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A fantastic read! In true Stephen King fashion, Holly follows a similar message in almost all of his novels: humans are the worst kind of monster out there. Holly Gibney is a private detective, and she just lost her mother to covid. Her mum was one of those who believed 'covid' is a lie, so the irony of her death is not lost on Holly. King sets this novel across a time period of before covid and during. He uses the backdrop of all the socio-political issues that took place in America at that time, such as the riots in the Capitol, the rise of the anti-vaxxers, and the racial injustices committed by the police. Against this, he carries an interesting plot of people going missing in a small university town. However, Holly doesn't know that yet because she was hired to only investigate the disappearance of Bonnie Dahl, a young woman who works at the university library.

The point of view alternates between the kidnappers, Holly, and sometimes minor characters between chapters. I don't usually like knowing who the perps are before the denouement of a whodunnit novel as I love making my predictions, but for this novel, it works. You get an understanding of the how, why, when, where, and what reason two old people in their late seventies would want to kidnap certain people. Yes, they're old, very old people. I will never be able to fully trust an old person's plea for help again. As much as I enjoyed this novel, I am only giving it a 4 out of 5 stars because I didn't particularly like how it ended. It's definitely worth a read, though.