Not My Boy
A Novel
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $22.99
Publisher Description
Who will you cross to protect your own?
When Hannah packs up her past and moves to the cottage next-door to her sister, she hopes the luxe neighborhood and close family ties will be the perfect escape for her son and the shadows that trail them. But when a young girl goes missing days after they unload their final boxes and her son is quickly thrown under suspicion, Hannah must do whatever it takes to protect her child.
Even if that means pointing the blame her sister's way instead.
With investigators swarming and neighborhood scrutiny closing in, the divide between two sisters grows. As one fiercely defends her husband, the other shields her boy from the crime, keeping quiet the secrets that might unravel it all.
And all the while, one young girl has vanished, and someone is to blame.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Near the start of this middling domestic thriller from Simmons (Where She Went), six-year-old Liza Harris disappears while catching frogs at the creek bordering her Philadelphia Main Line neighborhood. After canvassing the community, the police settle on two suspects: 11-year-old Miles, and Miles's uncle, Ben, who lives next door. Miles and his mother, divorced ghostwriter Hannah, are new to the area, and someone's surveillance camera caught Miles burying an animal in the backyard behavior the cops deem suspicious. Meanwhile, Ben's security system captured footage of Liza visiting their house at a time when his wife Hannah's older sister, Hillary was retrieving their daughter from summer camp. The stress of the investigation pits the two sisters against each other until their mother, judgmental busybody Eva, suggests the three of them join forces to catch the real culprit. Simmons squanders an intriguing premise and emotionally fraught setup with uneven pacing, a dearth of action, and a rushed denouement. Underdeveloped characters and poorly defined stakes further disappoint. Fans will hope for better next time.
