Lippman zips back and forth between the 1970s and modern times in this story. The death of Gordon "Go-Go" Halloran reunites a group of friends who have studiously spent most of their adult lives ignoring each other (with the exception of those who are brothers) because of an incident that happened when they were children. Even as children, though, they were an unlikely group.

Gwen (now a journalist for a magazine, undergoing a separation from her surgeon husband), moved into the neighborhood under less than ideal circumstances, but she eventually won over her friend Mickey (a flight attendant in her adult life), who couldn't afford treats, as her mother struggled to make ends meet. Gwen and Mickey ingratiate themselves into the Halloran family and befriend the brothers - Go-Go, Tim (who fulfills a childhood dream and works for the state's attorney's office), and Sean (who works in public relations). They spend their time testing what few boundaries exist and finding loopholes in the rules their parents set out for them, which leads to them exploring the nearby woods. It is here that their idyllic childhood comes to an end as a hurricane bears down on the area.

As adults who gather for Go-Go's funeral, Gwen, Tim, and Sean begin to uneasily come back together. Mickey (who now goes by McKey) does not really want to have anything to do with the group, although she seems comfortable trying to be alone with Sean. Together, with the Halloron brothers' mother, they try to figure out if Go-Go committed suicide or if his death was a tragic accident. But when Gwen finds out from Go-Go's estranged wife that he was receiving mysterious phone calls from a private investigator that made him uneasy just weeks prior to his death, she gets suspicious and launches her own investigation in his death. Was someone digging into their childhood secrets? Who would even know to do such a thing?

I have read all of Lippman's Tess Monaghan books and many of her stand-alone books. Lippman is typically great at writing suspenseful psychological thrillers and excels at character development. The characters in this book were neither flat nor one-dimensional, but they weren't as rich as I've come to expect from Lippman. The suspense was also lacking. I felt that the big, mysterious event was actually quite expected and cliche, which was quite a letdown. There was a twist at the end of the book, part of which I expected.

Overall, I feel that Lippman is capable of so much more. It's to her credit that I had higher expectations, but it doesn't mitigate my feelings of disappoint.

Book Summary