COME WITH ME by Ronald Malfi
Publisher: Titan
Come With Me by Ronald Malfi is a perfectly paced, page-turning, supernatural thriller that immediately draws the reader into an intimate shared space with the narrator of the story, Aaron Decker.
Aaron’s wife, Allison invites her husband to come with her on an errand and he turns her down. Later that day, she is a victim of a mass shooting at a mall. Stricken with grief and the overwhelming loss he has suffered, Aaron finds comfort in immersing himself in memories the couple shared over the course of the marriage. Going through mementos and belongings, Aaron makes a startling discovery that uncovers a secret investigation Allison was involved in that would be outside her job description as a small-town journalist writing lifestyle articles.
This book had me in an unrelenting grip of burning curiosity. The pages fly as the story conjures up scenes of marital intimacy as Aaron embarks on this journey of following in his wife’s footsteps. Where will this trail take him? Who will he meet? What was she investigating and why was it so important to her? I have to draw from my experience watching Mare of Easttown with my husband. A small-town, murder mystery where everyone seems so connected, and all the answers are just out of reach or evolve into new questions. Each episode ending on a new note of discovery enticing the audience to keep going. Come With Me engages the reader in the same way. Malfi’s compelling writing style sparks an insatiable hunger lasting until it is finally satisfied.
One of my favorite books so far this year and I hope this story gets an adaptation either in a series or a movie because it felt so cinematic to me--like how I felt reading Gone Girl or Mystic River. This could be Malfi’s best work, which is saying a lot because both December Park and Bone White are five-star favorites. Don’t sleep on this one!
