drey's library

Eliza is happy to be an anonymous suburban mother with a temperamental teenager and a sweet eight-year-old. Then one day a letter shows up and throws her into a tizzy, raking up memories of her past--one where she'd been kidnapped by a serial killer and lived to tell the tale. And now he's found her from behind bars, but why?I'd Know You Anywhere starts with Walter trying to get a girlfriend, then swings between Eliza's current day and her time with Walter. It's a tense tale, told in spare language--sometimes so spare I didn't really get a feel for Walter or Eliza. Why did he do it? What was his justification (to himself, if nobody else)? Did she have Stockholm syndrome, or did she really believe him when he said he'd kill her and her whole family? Usually there's a lot more background on the sociopath and what drives him, but this isn't a police procedural crime novel. I have to admit I felt a bit lost, and I didn't really care what his motives are, or what Eliza does.Rather, this is an after-the-fact story, and also a tale about relationships--the ones between a victim and her captor, between a victim and her loved ones, and the ones between the perpetrator and those who believe him innocent. To me, how these emotional tangles are navigated is what makes this a good read.