Natural-born healer Emma Starling once had big plans for her life, but she’s lost her way. A medical school dropout, she’s come back to small-town Everton, New Hampshire, to care for her father, who is dying from a mysterious brain disease. Clive Starling has been hallucinating small animals, as well as having visions of the ghost of a long-dead naturalist, Ernest Harold Baynes, once known for letting wild animals live in his house. This ghost has been giving Clive some ideas on how to spend his final days.

Emma arrives home knowing she must face her dad’s illness, her mom’s judgment, and her younger brother’s recent stint in rehab, but she’s unprepared to find that her former best friend from high school is missing, with no one bothering to look for her. The police say they don’t spend much time looking for drug addicts. Emma’s dad is the only one convinced the young woman might still be alive, and Emma is hopeful he could be right. Someone should look for her, at least. Emma isn’t really trying to be a hero, but somehow she and her father bring about just the kind of miracle the town needs.

My Thoughts:

I have to say how much I love the cover of this book, it is so simple yet so eye catching. Emma’s father is dying and Emma has came back to the family home to look after him, but he has a mysterious thing going on in his brain that makes him hallucinate. It is difficult for Emma to see him this way but she knows she must do her best for what life he has left. When one of her friends from school goes missing, it is up to Emma and her dad work together to try and piece together what happened to her. It is like their last mission together. The story really affected me in a way I didn’t think it would. It was an emotional roller coaster through highs and lows. It was a thought provoking read.

I received an ARC copy of this book for an honest review.

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