Book Beginnings: The Edge of Normal by Carla Norton

Book Beginnings on Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, where bloggers share the first sentence or more of a current read, as well as initial thoughts about the sentence(s), impressions of the book, or anything else that the opening inspires.

Her name had been out of the headlines so long that he was sure no one was searching for her when he fit the key into the lock for the last time. The door swung wide on its hinges, but he felt no need to secure it behind him. The steps groaned beneath his weight as he descended into the basement and ordered her to stand and face the wall.

Title: The Edge of Normal
Author: Carla Norton
ISBN: 9781250031044
Publisher: Minotaur Books/2013
Pages: 308

Reeve LeClaire seems like any other young women, leading a normal life. But she is a survivor. She had been captured by a abusive kidnapper when she was 12 years old and was only found because of a freak car accident. Even after her escape six years ago, she is still undergoing therapy. Her psychiatrist asks for her help with another young girl who has been rescued from an similar experience as Reeve. 

Initially Reeve is reluctant but she travels to help the other girl Tilly. They bond instantly but Tilly has something to hide even now. When Tilly's kidnapper is found dead, it scares the girl even more. Reeve takes it upon herself to find out the truth. The real kidnapper too seems to know all the moves of the authorities and Reeves and always is a way ahead. 

The novel has a good pace. We get to read the minds of the kidnapped and the kidnapper by the alternate perspectives of the both. Reeve overcomes her own misgivings and is hellbent on helping Tilly to get over her fears. The novel kept me on the edge and I was with Reeve, Tilly and another little girl who was rescued in the midst of all this.