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Praise for Heather Gudenkauf
‘Brilliantly constructed, this will have you gripped until the last page …’
Closer
‘Deeply moving and lyrical … it will haunt you all summer.’
Company
5 stars ‘Gripping and moving’
Heat
‘Her technique is faultless, sparse and simple and is a master-class in how to construct a thriller … A memorable read … A technical triumph.’
Sunday Express
‘It’s totally gripping …’
Marie Claire
‘Tension builds as family secrets tumble from the closet.’
Woman & Home
‘This has all the ingredients of a Jodi Picoult novel.’
Waterstones Books Quarterly
‘Set to become a book group staple’
The Guardian
‘A skilfully woven thriller that will keep you hooked to the end’
Choice magazine
‘Jodi Picoult has some serious competition in Heather Gudenkauf.’
Bookreporter
‘Deeply moving and exquisitely lyrical, this is a powerhouse of a debut novel.’
Tess Gerritsen, No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling author
‘Fans of Jodi Picoult will devour this great thriller.’
Red
‘The author slowly and expertly reveals the truth in a tale so chillingly real, it could have come from the latest headlines.’
Publisher’s Weekly
‘Heart-pounding suspense and a compelling family drama come together to create a story you won’t be able to put down.’
Diane Chamberlain, bestselling author of
The Midwife’s Confession
‘This haunting psychological thriller lives up to expectation. Jodi Picoult or perhaps Joanne Harris are the nearest comparisons.’
Peterborough Evening Telegraph
‘A great thriller, probably the kind of book a lot of people would choose to read on their sun loungers. It will appeal to fans of Jodi Picoult.’
Radio Times
‘An enchantingly lyrical novel mixed with shockingly menacing overtones’
Newbooks
‘Gripping and powerful, right to the end’
Northern Echo
‘Secrets are slowly revealed by Gudenkauf’s skilled writing.’
NY Metro
‘A real page-turner’
Woman’s Own
About the Author
HEATHER GUDENKAUF is the critically acclaimed author of the New York Times bestselling novels The Weight of Silence and These Things Hidden. Her debut novel, The Weight of Silence , was picked for The TV Bookclub. She lives in Iowa with her family.
Read more about Heather and her novels at www.HeatherGudenkauf.com
Also available from Heather Gudenkauf
THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE
THESE THINGS HIDDEN
One Breath Away
Heather
Gudenkauf
For Alex, Anna and Grace
~My three wishes
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
As always, enormous gratitude goes to my agent, Marianne Merola, for her wisdom, guidance, attention to detail and her friendship. Thanks also to Henry Thayer for his behind-the-scenes support.
A thousand thanks to my editor, Miranda Indrigo, whose insights and suggestions are always spot on. Thanks also to all the folks at HQ—especially Margaret O’Neil Marbury and Valerie Gray. I’m so proud to call HQ my home.
Thank you to John and Kathy Conway and Howard and Shirley Bohr for opening up their homes and farms to me as I researched the novel. I always enjoy our time together.
Much appreciation goes to Mark Dalsing, whose advice in regard to police procedure and his early readings of the manuscript were invaluable.
A heartfelt thank-you goes out to my parents, Milton and Patricia Schmida, my brothers and sisters and their families, for their generous support and enthusiasm.
Much love and thanks to Scott, Alex, Anna and Grace—I couldn’t do it without you.
Holly
I’m in that lovely space between consciousness and sleep. I feel no pain thanks to the morphine pump and I can almost believe that the muscles, tendons and skin of my left arm have knitted themselves back together, leaving my skin smooth and pale. My curly brown hair once again falls softly down my back, my favorite earrings dangle from my ears and I can lift both sides of my mouth in a wide smile without much pain at the thought of my children. Yes, drugs are a wonderful thing. But the problem is that while the carefully prescribed and doled-out narcotics by the nurses wonderfully dull the edges of this nightmare, I know that soon enough this woozy, pleasant feeling will fall away and all that I will be left with is pain and the knowledge that Augie and P.J. are thousands of miles away from me. Sent away to the place where I grew up, the town I swore I would never return to, the house I swore I would never again step into, to the man I never wanted them to meet.
The tinny melody of the ringtone
