The Cheech Room

by Liz Hoban

If this story were told in reverse, three people would still be alive. Fifteen year old Lindy Mason is reported missing during a Vermont blizzard. After a brief investigation, authorities deem her a runaway. After all, her father is an abusive alcoholic. Lulled by the comforts of rural anonymity, Jillian Duncan believes she's doing her best to singlehandedly raise two rambunctious teenage sons. One early spring morning, the family dog makes a bizarre discovery that will alter all of their lives. The night Lindy went missing, she was last seen in the Duncans' basement dubbed by the local teenagers as the Cheech Room. It smells of marijuana, vanilla, and puberty but reeks of a deadly secret that can't possibly be kept. As the truth reveals itself, Jillian is forced to confront a troubling secret from her late husband’s past while trying to stay one step ahead of a relentless detective bent on proving her sons played a role in Lindy’s disappearance. Challenged by how far she will go to honor her late husband, protect her sons while still doing the right thing, Jillian would sooner die than destroy the only people she has ever loved.

302 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 2, 2012

Reviews

[J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jillian is the single mom of two boys when Lindy Mason goes missing after a snowstorm. Everybody thinks she ran away, but Jillian know better. Jack Malkin is making it his business to find the truth.

Not everything on the surface is what it seems, but ugly is ugly.

[Carol · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book got a good review in the library's The Book Page which made me read it, but it was full of cliches, badly written, extremely predictable and I sped-read most of it just to get through it. I would have stopped reading completely but kept hoping that something would save it. Sadly, not.