Story explores the mysteries of memory and the impact of violence on survivors-and the lengths they will go to find the painful truth of the events that scarred their lives. In the summer of 1986, two tragedies rocked Oklahoma City, six movie-theater employees were killed in an armed robbery, while one inexplicably survived. Then, a teenage girl vanishes from the annual state fair. Neither crime was ever solved. Twenty-five years later, the reverberations of those unsolved cases quietly echo through the survivorsā€™ lives. ( )

What a story! I did begin to suspect the perpetrator of the bar's vandalism.... that was, to me, rather obvious. However, it was anyone's guess who was involved in the young girl's disappearance. The 'who did it' is a surprise. ( )

This novel consists of two parallel stories, that of Wyatt and Julianna, who sometimes encounter each other but that fall short of truly interacting. Both characters, though, are struggling with the trauma of events which occurred in the same summer more that two decades ago. Wyatt was the lone survivor of a shooting and Julianna's older sister, in a separate incident, went missing. I enjoyed this novel, which made for a compelling read and I liked how the conclusion offered a kind of resolution to the characters. ( )

I was told that since I liked [a:Lou Berney|3135045|Lou Berney|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1527347674p2/3135045.jpg]'s [b:November Road|35430011|November Road|Lou Berney|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1527113022l/35430011._SY75_.jpg|56808220], I should try [b:The Long and Faraway Gone|20663088|The Long and Faraway Gone|Lou Berney|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1411488241l/20663088._SY75_.jpg|26470491]. Great recommendation! Both books share the characteristics of one of my favorite types of crime novel - character driven, where the "right" thing to do isn't always clear, and the reasons behind the MC's actions aren't easily understood, sometimes not even by the MC.

I've read a number of books lately with plots that build on events from the distant past, and none have been as satisfying as this one. Berney's approach doesn't copy the pattern so well established by [a:Ross McDonald|5459879|Ross McDonald|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], and rarely matched since, where a crime in today's world happens *because* of something that happened decades ago. Instead, the two main characters in this book have been haunted by different traumatic events that happened twenty years past, neither of which could be explained at the time and or resolved since. One of the two has tried, unsuccessfully, to blot the tragedy from his life, and the other has allowed a search for an answer to consume her life.

Over the course of the book answers emerge for both, but not before they each undergo physical and/or emotional ordeals. The clarity they achieve may allow them to move on, finally, but it's not a given. Just as in real life.

I should also add that Berney is gifted at establishing vivid backdrops for his stories, both the locations and the peripheral characters. His books have truly been a joy to read on so many levels. ( )

I will start with saying that this was a really good book with a very interesting story or stories since it is actually two stories that parallel each other even though they take place in the same town.

Wyatt returns twenty-fives later to Oklahoma City. He has changed his name so we do not know among the people in the movie theater he was. If it weren't for his latest case would he probably have stayed as far away from Oklahoma City that could, but he owned a friend a favor so he is in the city and the memories come back. He can't let the movie theater murders while he investigates his case and he soon begins to question things about it.

Meanwhile, in the city is Julianna, the little sister of Genevieve. Genevieve disappeared a while before the murders and Julianna has never been able to let it go completely. Then, she finds out that the person that the police suspected the most for the disappearing is back in town.

It was really engrossing following these two lost souls in the city each with their own memories of a night twenty-five years earlier. I thought in the beginning that they would have more interactions, but the random encounters were much more interesting than that they would somehow meet and start to work together or something.

They are both damaged people, both with one memory that has shaped their lives, but not really able to live the lives to the fullest because they can't let the past go. Wyatt is asking a simple question; why? Why did he survive? Julianna is wondering what happened to her sister, why did disappear? Did someone take her?

A great read, I enjoyed it immensely!

I received this copy from the publisher through NetGalley and from TLC Book Tours in return for an honest review! ( )