The Quick Take
Okay, so this one's got a real "what if ESP was actually real and someone tried to weaponize it" energy, and I was so here for it. It's not a pulse-pounding thriller, it's more of a slow unraveling, split between 1964 and present day and makes you think WHAT IF?! If you like a mystery that rewards patience over jump scares, this is a good weekend read. Who knows you might start seeing things and people a little differently too.
I'll be honest, the setup pulled me in immediately: four young women at a university in the 1960s get folded into a parapsychology study, things go somewhere they shouldn't. Then decades later a woman named Riley fresh off a divorce and needing a fresh start takes a caretaking job for an elderly widow who turns out to be a lot more connected to that old experiment than anyone let on. I seem to love a good dual timeline.
Where it earns its 3.5 instead of higher: the present-day sections move a little slower than I wanted them to, especially in the middle third. I found myself way more eager to get back to 1964 than to stay with Riley, which is usually a sign the historical thread is doing more of the heavy lifting. But when the two timelines finally start talking to each other, it clicks in a really satisfying way, and the ending stuck with me longer than I expected going in.
I poured a glass of Pinot about halfway through and it was honestly the right call. Nothing about this book wants to be rushed, and neither does a good Pinot. I'd grab this one for a slower reading weekend rather than a "need to know what happens next" all-nighter...and pour accordingly.
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