"From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Then She Was Gone and The Family Upstairs comes another riveting work of "gloriously twisted" (Marie Claire) psychological suspense. On a beautiful summer night in a charming English suburb, a young woman and her boyfriend disappear after partying at the massive country estate of a new college friend. One year later, a writer moves into a cottage on the edge of the woods that border the same estate....

Two members of a local neighborhood rescue program, Tyrone and Cherisse, inform Nell that her society owns an abandoned row house in a run-down area of Philadelphia and insist on taking her to see the property before its date with the wrecking ball. Soon after they arrive, Cherisse is fatally shot and Tyrone is badly injured, leaving Nell determined to find answers.

A lifeless village in Turkey where the houses are crumbling and the streets are empty; an abandoned island in southern Japan; homes left under a blanket of volcanic ash in Chile; a deserted new town in Spain where construction sites are neglected and houses remain unsold. Where has everyone gone? And why aren't they coming back? From former gold rush towns to settlements evacuated because of natural disasters or chemical spills and from communities...

Foster children Andi and Bruce have been placed with a flaky couple who care more for their aspiring rock careers than their charges. Their mischievous tendencies repeatedly get them into trouble. After a close call with the local pound, the kids end up searching for Friday, their secretly adopted dog, in an abandoned old hotel where they find several other stray dogs seeking shelter. They, along with three other local kids, begin caring for the strays....