A young environmental lawyer returns to her small Indiana hometown to investigate pollution by a regional plastics giantbut settling old scores and healing old wounds weigh heavily on her mind.Abby Williams left the aptly named Barrens, Indiana, for Chicago as soon as she turned 18 and never looked back, trading the equivalent of a one-horse town that prizes football and rifles for a sleek apartment and a nameless parade of men she doesn't have to love. Now an attorney with the Center for Environmental Advocacy Work, she's headed back to the last place she ever wanted to go, but this time with a mission: take down Optimal Plastics, the corporate giant that's allegedly polluting the town's water supply. Along with an eager team of millennials, Abby returns to Barrens to find it both unchanged and almost unrecognizable: the high school girls who used to torment her have grown up and one is even the school's vice principal, but the town's allegiance to Optimal is still strong. In Abby's day, there was a spate of unexplained illnesses, led by Abby's former best friend, and later biggest foe, Kaycee Mitchell, who displayed bizarre signs akin to either mass hysteria or perhaps environmental poisoning. When Kaycee ran away after high school, the other girls confessed it was a hoax. Now Abby's not so sure, as she digs deeper into Optimal's deep ties to the town, some benign and some much more malignant, all while wrestling with her own, somewhat predictable, demons that Ritter (best known for her television role on Netflix's Jessica Jones) tries admirably to spice up. A fast-paced thriller that doesn't reinvent the wheel but introduces a tough female lead who's easy to root for. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Environmental attorney Abby Williams returns to her hometown of Barrens, Indiana, to investigate allegations that the area's biggest employer, Optimal Plastics, is polluting the town's reservoir. Once she's home, it's clear that Abby hasn't yet moved past her painful childhood. The investigation resurrects memories of Abby's complicated friendship with Kaycee Mitchell, Barrens' most popular mean girl. During their senior year of high school, Kaycee and her inner circle suffered from violent, unexplained seizures until Kaycee admitted the illness was an attention-seeking farce and then promptly disappeared. Rejecting the story that Kaycee ran away, Abby is convinced that her disappearance is connected to the seizures, Optimal's secrets, and a cruel game created by Barrens' in-crowd. Barrens is shadowed with a threatening atmosphere bred from decades of unchecked power and predation, and Abby's growing paranoia draws the narrative toward an explosive climax. Ritter, lead actress on television's Jessica Jones, is likely to attract readers with her name, but this strong, gritty debut is good enough to create its own fan following.--Tran, Christine Copyright 2017 Booklist

Chicago-based environmental lawyer Abby Williams returns to her Indiana hometown to investigate whether toxic waste is poisoning the reservoir. The visit churns up adolescent angst, including the mysterious dis-appearance of an ailing high school "-frenemy." Abby's adult and teenage selves begin to mingle, occasionally superimposing YA ambiance with the adult story line. This debut novel from actress Ritter features a plot that crumbles under scrutiny, crafted with prose so pedestrian it makes the occasional artful turn of phrase notable. Karissa Vacker, believably embodies male and female characters in this forgettable mystery/romance. VERDICT Purchase only where demand warrants.-Judith Robinson, Univ. at Buffalo © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Actress Ritter's first novel is a smartly crafted thriller in which dedicated environmental lawyer Abby Williams travels from Chicago to her hometown of Barrens, Ind., as part of a team investigating the environmental harm of Optimal Plastics, the town's main employer. Abby is searching for evidence of Optimal's unhealthy practices and answers to questions from her past, primarily what happened to her best frenemy from high school, Kaycee Mitchell, who went missing just after graduation a decade ago. Reader Vacker's rendition of a strong-willed but otherwise-fragile young woman trying to do her job while struggling with memories from a painful past is convincing. Just as impressive is her handling of other characters past and present, including snarky mean girls from Abby's high school days, the sullen present-day townsfolk, and her once cold and impersonal father now in the throes of Alzheimer disease. Vacker is especially effective in the novel's most dramatic and suspenseful chapter, when Abby faces what seems like certain death at the hands of a killer. The result is a stirring audiobook. A Crown Archetype hardcover. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.