In this fast-paced novel, Doherty (Daughter of the Sea) unravels the story of 14-year-old narrator Holly, who feels like an outsider living with her "beautiful" mother and stepfather and their three children. When a man begins following Holly after school in his car, she suspects he is her real dad, whom she has not seen since she was six years old. The author poignantly captures the girl's plight ("I was frightened in case the man was a prowler after all, a stranger who knew my name, haunting me to snatch me away from my life. I wanted him to go away. I wanted to see him again"). He turns out to be her father and, with her consent, "kidnaps" her. They make their way to his home in the country, as he tells her family stories—including the story of her birth and his take on that night eight years ago when he came home to find his wife had disappeared with Holly. With her dad, she feels "completely at ease," but her mother soon finds them, and demands that Holly choose between her parents. Readers may find her father's initial spying a bit creepy; the explanation of how he tracks her down is a bit too neat; and the conclusion feels rushed. But Holly's unique voice and her interactions with both parents are touching and memorable; the adults become as full-blooded as the heroine. In the end, Doherty packs powerful emotions into this moving family drama. Ages 12-up. (Sept.)
