Birdie, sexually abused by Calvin at age nine, is fleeing the publicity of a recently published book about Calvin's victims. She heads to remote Whidbey Island, Washington, as far from her New York City home as she can get. On the ferry to the island, Birdie meets a man who offers to kill recently paroled Calvin, thus removing the threat and satisfying her need for revenge.
Calvin's mother, Mary-Beth, is a victim of circumstance. Shunned in the small community for proclaiming her son a victim of promiscuous girls, her mother's love blinds her to the truth. When Calvin is brutally murdered, Mary-Beth again becomes a victim, this time by what she sees as inaction on the part of the police to find the killer.
Linzie, famous for her meltdown on a reality TV show, is another of Calvin's victims. She has just published a tell-all book about her and other victims' experiences. Her thinly disguised descriptions of other victims make them easy to identify, leading Birdie to go into hiding.
Told from multiple points of view, this is about how the trauma of a sexual assault can have life-changing repercussions. I considered not finishing this book because of how upset I got over what happened to Birdie and Linzie. Although Madden deftly handles the description of the assaults both girls suffered, it was still depressing. But I read on because it's an important topic and one that needs exploring. I could have done without the explicit descriptions of Birdie and her partner's lovemaking. I'm not a prude, but it was just too much information.
4/5 stars.
Thank you, NetGalley and Mariner Books, for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. The publication date is March 10, 2026.
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