Jennifer Hillier | JAR OF HEARTS

Plot (via Goodreads):

This is the story of three best friends: one who was murdered, one who went to prison, and one who's been searching for the truth all these years . . .

When she was sixteen years old, Angela Wong—one of the most popular girls in school—disappeared without a trace. Nobody ever suspected that her best friend, Georgina Shaw, now an executive and rising star at her Seattle pharmaceutical company, was involved in any way. Certainly not Kaiser Brody, who was close with both girls back in high school.

But fourteen years later, Angela Wong's remains are discovered in the woods near Geo's childhood home. And Kaiser—now a detective with Seattle PD—finally learns the truth: Angela was a victim of Calvin James. The same Calvin James who murdered at least three other women.

To the authorities, Calvin is a serial killer. But to Geo, he's something else entirely. Back in high school, Calvin was Geo's first love. Turbulent and often volatile, their relationship bordered on obsession from the moment they met right up until the night Angela was killed.

For fourteen years, Geo knew what happened to Angela and told no one. For fourteen years, she carried the secret of Angela's death until Geo was arrested and sent to prison.

While everyone thinks they finally know the truth, there are dark secrets buried deep. And what happened that fateful night is more complex and more chilling than anyone really knows. Now the obsessive past catches up with the deadly present when new bodies begin to turn up, killed in the exact same manner as Angela Wong.

How far will someone go to bury her secrets and hide her grief? How long can you get away with a lie? How long can you live with it?

Review:

This one took quite a while to process before I could write this review. Hillier has a style of writing that is both immersive and dangerously beautiful. She can write violence and anxiety so fluidly that it's almost poetic. I cannot tell you how much I loved the plot to this one. It is gritty, violent, menacing, and compelling.

While the plot to this one is unlike anything I've read, what I especially loved was how Hillier switched between different perspectives and the past and present. Not one sentence was wasted as this plot is not only multi-layered, but connective and effective in grasping your attention from the first chapter and does not loosen its grip until the twisted and bittersweet finale. Not only is Hillier great at master weaving a story that is so harrowing and brilliantly twisted, but she wrote characters that were top notch. Not only is this a character-driven thriller that features an exciting and stimulating plot, but I loved how Hillier showed the changes and similarities within these characters between the past and present. Not only is the timeline extremely effective, but something genius within this novel is how each time period has its own part of the main mystery that it features and relies heavily on to help the reader put the puzzle pieces together.

I did not want this one to end. It was so addictive and beautifully written. Each time I thought the story was going to go one way, it completely surprised me by moving in an unpredictable direction. Between the crazy and violent opening to the bittersweet and terrifying ending, this novel is engrossing and brilliantly done. I definitely recommend this one for fans of Gone Girl and for anyone who is looking for something eerie and twisted with exceptional writing.

Rating: 4.5/5