Greg Mueller

This book belongs in that rare category of crime thrillers that will stick with you long after you've read it. The writing is superb and atmospheric; the characters are real people that you know (or may wish you knew). The plot twists will chew you up and spit you out. The rush of gated-community Scottsdale gives way to the slow burn of tension in the book's second half, as Finn becomes a sort of Marlowe for the millennial age, following the clues and her own nascent detective instincts while juggling an increasingly hostile set of characters and her own emotional ties to the family. The devastating conclusion manages to simultaneously feel shocking but also somehow inevitable for every character -- the sense that even if we didn't see these things coming, we should have, and we've somehow been complicit in maintaining the social structures that made all the tragedies in this book possible. Dimberg captures the best of what noir can do -- holding the "dark mirror" up to capitalist society and leaving the reader with no tidy answers, just unsettling questions. If you still believe in substantive crime writing that rewards multiple readings, this is the novel for you! Highly recommended!!