The Last Time I Lied

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A tense drama right out of the box with a huge sense of foreboding. In The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager, you just knew bad things were going to happen. Thirteen-year-old Emma Davis is a late arrival at Camp Nightingale so she is housed in a cabin with three older, more experienced campers. 

The girls are lead by queen bee Vivian, a daredevil who orchestrates their activities. She takes the teen under her wing, and Emma, a lonely girl, is thrilled by the attention. One evening in the middle of the night, Emma awakens to see the three girls disappear out of the cabin. Vivian turns back and shushes Emma with a finger to her lips. The next day, the lone camper left in the cabin is Emma Davis. 

A massive search is launched including the FBI because one of the girls is the daughter of a U.S. Senator and the other two are from wealthy families. The three girls were never found. Questioned by the police, Emma accuses the eldest son of the camp owner of harming the girls even though she doesn't really know whether he is guilty or not. 

For fifteen years Emma is haunted by what happened. After the incident, Emma has a mental breakdown and is sent to a mental facility to recover. She does and becomes a well known artist in the New York art scene. But all her paintings have the same starting point - the three missing girls - then heavy woods and atmospheric forests painted over them to make them disappear. 

To her complete surprise Franny Harris-White, the wealthy owner of Camp Nightingale, plans to re-open the camp and she invites Emma back to serve as the art instructor. Not sure why she is drawn back, but she knows something is wrong at the camp. When Emma returns to Camp Nightingale, she digs and discovers there are secrets from long ago buried at the camp. An excellent book with an ending that will leave you breathless