You Were Here

Abby Walters, the heroine of Sardar’s intricately plotted first novel, moved from Makade, Minn., to Southern California to escape her past, particularly to get rid of a recurring nightmare in which she’s buried alive while repeating a name that means nothing to her: Claire Ballantine. But she can’t escape her nightmares. Fourteen years later, after learning from her mother that Claire was a close friend and neighbor of her grandmother, Abby returns to Makade to seek answers that might explain the hold the dream has over her. In going through her grandmother’s papers, Abby learns that Claire was involved in a love triangle. At her 15-year high school reunion, Abby reconnects with old crush Aidan Mackenzie, who’s now a detective hunting a vicious killer and rapist. Though she’s already attracted to another man, Abby flirts with Aidan and soon finds herself in a love triangle of her own. Sardar keeps the tension high to the very end as she teasingly reveals how the dream resonates with events in Abby’s life. Agent: Lucy Carson, Friedrich Agency. (May)