I just finished reading this book this past weekend- it’s a mystery novel about a young woman, Amanda who heads to the small town of Eagle Cove on the northwest coast (Oregon), to try to find out more about her older brother whom she never met. Approximately two decades ago, before she was born, he presumably drowns in the ocean in the middle of the night and was never found. There, she meets a retired police officer, Larry, whom she befriends, and he helps her on her search for information. Before you read on, beware, there are a bit of spoilers ahead.

As some of you probably predicted, the more they look into it, the more questions there are than answers. You come across many characters like a police constable, a boys’ home director, a custodian, the town drunk, and a motel owner for example. You learn more about the boys’ home and the horror that happens there. You learn about the reprehensible practice of a so-called therapy called “holding time”.

At times the book is a bit tough to read, especially when detailing abuse that occurred- so you may want to keep that in mind when deciding whether you want to read this book. When I read the author’s note at the end of the book, she points out that she wanted to call attention to the horrible practice of “holding time”, which is when someone is wrapped in something tightly such as a rug, a towel, or blanket- the goal, which if I understand correctly is to infantilize the individual with behavioral problems, sort of a rebirth, so they can start anew without the problems. Apparently, this is a real thing that still happens in some places.

Aside from the tough abuse stuff, I enjoyed the mystery aspect of the story, as it peels back what happened all these years ago, through their investigation, and through flashbacks to that time. So, I would say it’s a tossup whether you should read this book or not. It was very well written and has well rounded characters. If you enjoy mysteries, and can handle tough subject matter, you might want to give this one a read.