Dr. David Beck is a widower who lost his wife to a violent crime eight years ago. She comes from a family of cops, with her father and uncle both members of the force. While Dr. Beck himself was recuperating in hospital, her body is recovered and she is identified as being the latest victim of a notorious serial killer. The killer himself is caught and sentenced, but not specifically for Dr. Beck’s wife.
It’s almost eight years to the date, when he receives a cryptic email referencing a private moment that no one except his wife should have been aware of. The link in the email leads to a grainy traffic camera video, where his wife walks in front of the camera. Not as she was eight years ago, but looking older, with a different haircut. This starts a whirlwind chase involving the police, the FBI, some lawyers, a successful drug dealer with a heart of gold, and several people who end up dead as soon as Dr. Beck talks to them. And it all ties back to the unsolved murder of a billionaire tycoon’s son who’s murder remained unsolved.
I am at a loss to decide whether I actually like this book or not. The storyline is well constructed, full of twists and turns, carrying you along in the sweep of its path - not letting up for one moment. As a suspense book, it is definitely intruiging, but there are some unusual reveals at the end of the whodunit, right on the very last page. The reveals, in retrospect, makes other parts of the novel inconsistent at best, and confusing and misleading at worst. It seems to almost go into the unreliable narrator area, which I absolutely detest.
On the other hand, I love the characters. Dr. Beck is not the smartest, the fastest, fittest, or the best fighter. He is a very ordinary man, in extraordinary circumstances, and he reacts the way an ordinary man would. This alone sets this novel apart from the standard suspense books, where the protagonist is a superhuman with spectacular physical and mental capabilities. Elizabeth, the wife, on the other hand, is very smart, but still makes mistakes which land her and her loved ones into a lot of trouble.