The Ghost Daughter

O'Leary (The Arrow) explores the unassailable bonds of motherhood and love in this disappointing novel. For years, Angel Kelley has had dreams of running through a forest while being pulled by an angry woman, which she has been unable to fully explain or understand. Related fears come back to Angel when she's trapped under a collapsed building after an earthquake. Live coverage of the rescue attempts and details about Angel's past are soon splashed all over the news, which reaches the living room of her adoptive mother, Judith. Recently diagnosed with cancer, Judith has been hoping to convince Angel's biological mother, Reese Camden, to reengage with her adult daughter. But Judith and Reese share a dark past. After Angel's picture jogs local memories of an unsolved missing child case, Det. Laura Redleaf becomes determined to get to the bottom of things, which means Judith and Reese must face, and admit, the truth. Reese is dealing with the recent loss of her husband, and her younger daughter is in the hospital after a freak accident. In order for Reese to move forward, she cannot keep running from her past. The book begins with a promising conceit, but the story fails to live up to the stakes. Scenes that flip between characters and years create confusion and leave some details unresolved. Seemingly unrelated events do end up connecting in surprising ways, but O'Leary takes a long, roundabout way to reach the conclusion. (July)