The first chapter is filled with MULTIPLE violent animal deaths - and with the main dog having terminal cancer I guess more deaths are coming. Made me ill. No thanks.

A story about a very troubled dysfunctional woman from a family of the same ilk. Her father is dead (suicide) and her adult sister has gone missing.Teddy, the principal character, is a heavy drinking teacher who much of her time searching the background stories of what happened to dad and sis. Her research is mainly through various social media sites including chat rooms. Ultimately she is able to unearth some very strange and troubling things about their lives. ( )

The first chapter is filled with MULTIPLE violent animal deaths - and with the main dog having terminal cancer I guess more deaths are coming. Made me ill. No thanks.

(22) I don't know where this recommendation came from but it was just what I was in the mood for. The protagonist is a troubled young woman, Teddy, haunted by the disappearance of her teenage half-sister many years before. In the opening of the book her father has just committed suicide. He had never recovered from Angie's disappearance - falling back into a drug habit and searching for any trace of her on-line in true crime forums like Reddit subgroups. Much of the novel deals with the crazy people and posts on-line that come up with random people obsessed with true crime and the disappeared. Fascinating and disturbing. Hence the title as in 'going down a rabbit hole' Teddy is tasked with helping her mother cope with the loss of a third husband, a dying beloved dog, and a mountain of bills. In the process of cleaning everything up - Teddy stumbles upon intriguing information about Angie's disappearance. Could she actually be alive?

It is not spoiling anything to say that Teddy goes down the rabbit hole too. The story is a nice example of a psychological thriller and the author does a decent job of having the reader embody Teddy - her memories, her angst, even her bad decisions and bad attitude. It resonates. The ending is also reasonably satisfying though I will not spoil.

It seems this is the author's debut novel and she is promising. Like a Gillian Flynn or Morag Joss. In terms of subject matter - not a lot of gravitas and as it is 'just a mystery,' but prose, storytelling, and atmosphere were quite enjoyable. I am both attracted and repelled by true crime on-line junkies - probably because of my own shameful predilection for reading true-crime non-fiction... ( )

The first chapter is filled with MULTIPLE violent animal deaths - and with the main dog having terminal cancer I guess more deaths are coming. Made me ill. No thanks.