Safe
A Novel
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
A kidnapped girl survived twelve nightmarish years.
Now she's safely back home . . . or is she?
Jenny Kristal was six years old when she was snatched off the sidewalk from her quiet suburban neighborhood. Twelve years later, she's miraculously returned home after escaping her kidnappers—but as her parents and older brother welcome her back, the questions begin to mount. Where has she been all these years? Why is she back now? And is home really the safest place for her . . . or for any of them?
"Fantastically good—dark yet compellingly upbeat, and insanely suspenseful ... Even the twists have twists." —Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"Dark, compulsive, full of OMG moments. If you think you know where it’s going … YOU DON’T. This is one you won’t forget in a hurry." —Lisa Jewell, New York Times bestselling author of Then She Was Gone
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Twelve years after six-year-old Jenny Kristal disappeared on her way to play with a friend in suburban Long Island, N.Y., she returns home or does she? Whether the scrawny teen who nearly collapses near her old house is truly Jenny or an imposter propels this disturbing psychological thriller from the pseudonymous Barnett. Tearful mom Laurie welcomes the newcomer unconditionally, dad Jake seems oddly distant, and 20-year-old brother Ben is openly suspicious. And if things weren't already sufficiently tense, an anonymous new Facebook friend warns Jenny she's "not safe in that house." Barnett skillfully maintains the central mystery as long as possible, intercutting the young woman's efforts to investigate what actually happened that fateful day with flashbacks to the horrific abuse she suffered for years at the hands of the meth-dealing Midwestern couple she was forced to call Father and Mother. Up until the jolting last-minute twists that lead to a somewhat clich d conclusion, this makes for involving if unsettling reading. Genre fans will want to see more from this talented author.
