The Last Secret You'll Ever Keep

February 1, 2021
A traumatized girl no one believes grapples with the truth behind her abduction. In this companion to Jane Anonymous (2020) that requires no knowledge of the previous volume, trauma survivor Terra's only comfort comes from the online support group Jane Anonymous, where she bonds with fellow survivors. In segments labeled "THEN," Terra journals her four-day kidnapping ordeal on the website. In "NOW" segments, she copes with the fallout six months afterward--a lack of evidence and her unreliability as a witness due to her mental health diagnoses and past behavior result in her being discredited and ostracized--as she searches for proof that her abduction really happened. In a voice more impressionistic than chronological, readers discover the trauma that orphaned Terra and the details of the abduction. Laid out starkly, it's easy to see why she was discredited--however, despite how unreliable a narrator she is, the sensory details of her ordeal are compelling enough to keep readers guessing. Through online chats, the theme of the loneliness of not being heard and believed is hammered in. The intriguing opening gives way to some sag in the middle while a storyline with her closest Jane Anonymous friend builds: Peyton is worried that her abductor is coming back for her, and Terra sees disturbing similarities between their cases. The rushed final act brings action that ties up loose ends and explains all. Main characters default to White. An uneven psychological puzzle. (Thriller. 12-18)

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