When Alison spots the flames heading down the hill towards her house she has just enough time to wet a blanket, lie on her tiled bathroom floor, and wrap herself in it. The heat was unbearable, the smell horrible, and her life was at the whim of the wind. Luckily, it shifted and she and her house was spared but as she stumbles down her driveway she realizes that a car is parked with a stranger dead at the wheel from the radiant heat from the fire that passed just feet away. She finds a purse in the passenger seat and a note with her name and address. Something she does not share with the police. The subsequent investigation finds a connection between the dead woman and Alison which makes Alison believe she was running from the same person Alison left behind in Cairns. A person that might also be hunting her.

I love a setting that is in a totally alien landscape. I don’t read too many novels set in Australia, which adds to the mystique of this novel and an eeriness to the mystery. The pace was somewhat slow, each lead revealed in a manner that added to the intensity as well as the paranoia and fear that Alison is feeling. Is she actually paranoid? Or are her fears coming true? I don’t want to spoil the story should you read it, but despite the slower pace, I was intrigued and hooked. I had to find read the story to its conclusion.

I found it extremely interesting how the author used past traumatic events from Alison’s life and this current mystery to amp up tension for the reader. Is she or is she not reading too much into this connection between herself and the woman found in her driveway? We are taken along on a ride that at times seems slightly unbalanced and have to pick through the plot and her actions to determine the main characters authenticity. That lack of certainty made the resolution to the story even more impactful. I really enjoyed this one! ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest!

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