Eliza Benedict is a wife and mother living a quiet life in the suburbs. But one day she receives a letter from someone who came across a picture of her in a magazine and recognized her instantly. Back when she was 15-year-old Elizabeth Lerner, this man kidnapped her for several weeks. Although he killed all his other victims, she was mysteriously spared. Now on death row, he wants to get back in touch with Eliza. Flashing back to the summer of the kidnapping, we learn more about the complicated relationship between Walter and Elizabeth, while in the present Eliza tries to finally resolve her unanswered questions about what happened so long ago. In some ways Lippman tried to be a little too ambitious by bringing in Walter’s go-between Barbara Fortuny and washed-up journal Jared Garrett. They each certainly had a place in the story but I wasn’t interested enough for the chapters that were devoted to them. Or maybe I was just so engrossed by the main story and characters that I didn’t want to be sidelined.
Despite these minor shortcomings, I zipped through this book, enjoying both the present day story and the flashbacks to the kidnapping. It’s a complex story with equally complex characters. Based very loosely on a true story, it’s crafted with just the right level of creepiness to be believable.
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