Little Falls: A Novel

by Elizabeth Lewes

She tried to forget the horrors of war--but her quiet hometown conceals a litany of new evils.

Sergeant Camille Waresch did everything she could to forget Iraq. She went home to Eastern Washington and got a quiet job. She connected with her daughter, Sophie, whom she had left as a baby. She got sober. But the ghosts of her past were never far behind.

While conducting a routine property tax inspection on an isolated ranch, Camille discovers a teenager's tortured corpse hanging in a dilapidated outbuilding. In a flash, her combat-related PTSD resurges--and in her dreams, the hanging boy merges with a young soldier whose eerily similar death still haunts her. The case hits home when Sophie reveals that the victim was her ex-boyfriend--and as Camille investigates, she uncovers a tangled trail that leads to his jealous younger brother and her own daughter, wild, defiant, and ensnared.

The closer Camille gets to the truth, the closer she is driven to the edge. Her home is broken into. Her truck is blown up. Evidence and witnesses she remembers clearly are erased. And when Sophie disappears, Camille's hunt for justice becomes a hunt for her child. At a remote compound where the terrifying truth is finally revealed, Camille has one last chance to save her daughter--and redeem her own shattered soul.

• ISBN10: 1643855069
• ISBN13: 9781643855066
• Publish Date: 11 August 2020
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Crooked Lane Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 272
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781643855066

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

I received a copy of Little Falls in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Little Falls is Elizabeth Lewes' debut novel, a thriller of epic proportions that merges together the past and the present into one intense read.

Sargeant Camille Waresch's life hasn't been the same since she came back from Iraq. She tried to put it all behind her, but life doesn't work that way. Now she's juggling two jobs, an estranged daughter, and PTSD, all while trying to live a normal life.

All of that was before she found the body, of course. Everything changed that day, as Camille found she couldn't let go of a case that shouldn't have been hers. Still, something made this body personal – beyond her being the finder, that is.

“Then something...snaps. Fragments. It just happened. Here. In the barn. Flakes of snow are melting on my jacket; they're damp on my numb fingers.”

Warnings: Little Falls touches upon several heavy subjects. Torture and murder the probably the most dominant, but there are also implications/references to drugs and statutory rape. Then there's Camille, who is very clearly experiencing strong PTSD.

In a world drowning with new thrillers, Little Falls somehow manages to stand out in the crowd. Camille's story is one that demands to be read, with raw intensity and emotions bursting from the pages.

Honestly, it was refreshing reading a book that had a solid grasp of PTSD and other concerns of that nature. It's really hard to portray, especially in a way that feels so organic. And yet, that is exactly how it felt in this novel. It's hard not to feel for Camille, even as she continues to dig herself deeper and deeper into this hole of a mystery.

Lately, it feels like I've been struggling to find a thriller that I can really dive into, so you can imagine how happy I was to get sucked into this tale. Regardless of how dark it became.

Little Falls is a story that hints at the conclusion, right from the start. From there it's really all a matter of explaining what happened – and why. It's a novel full of twists and turns, yet the reader can arguably suss out the conclusion before it occurs. It's all tightly woven together, with Camille's path almost feeling inevitable by the end.

At least, that was how it felt while I was reading it. It was like she was on a journey she couldn't turn away from. All while I was watching, unable to look away from what she was about to do next. Clearly, this book got into my head.

Truth be told, I'm still processing the end a little bit (despite the hint towards the beginning about how it would all unfold). I think that's a good thing, but there is still a lot to take in about what happened. A lot that was left unsaid. I wonder if this novel will become a series? Or if it will stay a standalone piece?

Check out more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks