While I enjoyed Death In the Family more, I still found the second installment to the Shana Merchant series a fantastic read. The writing was again exemplary and character development very well done. I was hoping to learn more about Shana in this book and while I was hoping for more, I definitely respect the direction that Ms. Wegert is taking things. (I was expecting more of a backstory dump in this book, but when it wasn't there I deduced that she is going to be more deliberate in sprinkling more information as each book progresses.)

There were plenty of twists and turns that I found engaging and believeable. Believe-ability is my biggest pet peeve in thrillers and I have nothing but praise for this series when it comes to that. So many thrillers are filled with crazy twists that are so out of nowhere that it ruins an otherwise good book. There is no such problem here and I am thankful for that!

As for the plot, Shana is involved in solving not one, but two cases at once and reading about her attempt to solve both while under enormous emotional stress was highly engaging. I am so excited for the next book and I hope that we are awarded another one in 2021.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Berkeley Books and Tessa Wegert for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review.

Publication Date: 12/08/2020
Review Date: 12/26/2020

This book was full of twists and turns. I will say that because this is the second book in the series I would read the first one before diving into this one. While it was really good and drew me in, there were some parts that would have made more sense if I had read the first book. Which I haven’t done. Overall, this book had me hooked from the very first chapter and I couldn’t get enough of it and I just had to know what happened. I wound up finishing this one in one day. This is a complete page turner and now I can’t wait to go and read the first one so I can really fill in some missing pieces!

Shana is a detective that has suffered a trauma, she was kidnapped by a serial killer, drugged and held hostage for weeks.Only to have him get away and leave her stranded and drugged.As she is finally getting back to things, she finds out that her uncle, who they assumed had run away, was found and they suspected murder. Going home to help get some answers not only does she uncover dark secrets about her family but finds that there is a link between this murder and the serial killer that held her hostage.

Thank you to #netgalley and #berkleypublishing for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this for my honest opinion!

Another bingeable read by Tessa Wegert! I was excited when I heard Book 2 was releasing. After finishing the first in the series, Death in a Family and becoming obsessed with needing more of the main female lead, Shana Marchant, you better believe I jumped on the Dead Season train FAST!
I think I liked this one even more than the first because the author really dives deeper into Shana’s past and her character developed even further in this second book as the storyline focussed more on Shana’s past and this connection she might have with the man who abducted her all those years ago.
I loved that there were two crimes being investigated simultaneously and enjoyed seeing how they were ultimately connected - bravo Tessa Wegert!
Of course this one ends with a cliff hanger, which I’m not mad about because that just means there’s a book 3 and I’m excited for it!!

How are things going for Shana Merchant since she solved a “closed-door” mystery at an imposing mansion on one of the Thousand Islands (Death in the Family)? Not so great. She still hasn’t been cleared to return to work. In the aftermath of an unauthorized shooting in the waning hours of her last case, she must pass a psychological profile before rejoining the Alexandria Bay police department. Shana is also actively avoiding her colleague Tim Wellington. Shana’s engagement falls apart after Death in the Family so her friend and mentor, Maureen “Mac” McIntyre offers her a couch to surf on. Mac is first-ever female sheriff in the history of New York State, sealing her status as a legend. Shana’s martial arts classes are about the only bright light in her life. Winter is coming to Alexandria Bay, NY, as evidenced by the cold winds whipping off Lake Ontario. Tessa Wegert’s descriptions of the mighty St. Lawrence, as seen through Shana’s eyes, are luminous.

I never fully understood the magnetic draw of natural beauty until I started calling the North Country home. Even desolate and cold, the river put me in a state of awe. With no other boats around to disturb its numinous splendor, the surface of the water was a lustrous, level plane.

Shana walks for hours along the deserted bank of the St. Lawrence River, steeling herself to face the memories of her kidnap and torture at the hands of Blake Bram. Although she escaped, the experience is never far from her mind.

And so, turning into the November wind, I welcomed him with open arms spread wide. Come on, asshole. Here I am.



It was late afternoon by the time I got back to Mac’s, which meant it was dark as a grave. A sickle moon lolled in the sky, and as I walked from the car to the house flakes of hard, dry snow bobbed in the air around me.

Unexpectedly, Shana hears from her parents that “the decades-old skeleton of Shana’s estranged uncle” has been discovered. Without getting permission, she abruptly takes off for Swanton, Vermont (she justifies her decision by parsing the facts: she isn’t back at work and is technically an independent operator?). Why not go home and solve the cold case? Almost on the heels of arriving home, Mac alerts her to a missing person case in Alexandria Bay.

“Tim’s on it,” Mac assured me, “but you’re still my most senior investigator, so I want your take, too. Because you’re right. It’s bad. A kid’s gone missing, nine-year-old boy by the name of Trey Hayes.” She took a breath and rattled off the details. Local. African American. Brown hair and eyes. Small for his age. “Real cutie,” she said sadly. “Last seen about two hours ago on a field trip to Boldt Island.”

Shana’s on the road again, a 3 hr 22 min (170.6 mile) trip, one way. Back in Alexandria Bay, Shana goes into a “kitschy” gift shop to look for a birthday card for Mac, anything to pass the time, when she notices a new poster with two photos, side by side on the bulletin board near the register. Photos of Shana’s dead Uncle Brett and Trey Hayes: “the kid was smiling, but barely, as if someone was forcing him to. The look in his eyes was pure terror.” Shana takes the poster down and turns it over. There’s a handwritten message: “Wanna play?” Shana knows immediately who kidnapped the boy and almost welcomes the confrontation. She pleads with the locals to play it her way, with mixed success. Good news: the police don’t find a dead body. Bad news: they find the little boy’s hat covered with blood.

“Get an evidence bag,” said Tim, his voice cold as he reached for the blood-soaked Purple Pirates baseball hat, sticky and black in the half-light.

Time for a Big Reveal aka Massive Spoiler: Shana knows who her erstwhile abductor, serial killer Blake Bram, is.

All the stories my kidnapper told me in the cellar beneath an apartment building in the cellar beneath an apartment building in the East Village were about his childhood. They were also about mine. I didn’t need to dust off old yearbooks to ID him. No rifling through the memory bank for me. The man who murdered three women and a young cop, the guy who drugged me at an Irish pub, was my equal. We shared the same hometown, the same childhood experiences, even the same DNA. With every bone in my body I wished it wasn’t so, but that didn’t change the facts, and denial wouldn’t erase the truth. He was the troubled kid on my mother’s side who ran away at the age of sixteen. Blake Bram was Abe, my childhood companion.



My cousin.



My friend.

Also Trey’s kidnapper. Abe and Shana were close in childhood and adolescence. They had so much in common like their obsession with Scully and Mulder. Things fell apart when it became clear that Abe was mentally troubled, perhaps even sociopathic. The tension climaxed in a dreadful confrontation that left Shana with a wicked facial scar (courtesy of a rusty nail wielded by her cousin). I’ll go out on a crime-solving limb and say Shana should have told her fellow investigators. It’s hard to imagine a scenario where that’s not the right thing to do. But that’s not how Shana sees it.

My plan had been simple: I would show Bram my cards. Make it easy for him to find me, and keep him focused on me alone. It went against both my principles as an investigator and my police training, but for more than a year, I’d kept his identity a secret from everyone. I didn’t do it for Abe. I was appalled and revolted and deeply ashamed, but more than that, I knew revealing what had become of him to my family would leave them with agonizing questions to which I had no answers yet. As for Mac and Tim, the more they knew about Bram, the less control I had over my pursuit. And I had to get to Bram first.

Abe’s message, “Wanna play?” is crystal clear to Shana. If the citizens of Alexandria Bay ever hope to see Trey alive again, Shana must solve the puzzle of who murdered her Uncle Brett (Abe’s father). Back to Swanton. As the clues rachet up, Shana is joined by Tim in Vermont.

The Dead Season is a gripping thriller that pits a cold case against the plight of a hapless child with Shana Merchant the key to solving both crimes.

The Dead Season is the second book in the Shana Merchant series. I loved the first book, Death in The Family, which left me with some lingering questions surrounding Shana's past and tormentor, who held her captive.

The Dead Season picks up three weeks after the events from Death in the Family. Shana is suspended from duty and is in therapy for PTSD. She is now drawn into two crimes that she has a personal connection to and is forced to play a cat and mouse game with her tormentor.

The Dead Season combines a small-town mystery with an upstate New York kidnapping of a child and a family drama. What's a small-town mystery without some family secrets and drama involved. The family drama to this one is shocking and not what I expected, and the tension in the story rises, the more we get to know about Shana's family secrets. While the kidnapping of a child is always disturbing Tessa Wegert keeps it lighter and focuses on Shana and her abductor Bram and those lingering questions I had are answered.

The pacing is slow at first as Tessa Wegert sets up the mysteries for us and then the action picks ups and I was turning the pages as fast as I could. While this one is not a thrilling and chilling dark read it's a suspenseful and tension-filled satisfying read and Tessa Wegert sure knows how to set us up for the next one and I look forward to reading it.

I'm officially obsessed with Tessa Wegert books!

A Death in the Family was fantastic, and in THE DEAD SEASON, Shana Merchant is back… and this time the murder hits close to home.⁣
⁣
As in - miles from her home.⁣
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As in - her own family.⁣
⁣
After being abducted by a serial killer and then that crazy murder island investigation … she’s now trying to solve the murder of her own uncle. And that serial killer?? Is he somehow involved? Does her past have something to do with this all?⁣
⁣
Shana Merchant is such a fantastic character. These books grab your attention, hook you right in, leave you breathless and wanting more. The Dead Season kept me guessing just like Death in the Family did.. and I again, didn’t figure anything out! Foiled again - in the best way! ⁣
⁣
A must read. 👏🏻⁣

With an Agatha Christie-like atmosphere, Tessa Wegert’s debut thriller Death in the Family was a hit and introduced an exciting and fascinating, but still very relatable new State Police Detective in Shana Merchant. Picking up mere weeks after the events of Death in the Family, Wegert brings Detective Merchant back for a thrilling new adventure that combines a brand new case and a close-to-home cold case in The Dead Season.

Detective Merchant is still dealing with the fall-out of the events in Death in the Family. The end of her relationship means she doesn’t really have a place of her own, so she’s staying with a friend and fellow officer. Her reactions to stress during the intense circumstances of her previous case have left her temporarily suspended, pending counselling (which she has been faithfully completing) and a psychological evaluation, which is just days away. She and her police partner Tim have also not quite found their footing with each other. They both learned a great deal about each other working the previous case, including correcting some misinformation that each had been given about the other, but neither is quite sure where they stand, not knowing how Merchant’s suspension will play out.

While trying to work through all of these issues, get through her evaluation, and get reinstated, Merchant’s past suddenly takes center stage. Bones are found that are believed to be related to someone from her extended family, and then someone from her past reappears in her life, as she both knew and dreaded that he someday would. This sets off a fast-paced cat-and-mouse game as Shana must decide how many of the secrets of her past she will need to reveal to Tim and her other law enforcement colleagues as they try to end a serial killer’s deadly game before anyone else get hurt – or worse.  

Wegert keeps the action going with excellent pacing throughout the story. We meet a lot of the characters from Merchant’s past and they are all well-developed, very real seeming characters with their own stories, issues, and backgrounds. Through her interactions with them, we get an even more in-depth picture of just who Shana Merchant is, not just as a detective, but as a daughter, a sister, a cousin, a niece, a friend, and more.

Many of the events and people from Shana Merchant’s past that were only briefly referenced or alluded to in Death in the Family reappear here and we are able to put these things into the context of Merchant’s life. But just as she brilliantly did before, Wegert withholds some things – she keeps us wanting more. She leaves tantalising breadcrumbs (hopefully) leading to our next thrill-ride with Detective Merchant.

✨You guys, I devoured this book! Actually, I went back and devoured book one before I read this one! It can be read as a stand alone, but I was able to gain more insight by reading the first.
Shana’s past seems to haunt her no matter how much she tries to get away from it. Her past and present collide when she starts to investigate a kidnapping and an unsuspected 20 year old case involving a family member. There were so many secrets to unravel with her family and hometown, that this book definitely kept me on my toes! And that cliffhanger @tessawegert!! 😱 I’m ready for the next one!
Thank you for my copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own

Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Jeanie

This is the second mystery in the intense Shana Merchant series; it is written with excellence. The descriptions of where Shana grew up in Swanton, Vermont and her new home in the Thousand Islands of New York are rich, adding color and texture to late November days. It was fascinating to get to know Shana, Mac, and Tim better than in the first novel, and spend time with Shana’s family and friends in Vermont. The mystery was exciting at times, and shocking at others. This series should definitely be read in order, as each novel builds on the one prior.

Shana has been on suspension following her first major case in Alexandria Bay. Tim is her second in command at the A-Bay state police station. Due to reactions to circumstances encountered, she had to see a state appointed therapist, and in a few days will be evaluated to see if she is ready to return to duty. Her parents call her with bad news; her uncle Brett, husband to her mom’s sister Felicia and had left her and moved to Philadelphia twenty years earlier, had been found. Well, his remains were, due to an anonymous tip called in to the Swanton police. They made a tentative identification and determined he had been murdered. Shana drove home to be with her parents, as there had once been many rocky times with Felicia, Brett, and their children.

Shana was barely at her parents’ home when she learned that a nine-year-old boy went missing from Heart Island where his school had been on an outing. Even though she is on suspension, Shana returned to A-Bay to see if she could help from the sidelines. The clues there send her back to Vermont. A nightmare from her past has returned yet again, a living nightmare that will not let her go. It will only be in finding the truth of her uncle’s murder that they might be able to save the little boy who disappeared. Yet the secret she may have to expose would harm all she loves and forever cost her career.

I enjoyed seeing Shana again, despite walking through some of the horrors of her past that effect her present and future. She is very well characterized, especially through the haunting memories. The family dynamics, especially with her aunt and cousin, add to the drama. Each relevant character is designed carefully and defined well. I also enjoyed getting to know Mac and Tim better than before; Tim has proven to be a much better person and investigator than originally thought. I enjoyed meeting Shana’s best friend from school and seeing them pick up their relationship again, as well as Shana’s regrets for her shortcomings in the relationships of her past.

The mystery is complex and involves much more than the missing boy or her murdered uncle. Shana will learn just how much she can trust Mac and Tim, and ultimately herself as she works through the effects of PTSD and takes her karate classes more seriously than ever. While Shana assumes who is behind the boy’s disappearance, the suspects for her uncle’s murder increase as she learns more about his final months in Swanton. The suspense climbs with each plot twist and turn so that it is hard to put the book down! I admit that I was not able to guess who the murderer was and was stunned at the resolution! The end is satisfactory, leaving open only one thing – the location of the Blake Bram, the man who not only abducted and tormented Shana when she was with NYPD over a year ago but plays into her cases since. The novels should be read in order as they build on each other. I highly recommend The Dead Season and its predecessor, Death in the Family.

I absolutely adored Death in the Family and Shana Merchant. There was a lot about her past I was eager to explore In the sequel and I’m so happy how this one was laid out.

While Death in the Family had a traditional locked-room mystery feel, The Dead Season felt like a classic, gritty crime procedural that kept all the atmosphere I fell in love with the first time around. We got to explore Shana’s hometown as she unofficially investigates a murder too close to her personal life after serial killer Blake Bram forces her to go home by abducting someone else.

The gossipy, small-town is just the place I imagined Shana growing up in. While still managing her PTSD, she has to confront demons from her past that she’s long avoided. It was interesting to read about how Shana remembered certain events of her childhood compared to her brother and those around her. It showed how easy it is to make a big deal about the little things and how our bias can paint events.

Blake Bram was a character I was excited to get more of. As far as fictional serial killers go, he’s one of my favorites. He and Shana have such a complex history and I was happy that The Dead Season didn’t wrap that up completely. I cannot wait to see what’s in store next

I am addicted to serial killer books, throw in a strong female lead, and police procedurals and that’s the recipe for my perfect read! The Dead Season is the second book in the Shana Merchant series. I loved Death in the Family but I think I enjoyed The Dead Season even more.

Shana has been keeping secrets, a bombshell of a secret. The serial killer that kidnapped her....that guy who killed a bunch of women...that’s her cousin, and she never told the police, her supervisor, or her partner.

The Dead Season focuses on a missing child case that is tied to the recent discovery of Shana’s uncle’s remains. Bram wants Shana to play his game...find out who killed her uncle or a child may die. Shana’s sanity is tenuous at best. It seems every one of her relatives has secrets to keep buried.

This book was chilling in both atmosphere and plot. I love Shana, she is flawed but truly wants to make the world a better place. This book had a lot of family drama alongside the investigation and I enjoyed it piecing it together. Tessa just knows how to write a fantastic book and these first two books are must reads for fans of psychological thrillers and police procedurals!

From my blog: Always With a Book:

This is the second book in Tessa Wegert's Shana Merchant series and I really like this series. I'm so glad I had the chance to read the first book, Death in the Family, a few months ago. You all know how much I like reading my series in order!

This latest installment is intense! As much as this book could be read as a stand-alone in the fact that has a self-contained case for Shana and her colleagues to solve, it also deals with Shana's past and that involves a bit of what we learned in the previous book. Yes, Tessa Wegert does give a bit of backstory if you haven't read the previous book, but there is also the issue of Shana being on leave - and this is all due to circumstances that happen in the previous book. If you haven't read that one, maybe by reading this one, it will leave you eager to pick it up!

I love that we really get into Shana's history in this one. It was so fascinating digging into not only her own background, but also her family history. Her abductor from a while back is not letting go and is really intent on playing games with her. We come to find out that she really does indeed know his true identity and that is quite a revelation! When he kidnaps again, he decides to play games with her, challenging Shana to solve her uncle's murder or the blood of the missing child will be on her hands. This puts her in quite the predicament as she isn't ready to let her colleagues know who he is yet.

This book kept me glued to the pages and guessing as to what was going on. I loved all the twists and turns that it took and was quite surprised at all the revelations that popped up along the way. This cat and mouse game isn't done yet and I cannot wait to see what happens next...this series just gets better and better and I will be eager for the next installment!

✨HOT🔥 NEW RELEASE!! ✨

"CHILLING PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER meets GRIPPING police procedural in this relentlessly compelling cat and mouse game of BURIED SECRETS and FAMILY HEARTBREAK.

@tessawegert is such a skilled and confident storyteller! I COULD NOT PUT THIS DOWN."--

@hankpryan , USA Today bestselling author of THE FIRST TO LIE.
________
This is a SERIES!

✨THE SHANA MERCHANT NOVEL;
1. Death In The Family
2.THE DEAD SEASON.

352 pages, 37 chapters, it is one intriguing read!

📌The story begins in Vermont Aug 1995, the protagonist's hometown when she is around 10 years old. The 2nd most important character is also introduced here, who is also around 9.5 years old.
This intro is to build an atmospheric vibe about the story.

Chapter 1, jumps the timeline and brings us straight to the present.
Shana Merchant is a senior investigator, who is RUNNING AWAY FROM HER PAST. She was held hostage by a serial killer, Blake Bram who murdered three women and a rookie police officer. She hopes for a fresh start.
But..

❤️ Is it easy to run away from your past & start afresh❓
#ᴀᴏᴛᴅ I believe instead of running away, we need to make peace with our past. Accept it and move forward. But it's easier said than done!

Well, her past pulls at her and forces her to relive her childhood memories, solve a riddle, a murder mystery if she wants to save someone from getting targeted next!

📌it's a TWISTED GAME played by a psychopath with a victim, the protagonist.

WILL SHE COME OUT A STRONGER PERSON❓
Or
WILL SHE LOSE EVEN THE LITTLE THAT'S LEFT OF HER ❓❓

📖read it to know more!

P. S. : The ending is a cliffhanger giving way to a probable next in the series!

Genre: Psychological thriller.

#noorthebookwormreviews
#thedeadseason

From page one I was hooked and I tore through this novel! This is the second in a series and I can’t wait to pick up the first. That being said I definitely do not think you have to read them in order and I think that this is a series that will be one of my favorites.

Shana leaves the NYPD and returns to her hometown after she was kidnapped by a serial killer. However she returns home because she and that serial killer share the same hometown and he challenged her to solve a cold case.

This mystery was well written and oh so compelling. You will be on the edge of your seat with this page turner.

A layered mix of murder mystery, family trauma and missing persons case that serves as an integral piece of this detective series.

I was surprised at first with how different this book was from the one before it, but as the story went on, it clearly became a celebration of how diverse this author is. The first book in the Shana Merchant detective series, A Death in the Family, was in line with many popular suspense novels lately (very themed, atmospheric, multitude of suspects, and a locked room mystery), and while a great read, Wegert showed with her second book that she doesn’t need to rely on a heavy theme or structure to write a great detective novel.

This second book ties in a cold case murder mystery in Merchant’s own family with a current child kidnapping - all seemingly woven in with her connection to the serial killer who abducted her a year before. Seem like a lot going on?? It is... BUT it doesn’t feel muddled or complicated at all.

I love Wegert’s sly clue dropping and the way she slinks up to the killer reveals. No grand pronouncements or fast paced race to catch them - instead you can almost see her detective giving a quiet smile as she figures it out and waits for you to do the same.

I only give this 4 stars instead of 5 because I didn’t quite love or connect with any of the new characters - but that didn’t deter me from loving this mystery just as I did the first!

Following the horrific events of Death in the Family, Senior Investigator Shana Merchant finds herself on administrative leave. Her PTSD was triggered by the events on the Sinclair family's private island and it caused her to display poor judgement. Now she is left spinning her wheels as her department urges her to take time to heal.

Pending a psychological evaluation she may be reinstated to her position. In the meantime however, she is suppose to focus on anything but work. Shana has a hard time with that. When the remains of her long missing Uncle are found in the woods of her hometown, she heads home to solve the mystery.

At the same time, a young boy, Trey, goes missing on a school field trip in Alexandria Bay. Shana's partner, Tim, is on the case and Shana feels like it is connected to Blake Bram, the serial killer continuing to hound her. What's even more intriguing is that Shana feels like the cases are linked in other ways; like Bram is holding Trey hostage, forcing Shana to solve the case of her long-dead Uncle. If she can solve it, perhaps Trey will live, but why?

I really enjoyed getting to know Shana Merchant, as a character, in the first novel. This second book fills in more of her past and the events that haunt her, which is exactly what I was hoping for. We learn more about Blake Bram and Shana's original connection to him.

Wegert won me over in the first novel by utilizing my favorite mystery trope, the locked room mystery. In this second installment, again, she gave me another one of my favorites: when a protagonist returns to their hometown to solve an old mystery. Shana feels like she has forgotten a lot of her childhood. As she interviews friends, relatives and other community members, it begins to jog her memory and what she finds there isn't pretty.

I really enjoyed the pacing of this and the reveals. Shana is a great character, as is Tim, her partner. I have no idea how many mysteries this series will ultimately be, but you better believe, I will be reading them all.

If you are looking for a new mystery series with a classic mystery feel, you should definitely give the Shana Merchant series a try. The Dead Season is releasing on Tuesday, December 8th!!! Thank you so much to the publisher, Berkley Books, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. I really appreciate it!

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This is book 2 in the Shana Merchant series. The first book is Death In The Family.
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This book delves deeper into the history of Shana and Bram.
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The skeletal remains of Shana’s uncle are found. Shana must probe into the secrets of her family and her hometown to figure out who killed her uncle and why.
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This book was a great follow up, full of mysteries and family drama. I look forward to the third book!

Tessa Wegert returns with a captivating new mystery in "The Dead Season." Following her brilliant debut "Death in the Family," Wegert's dogged detective Shana Merchant finds herself investigating not one case, but two while's on suspension from the force.
In this book readers will find themselves learning more about Shana's personal history and will finally get answers to their burning questions about the detective's nemesis, Blake Bram.

This is the second book in the Shana Merchant series from this Quebec born author. Book number one in the series is "Death in the Family" and I recommend that it be read first. In this one Shana, a police detective in the Thousand Island area, faces off against the serial killer who held her hostage back when she worked in NYC. He has taken a 10-year-old boy and taunts her with clues and demands. The case also takes her back to her hometown and delves deeply into her extended family. This series reminds me of Karin Slaughter books, both in style and 'darkness' and would be a good recommendation for her fans. While the first in the series was a good read, the further character development in this one makes it even better and I am looking forward to the next one.

This was my first Tessa Wegert book but it won't be my last! I'm a big fan of police procedural novels and this one was just that. The Dead Season is the second book in the Shana Merchant series. Although it can be read as a stand-alone, I now want to read the first book to learn more about Shana's backstory and abduction. Shana's struggle with PTSD is courageous as she dives right back into the terrifying world of her abductor while determined to solve the mysterious death of her uncle. She's a badass heroine who refuses to let her terrifying past dictate her future. Throughout the book, we learn that her past has prepared her for this exact moment. What I found truly terrifying is when we find out who Bram really is. I was shocked and speechless. It adds another ghastly layer to the already grisly situation. There are a handful of characters to keep track of, but they all iron out in the end.⁣⁣⠀