Fiction / police procedural
411 pages
5 Stars
I must state up front that I read an ARC so my copy may be a smidge different than yours.
My biggest complaint was the lack of chapter numbers. I don't know why this bothered me, but I would have liked to have chapter numbers with the current titles used as epigraphs.
The story is told in many POVs, all in first person. I had no problem with that, but if you aren't used to reading that style, you may have a slight learning curve. Had I started reading earlier in the day, it would have been a one sit read.
Luc Flanders is playing hockey on a frozen pond in modern-day Vermont, when the game is over and he's nearly home, he realizes his necklace has broken and he has lost a ring that means everything to him. He goes back to look for it and is never seen again.
As the police interview everyone who might have information to impart, we meet many people from guys who sell steroids to ex-girlfriends to parents, and of course, Sam Solomon, Luc's (secret) lover.
Although this is a mystery I did not find it an adrenaline gusher; it is also a love story. More than once I cried with Sam, more than once I hurt with Luc's mother.
I understand this is based on a couple of true stories – the disappearance of a student during winter break at Middlebury College; and the vandalism of the Robert Frost Homestead. This book is well written, worth my time to read, and I heartily recommend it.