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COME AND FIND ME
by Hallie Ephron
William Morrow, March 2011
276 pages
$24.99
ISBN: 0061857521


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

This fascinating thriller by Hallie Ephron is a psychological puzzle, in which most of the action and obvious torment of the main character, Diana Highsmith, involves coping with a traumatic life event, the unexpected death of her husband, Daniel. This life-changing twist has left Diana unable to cope with life on a most basic level in the real world, despite the successful business she experiences online through her avatar, Nadia.

Following a tragic mountain climbing accident in Switzerland, Diana has come to depend on Daniel's best friend, Jake, as a business partner online and her sister Ashley as her connection to the real world. As a result of the grief for Daniel's death, Diana hasn't left her home in more than a year, too traumatized even to open the door for the UPS delivery man or step outside to her yard.

Online, Diana and Jake have turned their former skills as hackers into a legitimate business helping medical companies protect their data from outside trouble-makers. Because all of this is done virtually (with Jake handling the person-to-person business meetings), Diana has been able to help run a successful business despite being home-bound.

Diana has also developed a strong alter-ego in the online social setting of Other World (think Second Life), where her avatar is brave, strong, and lives a life much as Diana did before Daniel's death. At a flash mob event in Boston orchestrated by Other World, Diana's sister Ashley disappears. It is this event that propels the force of the mystery forward.

Who took Ashley, and why? How can Diana find her sister if she is afraid to leave the house? This event also has ties to recent troubles in Diana's online business and to her past. As the story gets more involved, soon Diana begins to question everything. Just who can she trust, both in real life and in the virtual world?

The answers are positively riveting and the journey to them fascinating. Like any good horror movie, what happens in Diana's mind heightens the actual events going on around her. Those who enjoy a good psychological thriller will find much to like in COME AND FIND ME.

In addition, the technical components of the novel are easily translated for those not immersed so deeply in the online world, and the trickery of the sections in which "all is not as it first appears" is believable and relevant. Furthermore, Ephron has created an interesting storyline that probes questions of privacy without overpowering her plot. All in all, COME AND FIND ME is a good amalgamation of all the components readers look for in a good suspense thriller.

§ Christine Zibas is a freelance writer and former director of publications for a Chicago nonprofit.

Reviewed by Christine Zibas, April 2011

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