In a Quiet Town by Amber Garza (Review by Jessica Heatherly)

4 stars

This book had me at the edge of my seat, wondering how everything fit together and what was going to happen next. The story is told in dual timelines and three points of view so we are given bread crumbs slowly until it all starts coming together. The suspense builds slowly until everything fits together in the action-packed ending. This is definitely a book I will be recommending to my thriller-loving friends!

Adrienne grew up in a strict household, with her father being the pastor at their local small-town church. When she turned nineteen, she left home and hasn’t spoken to her family since. Now, two years later, Adrienne’s mother, Tatum, wants to rebuild their relationship and shows up unexpectedly at her job. Tatum is more than thrilled to learn her daughter is accepting of mending their relationship but only after a few weeks of reconnecting, Adrienne goes missing. Tatum must rely on her motherly instincts and her barely-there relationships with Adrienne’s coworkers to find any clues to where she could be. Her overbearing husband doesn’t believe her and neither do the local police. One day, a man claiming to be Adrienne’s fiancé runs into Tatum and offers his assistance. Tatum didn’t even know Adrienne had a fiancé and is happy to have the help until she realizes there’s something off about this man. There is something sinister happening and with her daughter’s life possibly on the line, Tatum will stop at nothing to find her.

There are multiple layers of strained relationships woven into this storyline. Some relationships that are important to rebuild and some relationships that are toxic and need to be left behind. With Adrienne’s father being a pastor, there is also an emphasis on the Christian religion and how it can be misconstrued or incorrectly practiced without the right person in place to lead a congregation. I highly recommend this book to those who enjoy reading slow-burn thrillers with a good mix of likable and unlikeable characters.