‘The plan was to leave home at four, reaching the city around five.’
Rachel and Rory Sullivan have had a difficult year. Between her cancer diagnosis and treatment and his bankruptcy, things have been tough for the family of four. Their children Emmet and Bridie are negotiating the shoals of teenage-hood, and Rory’s brother Sean complicates life further. The family decide to celebrate survival by attending a Coldplay concert at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium. Yes, the tickets are expensive and increasingly difficult to obtain. Rachel and Rory have platinum tickets and Emmet and Bridie have tickets in the field. Because they won’t all be together, there is a plan to meet after the concert.
Except … only three of them arrive. The fourth has vanished.
Each member of the family has secrets. And as is often the case when someone goes missing, the police initially focus on the remaining family members. The reader knows something of the secrets being kept and the resulting stress. Every member of the family feels guilty. The tension increases.
Well, this certainly kept me turning the pages to find out what had happened. I can only imagine the anguish experienced by the remaining members of the family. Yes, social media has a part to play as do adultery, alcohol, blackmail, friendship, guilt, the dark web, and trust.
I liked the way that Ms Carroll wove the various threads together, building a plausible story as it heads towards its conclusion. The different points of view increased possibilities while helping to maintain the tension. This is the first of Ms Carroll’s novels I have read: I’ll be adding others to my reading list.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Tasmanian Bibliophile @Large 