While this is an intriguing mystery, it is so much more than that. The protagonist, Eli North, a policeman in the small town of Shaky Lake is a very flawed victim of PTSD. His discovery of the body of a young boy in a boat on a lake in Wisconsin brought back to him all the memories he had been trying to suppress after return from military duties in Afghanistan.

A young girl goes missing from the family’s summer cabin at the same time the body is discovered, and Eli is introduced to a female FBI agent who seems to be able to know what he is thinking. She and Eli, along with Eli’s mother, the sheriff of the town, discover that the two events are tied together and that the most-wealthy people of the town are involved much deeper than any of them ever imagined.

Alyssa, the FBI agent, is involved in much more than a missing child incident. What she is investigating mires Eli into conflicts of addiction and abuse. Each event in the investigation brings Eli more pain. Only his friend, Jake who had also served in the war, seems to understand what he is going through.

The story well-crafted and very descriptive. The pictures of the trauma of addiction and the mental anguish of PTSD are so clear that it will almost feel as if the reader is inside Eli’s mind. The specter suicide looms large in this tale, but hope looms larger.

While there is no sexual descriptions or foul language, I recommend this only for adults, not general young adult readers. Young adults who have experienced trauma in their lives might be able to understand the deep trauma one must face head on in order to survive. Be cautious about who reads this.

The author seems to have left the door open for a possibility of a follow-up story. I shall look for one to come.