PLEASE SEE US by Caitlin Mullen

PLEASE SEE US by Caitlin Mullen

This is another new to me author but I will look forward to reading more by her.

“A feral cat winds its way around your ankles, its whiskers holding the light from the moon. Something lost recognizing one of its own.”

“They sense the shift in the wind during the final stretches of July. They know that this new month will bring warmer water, longer nights, cooler breezes. Then, the ocean will brew storms, hurricanes that surge their way up the coast. Wind that tears at the grass, tides that could scatter them, wash away what’s left. They think this means they’re running out of time. Time to tell their stories, time to be heard. They pleas again for someone to see before it’s too late.”

“The scream starts as a pain in her gut that buckles her in two. It roars up through her lungs, rips through the air, horrible and animal. She couldn’t keep Georgia happy, couldn’t keep her home, couldn’t keep her safe.”

“The women hover above it all, presiding like ghosts. Even now, they, like everyone else in town, still believe in luck, in the change of tides, in the upswing, in the chance that they’ll hit on the next deal. That something else will happen, something beautiful, wonderful, something that will turn it all around. They choose to believe that this isn’t the end.

This book is very sad in so many ways. It’s about a serial killer. He preys on women who are lost souls. Some might think they get what they deserve. They are wives, mothers, someone’s child, all come to Atlantic City running from something. Each woman’s story is heartbreaking. Each has something going on in her life that she feels she can’t deal with in any other way. A mother who believes she doesn’t really deserve her baby. A young eighteen year old who does not believe she deserves the good life she is given. Each feels like they do not deserve anything good in life. Each story is unique yet in some ways the same. They are drug addicts, prostitutes, working girls from different walks of life. No one deserves to have their lives taken from them.

Each story, each woman in this book has problems. Two befriend each other and together they survived this crazy town. This book shows how a person can become so desperate that they will do anything to get away and anything to just survive. To get their next fix. Their next meal. I felt so sorry for each Jane in this book. There are six Janes plus one more. The six are together. Wondering what is gong to happen next. Will he be caught? Will they be found? Will they be there for the weather to claim them for all of eternity?

Sometimes a book comes along that really makes you stop and think. Makes you stop and wonder. Makes you believe. This book sure made me do some deep thinking. What ifs. What if it was my child. What if it was me. You just never know what your life holds deep down. You have no idea what can happen in your life that makes you do things that you never, in your deepest thoughts, would do just to survive. People are not born this way. Life does it. Yes we have choices but sometimes those choices are not clear. We just do not see them. It can and does happen every day. All we can do is try and help each other. Be a friend. Have empathy towards our fellow humans. Don’t always assume that people are doing what they are doing because they want too. It could be circumstances that brought them to that life.

Thank you #NetGalley #Caitlin Mullen and #Gallery Books for this ARC for my complete and honest review.

I gave it 5 stars. It’s worth each one in my opinion. I highly recommend this one. It’s a mystery/thriller you won’t be able to put down until all of your questions are answered.