The disappearance of a girl held captive beneath a house triggers a desperate search that forces her brother to confront his own complicity and his mother's escalating violence. Warren, haunted by his failure to prevent the abduction of his sister, Hope, finds himself caught between his father's rage and his mother's increasingly erratic and dangerous behavior. As the kidnappers—Rob, Emma, and Tom—lose track of their captive, the narrative shifts between the claustrophobic reality of the family home and the mysterious, potentially surreal world where Hope may have vanished. The story utilizes a multi-perspective framework to track the fracturing relationships between the kidnappers and the mounting threat posed by an enigmatic man with blue eyes.

Readers frequently highlight the unsettling atmosphere that permeates the narrative, noting how the author maintains a high level of tension throughout the story. Discussion often centers on the moral ambiguity of the characters, particularly the kidnappers who claim to have acted with good intentions. Critics often point to the effective use of shifting perspectives to obscure the truth and heighten the sense of confusion as the plot progresses. The balance between the grounded domestic drama and the more abstract, potentially supernatural elements remains a frequent topic of debate among those analyzing the book's pacing and thematic depth.