This is one of those stories that you know is going to be a tear-jerker. The beginning is the disappearance of a young boy, only seven years old, from his parents’ beachside house in Scotland.
There is the initial mild concern, the fear that the boy is late back - where has he gone? Could he have had an accident? Perhaps he is wandering, lost - but he has lived here all his life. How could he be lost? And a distraught father, the “good” father, starts searching, looking over the water, hunting in the playgrounds, panic kicking in.
The police help, of course. They begin searching, with organised groups, mountain rescue, locals, looking into sheds and garages, then widening the hunt to go farther afield, but there is no sign of the boy. Has he been kidnapped? Murdered? Or just suffered an accident.
He’s not the first tragedy in the area. There have been two others, as the police know all too well, and Gordon and Sarah Rutherford have to accept their new reality.
This story starts with a bang and then explodes the relationships Gordon and Sarah have with the other people in their town. The media, the social media trolls, the pain, the guilt - all are superbly represented here, and just as I was starting to think that maybe this was a bit of a depressing tale, suddenly it changed, and I was presented with a new aspect: a team of interested parties, none professional investigators, but all with a keen interest in finding out what had happened to young Rory. So, back to a standard crime story, I thought.
That was when Liam McIlvanney pulled a fresh rabbit out of the hat, and I was presented with a new aspect of this story, and the sheer inventiveness quite startled me.
This is not a book for someone who has suffered recent loss. Seriously, the entire depiction of the characters in the story is so compelling and believable, I can easily imagine it would be really upsetting. But I have to recommend this as one of the most stunning psychological thrillers of the year. Seriously, it is that good.
The plot is convoluted but logical. The characters are honest, their motives clear, and the descriptions and the way that the author has tied them together work brilliantly. It was a book that I picked up expecting to read over several days, and I had to consume it in one sitting.
Compelling, scary, credible and all too plausible for comfort, this is a book that will stay with you for a long time after you’ve put it down.
It will make many people ask themselves, “Am I a good father?”
Buy it now.
