Arden Maynor was six years old when she wandered away from home in the middle of the night. A terrible storm with flooding rain swept her away without a trace resulting in a massive community search. Days later she was found hanging onto a storm drain grate from inside an old mining tunnel and after a harrowing ordeal, finally rescued. She was horribly injured, dehydrated and unable to recall how she got there. Her mother, the town, and the reporters covering the search and rescue were so grateful that Arden was safe that questions about why Arden was sleepwalking, how she managed to survive all that time and find a grate that wasn't even recorded on city maps were overlooked.
What happens to the girl from Widow Hills who is literally swept away and saved against all odds? It turns out that after an event like this, it's impossible to quietly live your own life. Your story belongs to everyone and they believe they have a right to a piece of you, for helping to search, for contributing to the medical bills, and it's revisited on the five-year, ten-year, and twenty-year anniversaries. This brings out the creeps and stalkers and bullies.
Twenty years later and Arden has moved away and changed her name. But she still can't get away from it. She will always be the girl from Widow Hills, the girl lost during the storm. Only now, the people around her are at risk. She's started sleepwalking again and bits and pieces from the storm are coming back to her. Will uncovering the events that preceded the storm help her find peace or finally destroy her?
Sad, scary, and all too real, this thriller had me on the edge of my seat.