if she's lying.
"Have you ever wondered how long it takes to dig a grave? Wonder no longer. It takes an age. However long you think it takes, double that."
Have you ever wondered what you will read this summer? Wonder no longer. This is the thriller of the year, it deserves to accompany you to the beach, the mountains, the airport. Put it in your travel bag and ENJOY.
