Sharon Doering's "She Lies Close"

 

SHE IS STILL MISSING

Five-year-old Ava Boone vanished without a trace six months ago. No witnesses, no sightings or arrests. But Grace Wright just moved in next door to the only suspect the case had: quiet, middle-aged Leland Ernest. 

Recently divorced, Grace uprooted her two small children to start again and hopes the move will reset her crippling insomnia. With whispered neighborhood gossip and increasingly sleepless nights, Grace develops a fierce obsession with Leland and the safety of her children. Could she really be living next door to a child-kidnapper? A murderer? 

With reality and dream blurring more each day, Grace desperately pursues the truth - following Ava's family, demanding answers from the police - and then a body is discovered... ~taken from Amazon

Thinking back, I am not sure what exactly I thought this book would be, but I know when I finished it, it was not what I expected! I think I believed this book would focus on the disappearance of Ava Boone, and when her disappearance is merely an afterthought in the overall plot, I was disappointed for a chapter or two. It quickly got interesting.

The main character, Grace, was a character I could semi-relate to. I am a mother, I've been a single mother of two, and I have spent my fair share of nights staying up late and googling random things way past midnight. Grace seems to take it to an extreme though and obsesses about everything and anything to the point where it's annoying.

Most of the book is filled with Grace's long, rambling thoughts while experiencing late night insomnia and raising her kids. She worries nonstop, but is reckless in her behavior and the combination of her thoughts versus her actions just threw me. It was hard to like her most of the time. 

Because the main character is so haphazard with her life the story took weird turns and left me feeling very disjointed in what was going on in the book. Some plot points seemed to get lost or forgotten causing holes in the story the further I read. Plot points that were really interesting to me would suddenly change to the next plot point and I almost got whiplash trying to keep up. 

No spoilers here, but this didn't end in any way, shape or form that I expected. I am not sure if it was because of the wandering storyline or the super fast way the ending seemed to wrap up, but it left me very unsatisfied. 

"She Lies Close" is set to be released November 10, 2020 here in the U.S. Pre-order now! 

Thanks to Netgalley and Titan Books for allowing me to read the egalley and give my honest review. It was a 3 star read for me. 

Happy Reading!