Ten years ago, Quincy Carpenter went on vacation with five friends and came back alone, the sole survivor of a horrific attack. In an instant, she became a member of a club that no one wants to belong to: The Final Girls. Other members of the group include Lisa, who lost nine sorority sisters to a killer and Sam, who went up against the Sack Man. All three of them are putting their nightmares behind them, never meeting each other. Quincy, herself, is doing well, thanks to her baking blog (and her Xanax prescription) and Coop, the police officer who saved her life all those years ago. Things are almost great, in fact . . . until Lisa, the first Final Girl, is found dead in her bathtub and Sam, the second Final Girl, appears on Quincy's doorstep. Sam seems intent on making Quincy relive the past, making her wonder just why Sam has showed up. When details about Lisa's death come to light, Quincy realizes she is in a race against time to unravel Sam's truth from her lies, evade the media and most crucially, remember what really happened to her ten years ago.
This is a great thriller, where the pace and the pressure build slowly until it becomes a relentless speed, making you turn the pages faster and faster. The author does a nice job of building this pressure and creating characters that are interesting and sympathetic, with just enough mystery to them that you're kept off balance. It's an intense story, and it's difficult to know if Quincy is a reliable narrator or not because she doesn't have a full memory of what happened to her. As Sam keeps picking at her, and challenging her to engage in dangerous situations, you get the feeling like Quincy, herself, is about to come apart at the seams. I thought I knew what was going to happen and was blindsided (which was great). If you enjoy thrillers, especially ones where you're not sure if you can trust the narrative, this is your book. And a suggestion: clear some time because once you start this one, it's hard to put down.
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