December 31 1999. Ten year old Amy Archer goes missing, and is presumed dead. Her body isn’t found, and ten years later, her mother Beth is still struggling to cope with her grief. On December 31 2009, there is a knock at her door, and a young woman claims to know where Amy is. Beth is then introduced to a girl who looks exactly like her daughter, and knows things that only Amy could have known. But this girl is only ten years old. As Beth tries to understand the truth behind ‘Amy’s’ sudden reappearance, her enquiries take her down dark paths and reveal secrets long hidden.
I am in two minds about this book. I think the premise is interesting – I don’t personally believe in reincarnation, psychics or mediums, all of which are discussed in this book, but I don’t think that you need to to invest in the story. The narrative moved fast, and was interesting enough to keep me reading for hours, but the main issue for me was that I did not like any of the characters. Not Beth, not Libby (the young woman who knocks on her door) and not even Amy/Esme, the young girl who claims to be Beth’s daughter reincarnated. The other problem was that this author really REALLY liked his imagery and symbolism, and initially that annoyed me a little. However, as I got further into the book, I must have got used to his way of writing, because I noticed it less and less.
Much has been made of the ending – I am not going to reveal anything about it here, but I personally did not mind it so much as other reviewers appear to have done. I think if you are a fan of psychological thrillers, I would probably recommend this book, but beware that it does detail some particularly dark scenarios, which could make for uncomfortable reading. Overall, I wouldn’t say it was a book I’d rave over, but I enjoyed it enough to read further books by this author.
(Author’s website can be found here.)
Between the Pages 
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