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    What Remains of Her: A Novel
    What Remains of Her: A Novel
    What Remains of Her: A Novel
    Audiobook10 hours

    What Remains of Her: A Novel

    Written by Eric Rickstad

    Narrated by Stephen Graybill

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    About this audiobook

    From the New York Times bestselling author of The Silent Girls comes this chilling, harrowing thriller set in rural Vermont about a recluse who believes the young girl he's found in the woods is the reincarnation of his missing daughter, returned to help him solve her and his wife's disappearance.

    I won’t say a word. Cross my heart and hope to die…

    Jonah Baum, a professor of poetry at a local college in Vermont, sees his ordinary life come tumbling down when his wife and young daughter vanish from their home. No evidence of a kidnapping. No sign of murder. No proof that Rebecca didn’t simply abandon her marriage. Just Sally’s crude and chilling drawings, Jonah’s little lies, and the sheriff’s nagging fears that nothing is what it seems.

    For Sally’s best friend, Lucinda, it’s something else. She trusts in Sally not to just disappear, not after they’ve shared so many secrets—especially about the woods and what they saw there. But she’ll never tell. No one would believe her anyway.

    As the search for Rebecca and Sally intensifies, and as suspicion falls on Jonah, the disappearances become more relentlessly haunting than anyone can imagine. Because what’s seen in the light of day is not nearly as terrifying as what remains hidden in the dark…

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateJul 24, 2018
    ISBN9780062858580
    Author

    Eric Rickstad

    Eric Rickstad is the New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of The Silent Girls, Lie in Wait, and Reap, novels heralded as intelligent and profound, dark, disturbing, and heartbreaking. He lives in his home state of Vermont with his wife, daughter, and son.

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    Reviews for What Remains of Her

    4/5

    41 ratings10 reviews

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    • 5/5
      The character of Jonah was very heartbreaking. I think I liked his character the most and I wanted things to be better for him. This story was a suspense story but so much more than I expected. I enjoyed this story and I really rooted for Lucinda and Jonah both. This is very different from a lot of books I typically listen to and the story stayed with me for a long time. Very good, I want to check out more from this author.
    • 3/5
      The ending was a little rough for me. I was listening to this book and waiting for the "aha" moment as everything tied together but it didn't end like that for me. It seemed more like the author was bored with writing and just finished up the book with a kind of lame ending. I just wanted more from it.
    • 5/5
      First book I read or listen from this author, nice surprise. I loved the compassionate interpretation given by the reader, and the story is satisfyingly sad and heartbreaking, with all the tremendous feelings involved in a unexplained disappearance of a wife and a daughter, and the devastation of a man already harshly treated by life. Good listen to the end with various twists of the story.
    • 5/5
      Loved how the Story was read out loud with the expressive voices for all of the characters.
      The story line had me sitting on the edge of my seat awaiting the next twist in the plot.
      The ending I would never have fussed nor the truth hidden in the pages.
      Beautifully written with lovely expressive word and flowing throughout nicely.
      Loved this story and even related to the characters and scenes.
      Well worth a listen.
      Perfect start middle and ending.
    • 5/5
      That was definitely not expected. Everyone just wanted to be loved.
    • 4/5
      4.5 stars.

      What Remains of Her by Eric Rickstad is an electrifying mystery set in rural Vermont.

      Jonah Baum returns home from work one evening to discover his wife Rebecca and seven year old daughter Sally have disappeared.  He quickly contacts his friend and neighbor Sheriff Maurice Welch who rapidly organizes a search party to look for the missing duo. With no evidence to go on, Maurice calls in the state police to aid in the investigation. Jonah is their number one (and practically) only suspect and despite the Sheriff's best efforts to protect him, the cloud of suspicion lingers over Jonah long after the case goes cold.

      Unable to function yet remaining hopeful Rebecca and Sally will one day return home, Jonah retreats from society and lives a solitary life in an abandoned cabin deep in the woods. Twenty-five years later, he sporadically maintains contact with Maurice's daughter and Sally's best friend, Lucinda. Despite the passage of time, she still struggles with the unanswered questions about her missing friend. Working as a part-time deputy, a case in the present brings up those long ago memories and Lucinda makes a stunning discovery that completely upends her world.

      Jonah still bears the scars of his horrific childhood but with Maurice's help, he has gained control of his volatile emotions. At the time Rebecca and Sally disappear, they are struggling to make ends meet and there is tension between Jonah and his wife. When questioned by Maurice and the state police, Jonah carefully edits his answers which contributes to the suspicions he might have hurt his wife and child. With absolutely no evidence to support the police's theory and no new leads, Jonah never gives up hope Rebecca and Sally will be found.

      Lucinda's life is forever changed by the unsolved disappearance of Sally and Rebecca. Now in her early thirties, the chance to make a childhood dream come true is within her grasp when an urgent new case demands all of her attention. In the course of this investigation, she is distracted by her memories of Sally. Never expecting to find new information about her missing friend in the long cold case, Lucinda is absolutely flabbergasted by her unexpected discoveries.

      What Remains of Her is a spellbinding mystery with a compelling storyline and a cast of multi-layered characters. The plot is intricately executed and the setting is quite atmospheric. Eric Rickstad builds the tension and suspense to a fever pitch and brings this incredible mystery to a twist-filled and shocking conclusion that will completely satisfy readers. I highly recommend this enthralling novel to fans of the genre.
    • 3/5
      What Remains of Her is Eric Rickstad's latest book.Jonah Baum's wife Rebecca and young daughter Sally went missing twenty five years ago from their home in Vermont. Jonah has never been the same from that day. He's living in a run down cabin in the forest, eschewing society, but hoping against hope that they might still be found. Sally's friend Lucinda might remember something still.....When another little girl is lost in the woods, it is Jonah who finds her. Is she real or has Jonah's mind finally broken?I liked the idea of the long disappearance and memories from a child perhaps holding the answers. The other little girl, Gretel was an unexpected entry in the plot. (Really? Gretel? Fairy tale lost in the woods Gretel?) And I think it was here that Rickstad lost me. Much time is spent on this mystery child with the plot going in directions that seemed utterly ridiculous. The mystery itself has limited options as to the whodunnit is. (Fairly easy to suss out.) The police investigation I was hoping for never really happened. (And c'mon - clues left for 25 years in the victim's house?!)Sorry, this one was overdone and overwrought in my opinion.
    • 5/5
      What Remains of Her from Eric Rickstad is a thoroughly enjoyable read on several levels. The writing is very good and adds to the overall experience as compared to simply telling a story.What will likely grip most readers initially is the almost claustrophobic atmosphere, which is a masterful trick since it is taking place largely in the countryside and small towns. Yet the internal workings of the characters works with the wintry mountainous land to create an atmosphere that is both ominous and claustrophobic.The mystery itself is very good and while many clues are offered about what may have happened, they do not give away the whodunit aspect of the story. Just ignore the people who think that by claiming to have known the outcome they are making a statement about their analytical abilities. The statement they are making is the opposite of what they think. Yes, at some points while reading you will think the correct solution, but you will also think several others unless you are incapable of taking in very much information, in which case you're as likely to overload on the wrong solution as the right one. In other words, this works fine as a whodunit for those most interested in that aspect of a mystery.The strength, I think, is Rickstad's ability to make the reader feel what his protagonists are feeling. As information is revealed and possibilities open up the whodunit aspect often takes a backseat to the human psychology aspect. How events affect people, how our pasts influence us well beyond whatever may seem obvious. The process of getting to a solution is every bit as enjoyable as the actual arrival.I would recommend this to readers of mysteries, suspense, and rural noir. The characters are well developed and the journey is at least as important as the destination. While you will certainly be wanting to know where you're headed you will also savor the atmospheric meanderings, both physical and mental.Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
    • 5/5
      Really enjoyed this book. One of my top reads of the year.
    • 4/5
      3.5 starsFairly simple mystery involving the disappearance of a mother, Rebecca, and her daughter, Sally. The story jumps back and forth between Jonah, the husband and father who is the prime suspect, and the daughter's best friend, Lucinda. The winter setting of Vermont just adds another layer to an already bleak and depressing situation. The strength of the book is not so much the mystery as it is seeing how the disappearance affects Jonah and Lucinda. There is definitely a haunting type quality to the book as the author really captures their inner struggles as they deal with the aftermath of the disappearance each in their own way. The story is gripping and I ended up finishing the book over the course of an afternoon. The weakness of the book is definitely the "big reveal". When you finally are told what happened it is not really surprising or unexpected as there were a limited amount of directions the story could go in. However, the author is talented enough that it did not ruin the story for me. By the time I was finished reading, I felt much more of an attachment to the main characters rather than the mystery itself. I think if you go into this just wanting a good, solid fiction read with complex characters rather than a mystery filled with twists and turns, you will enjoy this book a lot more. I won a free advance digital copy of this book in a giveaway but was under no obligation to post a review. All views expressed are my honest opinion.