e-ALC, 08:22:50
Narrated by: Jennifer Jill Araya
Release Date: June 30, 2026
Published by: Tantor Media, Inc.
Read from: June 24-26, 2026
Stand-alone
Source: Netgalley (I received this e-ALC from the publisher and Netgalley. This did nothing to influence my review.)
Content Warning: Death, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury
For Readers of: Audio, Family Diversity (Missing Mom, Triplets, Death of a Parent), Mystery, Realistic Fiction, Stand-alone, Thriller, YAThree brothers. Two deaths. One girl, caught in the middle.
The Abbott boys, fraternal triplets Henry, Bram, and Adam, live in a mansion on the outskirts of Silver Creek. For decades, their family’s been at odds with the town, long before Mariana Flores died in a fiery accident on the Abbott property last year . The police ruled out foul play, but ask anyone in Silver Creek about it and they’ll say one of the Abbott boys killed her. They just don’t know which one.
But Hayden, the girl who lives next door to the Abbotts, swears they’re innocent. After all, Henry’s her best friend—maybe he could be more. She’s been worried about Adam ever since he was injured in the accident that killed Mariana. As for Bram, he’s a little complicated, but he and Mariana had been in love.
When the new school year brings a new victim—a popular girl, found dead in the woods—the hunt for a monster begins anew. The security camera footage doesn’t show the face of the boy she was last seen with, but from his hoodie he could be any one of the Abbott brothers.
To clear their names, Hayden starts investigating the new death, but the deeper she digs, the more uncertain she becomes. Is one of the Abbott brothers a killer? Or could they all be monsters? And what will the boys do to protect themselves and the truth?
*MY THOUGHTS*
This book landed squarely in the middle for me. I liked it but it was still a little weird for me. I wasn’t as invested in this and I was able to guess the killer (not by name, but I knew what kind of whateacter it would be if that makes sense) and it just entirely too easy.
With that I did like, the plot was good. I was invested. And I was mad af that an entire town was acting like that to these KIDS. what happened to innocent until proven guilty. They WANTED them to be guilty to fit whatever they had in their head and they didn’t even try to find anyone else. I thought about that the whole book. How are you supposed to still live there? They were braver than me. I would never let them hear the end of it.I also liked that the motive took me by surprise. Idk what I was expecting, but it wasn’t that. I hated that we’re not doled out that information until the almost climax tho. Like tell us and let us form our own opinions and then see how many of us got it wrong. Does that make sense? lol
The characters were resilient and strong. Ain’t no way I would have made it like those boys. And the FMC? I was proud of her for standing on business and not following everyone else. She gave them a chance because she knew them. And even if she did have doubts at some point, she didn’t immediately start blaming people, she went on to ask them questions and find out if she could figure out the truth. I will say I was a little miffed when they started acting that way towards her, as if she wasn’t there the whole time, but I digress lol
As for my guess, I guessed the type of person it was from the very beginning. I was nowhere close on the motive lol but I knew the type of person it was. When they were introduced I remembered saying, “like this person!” And yes I know this is a YA book, but it still shouldn’t be that easy to figure out. Usually I don’t guess until like 60% but this time it was before 50%. And because of that I just didn’t vibe with this part of it. Which is weird because it is a mystery book meaning it’s most of the plot lol
The back and forth time change was weird at some points. Like sometimes it was hard to determine when it was but I was also listening to the audio so it could have just been the audio copy. But I DID like it. I thought it helped to give the story some depth. Like we got a look into the case that made them act this way. (Not at all warranted in my opinion, but lol
This wasn’t bad, but it also wasn’t my favorite? I liked it well enough but I think I would have enjoyed it a little more with more suspense. The clues are doled out througout the whole book and it made it less suspenseful. Beside the obvious plot twists, I think I just wanted more. But overall it was still a fun experience.
Overall, I give this
