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Lavish lakeside nuptials threatened by deadly secrets and the unlikely attendance of the bride’s decidedly lower-class family feature in in Rekulak’s latest (after Hidden Pictures, 2022). Frank’s relief in reconnecting with his daughter is fleeting as he readies for her upcoming destination wedding to the son of a Boston tech scion. Tagging along are his sister and her awkwardly earnest foster kid (slathered in lice-controlling mayo), providing moments of levity in the suspense that haunts the enclave. The wedding features an uninterested groom, his mysteriously absent mother, an aged sugar daddy, random rich kids, and a friendly, strangely generous father-in-law. Frank quickly becomes involved in the hunt for a missing local girl, befriends another outsider (who winds up dead), and realizes that his family is now in the crosshairs. Noble UPS driver Frank is determined to do the right thing, crusading in a world where power runs amok. But Rekulak slyly reminds us that money isn’t the only thing that blinds us to bad behavior with a unique combination of class commentary and thrills.

Publishers Weekly
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Bestseller Rekulak (Hidden Pictures) impresses with this engrossing tale of a widowed father who starts to sense darkness beneath his daughter’s impending marriage. When Poconos-based UPS driver Frank Szatowski receives a call from his estranged daughter, Maggie, he’s overjoyed to learn that she’s engaged to artist Aidan Gardner, the son of tech billionaires Catherine and Errol Gardner, and wants Frank to attend the wedding. With the ceremony scheduled at the Gardners’ New Hampshire estate in just three months, Frank attempts to develop a rapport with his future son-in-law, but Aidan withdraws. Soon, Frank receives an anonymous piece of mail that suggests Aidan was involved with the disappearance of a young woman named Dawn Taggart. When he arrives in New Hampshire for the wedding, Frank feels immediately suspicious—all guests must sign NDAs, and much of the event staff is ex-military. When the body of Aidan’s art school friend, Gwen, is found under the dock on the estate, Frank decides to investigate the Gardners’ tangled web before it ensnares his daughter—but what he finds recasts ideas about his own family. Certain twists are a touch predictable, but Rekulak’s characters feel real, and the unwavering pace will keep readers up all night. This should please the author’s existing fans and win him new ones. Agent: Douglas Stewart, Sterling Lord Literistic. (Oct.)