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MATURITY: Physical abuse, kidnapping of minors, manipulation, insinuation and mention of sexual abuse, depression, suicidal thoughts, mentions of drug addiction, and homelessness.
BLURB: After seven years, the girl in the basement has become a ghost to the rest of the world. When she finally escapes, every trace of who she used to be is gone: her home, her family, and even herself.
Joe and Tessa Holland are a young wealthy couple with no intent on ever having kids. But when their niece, Lizzie, is found trapped in a basement with another girl three months after her disappearance, they find themselves caring for a teenage girl they know nothing about.
Together, Joe and Tessa help the girl from the basement navigate the world that forgot her. But Lizzie's father's status as a star musician in Hollywood and his fame makes finding normalcy even trickier for her. Between the media circus surrounding her and Lizzie's escape, her fear of the unknown, and a traitor in their midst selling information about her life and whereabouts to the tabloids, she struggles to accept her identity and cope with her so-called "freedom."
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EXCERPT
"Lizzie," she panted, flattening her stomach against the floor against sharp pains stabbing at her sides.
The young girl shook as she slowly lifted her head. Their eyes met through the darkness."Run."
Gripping Lizzie's shirt, she dragged her from under the bed and pulled her towards the stairs. While Lizzie scrambled up the first few steps, He groaned as he shook out of his stupor.
She urged Lizzie on as quickly as possible, but the stabbing pain in her ribs slowed her down. In the few seconds it took for Lizzie to reach the top, the older girl still struggled to stagger up the first few steps. She coughed through bursting lungs, splattering the steps with blood.
"Go," she urged through a strained voice as she clutched her side. From the floor, He began to stir again.
"I can't leave you—"
"Just go!" The steps grew taller with every advance until she was forced to proceed on her hands and knees. Despite her insistence, Lizzie waited for her at the top.
When she reached the last few steps, freedom didn't seem so far away anymore. She rarely ever made it that far. Reaching for Lizzie's small, outstretched hand, she couldn't help but feel a glimmer of hope.
But she learned long ago that hope only led to disaster.
