Published by Ebury Press

Synopsis:

Have you ever played two truths and a lie?

Emma has. Her first summer away from home, she learned how to play the game. And she learned how to lie.

Then three of her new friends went into the woods and never returned . . .

Now, years later, Emma has been asked to go back to the newly re-opened Camp Nightingale. She thinks she’s laying old ghosts to rest but really she’s returning to the scene of a crime.

Because Emma’s innocence might be the biggest lie of all…

Release Date: 12th July 2018

This book wasn’t quite the flying by the seat of your pants experience I was expecting after reading Final Girls, but then again I think that book set my expectations impossibly high.

The story moves at a slower pace and alternates back and forth between Emma’s current existence as a painter with a troubling past, and Emma as a teenager spending her first summer at camp and trying her best to impress her new bunkmates.
During that first summer, all three of her friends vanish with no clues as to what happened to them and when she’s later offered a slightly dodgy opportunity to go back to the camp, she accepts and sets about uncovering the mysteries of Camp Nightingale.

There are red herrings laid across the story to catch you out, with a wonderful twist right at the end, following what you think is the end of the book, to remind you that Sager is the master of the plot-twist.

I didn’t find many of the characters in this book likable or easy to connect with, meaning that the unreliable narrator that is Emma was my only guide through this story. She didn’t like or trust anyone, which made me distrustful of everyone else and blaming absolutely everyone for murder until the final chapter.

The atmosphere in this book is excellent, especially when Emma starts to doubt her own sanity – her desperation gets under your skin and you can see that she’s an emotionally stunted woman trying her best not to make a bad situation worse (trying… and failing). The writing style is so easy to follow and enjoy, there’s no wonder I finished this book in a single sitting!

To round up: Not as good as Final Girls in my opinion but still really enjoyable! I’m looking forward to reading what comes next.

*Thank you NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review*