Ruin Falls

Finished April 23
Ruin Falls by Jenny Milchman, read by Cassandra Campbell

This thriller follows Liz Daniels, a woman who is setting off on a family vacation as the book begins. She, her husband Paul, and their two children, Reid (8) and Ally (6) are heading to the western part of New York State to visit Paul's parents. She's never visited them before, although she's met them a couple of times. Paul doesn't have a close relationship with them. Paul is a professor at the agricultural college that he graduated from and Liz works with a friend to supply local restaurants with organic and specialized produce and make products with the crops they raise.
But as the drive west progresses and a couple of incidents make Liz nervous, when Paul suggests they stop at a hotel, so they can be fresh to arrive at his parents, Liz agrees. When she wakes up in the morning though, the children are missing. Liz is beside herself and Paul helpful, yet distracted.
As things grow more and more confusing, Liz learns that she didn't know her husband as well as she thought, and that she needs to grow more independent.
There are side stories about a young woman with a six-year old son and a controlling husband, and young pregnant woman with a controlling mother whose stories eventually converge with Liz's.
This is a story of relationships with dominant people, of how much we really know about those we think we are close to, about idealism and the dangers of the internet. A book that kept me engaged right to the end.