Never just trust anyone…

Synopsis

An invitation you can’t refuse. You should . . .

When shy, lonely Ivy meets a woman who claims to be her long-lost sister, she knows it’s too good to be true. She decides to trust Kate anyway. She wants a family. She wants someone to love.

She’s making a mistake.

Ivy enters Kate’s fairytale cottage, deep in the heart of Scotland . . . and she doesn’t come out.

She’s the first to go missing.

She won’t be the last.

Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, Tash’s journey is just beginning . . .

My review

Women who apparently have nothing in common have gone missing. How is it possible that these women haven’t left any trace? That’s because the woman who took them, Kate, made sure that it looked like the women left on their own decision. But Kate has a plan with these women, and it isn’t one with a happy end for all the women…
Meanwhile we have Tash, on her own journey, trying to make success on her own. Will this young woman be the answer to the missing women prayers?

I find it always a bit terrifying how easy it apparently can be to just take a person, even an adult one, without anyone having a clue.
Of course this book is fiction, but I always kept in mind that there are such evil people around…

The author managed to pinpoint also how the culprits prepare on their job.
Because Kate in this case, did her homework.
She searched for lonely women, women who wouldn’t be immediately missed, and knew what to say to lure them in her home.

The women held in captivity are despite their general likeness, alone, working from home etc., very different in character.
And I found it very interesting reading how the dynamic between these three victims shifted. When each woman was taken, initially they were all trying to find a way to escape. But time made their mind-set change into one of acceptance. However finally they joined forces and tried all together to find a way to just get out, before it was too late.

I didn’t see how Tash and her journey would somehow fit into the story of the missing women, and it took a while before the it all came together.
Because Tash is in a whole different situation. Her family isn’t one working through legal ways, and when she discovers a secrets, she wants to change her own course and take matter in own hands.
Not only does she show her strength and independence while fighting her own family, but also when she makes it her own mission on finding the missing women.
No matter what her background was, she wants to do the right thing, and that made me like her. She is ready to take risks and is ready to accept the consequences.

This was a disturbing story, seeing how easily people can just take someone else captive. And even if sometimes I found the victims too easy to lure into a totally made up story and make them disappear, I also understood that sometimes the desire of belonging somewhere makes you blind to all signals showing that it’s just a scam…
But also in the end there was a twist I didn’t see coming, and changed my whole view of the story. 

This was a dark story, showing the evil and craziness of some people, but also it showed us that sometimes in the darkest places you can find the thing you longed the most for… And that sometimes sharing the most terrible journey together is an unbreakable bond.