Her dad said nothing could hurt their relationship. But what if he isn't her dad? Summer gets off to a rocky start for twenty-year-old Rae Riley when Rae's con man Uncle Troy returns to Marlin County, Ohio. Rae's father, Sheriff Walter "Mal" Malinowski, warns her to steer clear of Troy. He's convinced Troy conned 5 of his cousins from the outlaw branch of the family to jump him a few years ago. But it seems like wherever Rae goes, Troy is lurking on the edges. When she and her cousins Amber and Coral find Troy beat up outside a local mall, Rae's desire to help anyone in trouble kicks in. But her assistance only leads to trouble and the horrible conclusion that Troy might be her birth father. Even worse, Mal is angry at Rae for endangering herself and her cousins. Then the ex-wife of family friend Jason Carlisle has also returned to the county, claiming their youngest child Sylvie isn't his, but the daughter of Ashley Carlisle's new fiancé. Ashley and her boyfriend say they are staying at the state park so Ashley can see her children. But Jason fears the couple want to sneak a DNA sample from Sylvie and hires Rae's aunt Carrie, a private investigator, to protect his kids.
When Ashley appeals to Rae in an effort to speak to Jason secretly, Rae agrees to help. Mal is furious when she tells him, leading to Rae's first fight with her newly found father. Although Mal apologizes, Rae senses a gulf between. What would happen if Rae found proof Mal wasn't her dad? Then Ashley disappears, and Jason and his brother Rick are the main suspects. While Mal leads the official investigation, Rae and Carrie work to discover what really happened to Ashley, and Rae conducts her own research into Troy's claim. The clues mount up and an eyewitness is found, but the mystery only grows murkier. What happened to Ashley? Who are the true fathers? And why does Mal seem ready to tell Rae something but changes his mind every time? As doubts grow into a storm, Rae is faced with something much worse than a puzzle--a battle to survive. And it's just her life at stake. "I love YA books and equally enjoy a good mystery. Allen combines both with just the right amount of suspense, whodunnit, and relationships. Rae and her father are still figuring each other out, while Rae is learning to be part of a family. The relational struggles are real and tug at one's heart. Allen's settings are described so colorfully I felt I moved alongside the characters. The suspense, especially toward the e