What a great book! I didn't want to stop reading, even though it wasn't what you'd normally think of as an exciting book. A lot of damaged people, many holding on to their hurt for years without knowing quite what to do about it. I wanted to help them all, but in spite of my shouting advice, they didn't listen. It seems like much of the pain and suffering could have been alleviated by simply talking, but they all felt they couldn't do this for some reason. Some of them felt they needed to hold on to the pain until it went away, but that doesn't always happen. And then there was hate that lasted so many years, and destroyed the hater more than the hatee. And all for misunderstanding what is going on due again to that lack of communication. Lots of sadness in this story.

The saddest thing was that the person causing the most misery seems to be one of the most popular people in the town. I suppose that's often the case, since if someone is not liked, it's hard to get close enough to people to hurt them.

Anyway, it's hard to classify this book or talk about it without giving too much away. So all I can realy say is read it.
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A small town atmospheric mystery. Set in the mountains of Pennsylvania, the local high school football star and son of the major domo in town (Transom Shultz) returns after a long absence. One of his best friends (Chase) has lost his grandfather and may lose the family farm too, but is bailed out by Transom, who then sells the timber and sells fracking rights. Another classmate (Possum) has a score to settle from events in high school, and then Transom disappears, leaving a mystery for the sheriff, who was intending to resign imminently, and a mystified fiancée. Sadly, with many suspects, I guessed what happened in general terms. For a better small town mystery, read Deception Cove by Owen Laukkanen instead. ( )

This book read like it was written for an old white guy. I am a lover of thrillers and read several a month. This one was not at all for me.

The pacing was so slow and boring. The characters were well developed but again slow and steady and I lost interest. The writing was nice but also slow and not my thing.

Basically, I can see how other might like this book but it was not at all for me. ( )

This was a very satisfying read. A truly complex (yet believable) story that had me changing my "theories" about what was/would be happening throughout. The relationships among characters develop in complicated, interesting ways. (I received a copy of this title through LibraryThing's Early Reviews Program—but seriously, this is a great read, free copy or not.) ( )

A intriguing novel that goes back and forth between the current and past. The characters all have secrets. The sheriff, who is also haunted by a past crime he helped cover up that involves the missing Transom. The sheriff is concerned that Transom may be a victim of revenge from Possum the victim of the past crime and Chase his childhood friend whom Transom betrayed by buying his farm to help but sold its mineral rights. A very well written mystery. This was an audio book and the narrator was very easy to listen to. I received this book for free as an early reviewer. ( )