About the Book- Where the Blame Lies
Abducted.
Terrorized.
Imprisoned.
At nineteen-years-old, college student Josie Stratton was kidnapped by a madman and held shackled for ten months in an abandoned warehouse before she finally escaped her hellish prison.
Eight years later, when the body of a young woman is found chained in the basement of a vacant house, Cincinnati Police Detective Zach Copeland is instantly reminded of the crime committed against Josie Stratton. Zach was just a rookie on the perimeter of that case, but he’s never forgotten the traumatized woman with the haunted eyes.
As more information emerges, the crimes take on an even more sinister similarity. But Josie’s attacker died by suicide. Does the city have a copycat on its hands? A killer who picked up where the original perpetrator left off? Or are they facing something far more insidious?
Josie has spent the last eight years attempting to get her life back on track, but now there’s a very real chance she could be the unknown suspect’s next target. As Zach vows to keep her safe, and Josie finds herself responding to him in a way she hasn’t responded to any man in almost a decade, the investigation takes on an even more complex edge of danger.
As past and present collide, Josie and Zach are thrust toward a shocking and chilling truth. A revelation that threatens not only Josie’s life, but everything she’s been fighting so desperately to reclaim.
“She thought of the ways in which humans could be filled with both terrible evil and such enduring love. Unspeakable violence and astonishing gentleness. Blame and grace. … Who is to blame? That was the question. And Josie’s heart had found peace in the answer. Put simply: All of us. All of us are to blame. For fighting to move on rather than lashing out, for choosing to stand up over and over again after we collapse, for working to heal the broken parts of ourselves so the shards don’t wound the world.”
Quote from Where the Blame Lies by Mia Sheridan
Our Review of Where the Blame Lies
Finally I think the curse is breaking. After the first three books of 2022 turned out to be sheer disappointment, I finally caught the break with Where the Blame Lies. I am so shocked and surprised that nobody is taking about this book. To me this is THE BOOK. It is the kind of book where you feel like you have actually read something substantial rather than another lukewarm tried and tested formula stories. Well of course the book is heavily laden with triggers and not just the subtle ones but the ones that will make the rock hearted bleed. I still have tough time wrapping around everything that happened the book. I had gone for the audiobook and thanks to both a good plot and good narration, this book was a joyful experience. ( even though the theme and plots one of the most horrifying, painful one)
This is the kind of book where I want to talk about it so much but can’t without giving away spoilers. So I am trying to curb my enthusiasm here. The plot twist was something that I couldn’t have predicted in a million years. If you were one of those who could see that twist then I really need you brain sample because your IQ and observation must be off the charts.
I feel so weird being so excited about the book when it deals with a very violent and absolutely horrifying plot. And that’s exactly my point, the book doesn’t play it nice and because of which it is much easier to see and absorb what the book is saying. All the while I was reading …I mean listening to the book, I kept getting this feeling that this is how a book should be. Filled with substantial and meaty content and not filler scenes or “back by popular demand” scenes. Which is what I am seeing in most book I am lately picking up. So that’s why I am in such awe of this book.
Conclusion
As much as I want everybody to read this book and join its fan club lead by me, I do agree that the book won’t be easy one because of the topic it deals with and the trigger warning are all in red, not even yellow or orange for subtle or mediocre but nobody who has read the book can deny that it doesn’t evoke powerful emotions. To me this book is the definition of a worthwhile book filled with actual plot and content.
Squirrel Rating
