ARC Review: At the River by Kendra Elliot

At the River
Author: Kendra Elliot
Series: Columbia River (Book 5)
Publication: Montlake (February 13, 2024)

Description: A Wall Street Journal bestselling series.

The mystery of three missing teens and a traumatizing murder unearths decades of buried secrets in a shocking novel of suspense by a Wall Street Journal and Amazon Charts bestselling author.

Twenty years ago, five teenage campers disappeared. Two eventually turned up, bound and left for dead on the Columbia River’s rocky shore. Only Devin Bonner miraculously survived, but with no memories of what happened in the Oregon forest.

After decades, the cold case generates heat for FBI Special Agent Mercy Kilpatrick and her husband, Police Chief Truman Daly. They’re investigating the murder of a true-crime podcaster found at the river’s edge in the same location, and with the exact same manner of death. With the discovery, Devin’s nightmares return. His only real friend is Ollie Smith, Truman’s orphaned ward, whose own search for the truth sucks Ollie into a mystery far greater and more dangerous than anyone imagined.

Following a trail of fresh blood and an escalating series of murders, Mercy and Truman must work fast to unlock whatever traumas are buried in Devin’s memories before the secrets of the past claim another victim.

My Thoughts: A missing and murdered podcaster's death leads to reexamining the disappearance of five teenagers twenty years earlier. The podcaster's body was found in the same place as two of the missing teens. All three had had their throats slit and wrists bound before they were dumped. However, one of the two teens managed to live but was injured so severely that he couldn't recall what happened to him or his friends.

The difference with the podcaster's placement was the addition of a black taped X over his mouth. 

Both Mercy and Truman are involved in the case though they came to it from different points. Truman gets involved when his soon-to-be-adopted son Ollie calls to tell him that he has discovered a woman running for help while he was snowmobiling in the wilderness. She needs to let someone know that her podcaster husband has disappeared and that the lower floor of the cabin they were renting was full of blood. 

Mercy is called to the river shore when the podcaster's body was found and was told by a spectator about the crime twenty years earlier. She was called in by Noelle Marshall, a sheriff's deputy that she's worked with before. 

As they investigate both the current murder and the twenty-year-old crime, they discover that the survivor is Devin Bonner and go to interview him. They learn that he suffers from face blindness which makes everyone a stranger and has made him a recluse who lives with his mother. When his mother is attacked and almost killed, Ollie befriends him and wants to stay with him to help him out until his mother recovers. 

But the killing hasn't stopped and efforts to involve Devin hasn't stopped either. The podcaster's missing jeep shows up outside the Bonner home and another podcaster's body is dumped outside of the motel room where Ollie and Devin are staying. 

This story was filled with tension and twists and turns. I found it totally engaging and couldn't put it down until every detail had been figured out. I liked seeing Truman, Mercy and Ollie again in this fifth book in a series. I love the relationship between them all. 

Favorite Quote:

Truman clapped him on the shoulder, knowing it'd been difficult for Ollie to agree. The teen was naturally empathetic. He was always the most concerned about a sick kitten and didn't like to see anyone treated unfairly. Devin had dealt with hard knocks in his life, and Ollie was doing what he could to ease his way.

Truman was proud.

That's my son.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.