Does anyone else just crave a good read? Found it. ~Sheila

Katie Kuhlmann’has it all. She lives in a wonderful Country Club neighborhood with close friends close by, a text away from taking a walk, grabbing a coffee, or even going skiing. She has a great job working as a food scientist for General Mills. She has two great kids who are fun and good-natured. And a hard-working husband she adores.
Or…
She did.

Her husband Jack has become… distracted. And honestly – weird. He disappears to the basement to work on spreadsheets for his business and disappears from the kids entirely, and they can’t find him. Talking to him doesn’t work; he claims job stress and then disappears again – literally.

It’s the most bizarre thing.

Things just get stranger when Adam “Bagman” Ross, a guy both Katie and Jack knew from college, shows up on their doorsteps, hoping to be able to stay. Jack is quick to say yes while Katie is unnerved by soemone who they had not kept in touch with now living close to their children.

Things continue to unravel for the Kuhlmanns as Katie works to keep up appearances with her neighborhood friends and not let on that she suspects Jack is lying to her, and creating a wall between them that Katie does not have the energy – or honestly, the want- to tear down.

I’m going to be honest here. Picking up a BOOK this time of year is unusual for me. Not that I don’t try – but a book usually is carried from one location to the other…. outdoors to the patio, indoors to the recliner, to the nightstand… and rarely gets opened.
I mean well…

This time of year I am mostly audio-something I can listen to while I garden, mow the lawn, bake bread, cook, clean….

BUT… something happened here. I bought this book at the recent Words By The Water Event in Brainerd, MN, where Matt Goldman was one of the authors speaking. We have had him before, and he is delightful, and it was fun to hang out with him after the event with the other authors and catch up a bit. I had read Matt before with my book club years ago, but the book was more traditional thriller than this more psychological one.

This book – called to me, sitting in a pile of other unread books… I just wanted to pick it up… and when I did… I didn’t want to put it down.

Matt’s characters jumped off the page. Katie was someone I wanted to hang out with…. and the friends circles of who really was a friend and who really was not – as well as where the $%#$&*! did Jack keep disappearing to, kept me turning the pages.

I dug in over this past weekend and stayed up until midnight last night to finish. Whatever magic beans were in this book – it worked.

And now… another of his books is calling to me…. stay tuned

Rated: 4 out of 5
Read Author Before: yes
Read Author Again: Yes!
Where Read: Home

Bookclub Worthy: yes – it’s twisty enough to bring up good conversation.

Leveling up for Bookclub – Food in the book includes hot chocolate, pizza, going out for drinks (Mistletoe Manhattan anyone?), and of course Katie works for General Mills…. Breakfast for Book Club? 😛

Have fun!