In a booming new debut from a pseudonymous American in London, Allison Carpenter survives the crash of her fiancé's private plane in the Rockies and struggles through the wilderness, knowing she's hiding a secret that could get her killed. Back in Maine, her estranged mother, Maggie, hoping against hope that her daughter is still alive, begins seeking the truth about Allison's life. Highlighted at LJ's Day of Dialog; with a 200,000-copy first printing.

DEBUT Maggie Carpenter is informed that the daughter she lost touch with two years ago has died in a private plane crash in Colorado. Though every friend, police officer, and official tells her that Allison's death was an accident, Maggie can't let go of the hunch that there's more to it. For one, who is this fiancé of Allison's killed along with her? How did Allison go from living paycheck to paycheck, wanting nothing more than to save the world, to being an accessory hanging off a rich man's arm? It turns out her mother's intuition is correct. Allison has survived the crash and is fighting her way to freedom, but someone is tailing her through the mountains—someone who wants her dead. Short chapters switch between mother and daughter, from Maggie using her retired librarian skills to research Allison, her fiancé, and the pharmaceutical company he owned, to Allison desperately trying to escape, sometimes hallucinating, and reliving past memories. VERDICT Pseudonymous author Barry spins a great tale using familiar tropes but adding a surprising amount of heart to the mystery showing the fierce bond between mother and daughter. [See Prepub Alert, 7/2/18.]—Brooke Bolton, Boonville-Warrick Cty. P.L., IN

In the pseudonymous Barry's uneven debut, Maggie Carpenter, who lives in Owl Creek, Maine, is alarmed to learn from the news that her estranged daughter, Allison, has gone missing following the crash of a private plane in the Colorado Rockies. Media identify the pilot as Allison's fiancé, Ben Gardner, the CEO of a major pharmaceutical company, though Maggie hadn't even known her daughter was engaged. Everyone insists that Allison is dead, but Maggie becomes obsessed with retracing her daughter's steps from the last two years. Soon, everything Maggie thought she knew about her daughter falls away, and she discovers a world of money, power, and deception that implicates everyone from the FDA to those closer to home. Meanwhile, Allison, who somehow survived the plane crash, battles hunger, exhaustion, and injury in the Colorado wilderness. Barry's meditations on mother-daughter relationships and female roles add much-needed dimension to an otherwise shallow plot full of predictable twists and surface-level emotion. Still, this psychological thriller is perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty and Claire Mackintosh. Agent: Alexandra Machinist, ICM. (Jan.)