The Reappearance of Rachel Price

The disappearance of Rachel Price has haunted the small New Hampshire town she called home, and Bel Price, her daughter, has grown up in the shadow of an unsolved mystery. Now, Bel, along with her father Charlie, her aunt Sherry, her uncle Jeff, and her cousin Carter, are being asked to revisit Rachel’s disappearance for a documentary. While Bel wrestles with unanswered questions and painful memories triggered by Ramsey and his documentary crew, she finds herself drawn to the chemistry she shares with the crew’s goofy camera assistant, Ash. However, all of this falls by the wayside when Rachel reappears.  

What should be a happy moment for Bel’s family becomes something far more sinister. As Rachel tells her story of being held captive for sixteen years, Bel begins to catch her mother in lies. Further isolating Bel, Charlie is distancing himself from the family for reasons Bel cannot figure out. Ash and Bel team up to expose Rachel, but in the process, uncover secrets that will destroy the Price family. Meanwhile, Charlie disappears, and Bel must fight for him. She must decide whether to return everything to its previous state or move forward, leaving the past and Charlie behind.  

While the plot twists range from horrifying to outrageous, the thread holding the story together is family. “Family first” is the motto of the Price family, and Bel will have to choose who she trusts and whose secrets she is willing to keep. A witty and tenacious narrator, Bel is at times more investigator than daughter, allowing her to keep a tight hold on her emotions. However, when she allows herself to feel, she proves to be a good cousin and a loyal daughter. The rest of the Price family is often looked at with suspicion through Bel’s lens, but they are bonded by the loss of Rachel, even as her return shakes these bonds. Bel and her father Charlie’s relationship is especially tested as he sways between a dependable father and a coward, unwilling to face the new developments in his family. 

While Bel can be weighed down by her familial relationships, Ash is a lighter presence. Bel finds herself in a tentative romance with him, a relationship that is often overtaken by the reveal of further family secrets. Ash is committed to helping Bel solve the mystery of Rachel’s reappearance, despite Bel’s attempts to keep him on the outside. Even as Bel tries to avoid being vulnerable, Ash brings that side of her out, and the two still find space for a few romantic moments.  

The Reappearance of Rachel Price moves fast, and readers will find themselves unable to put the book down, propelled by twist after twist. Sometimes, the plot moves too fast, leaving less room for the characters and their relationships with each other. While the twists can feel sudden and, at times, random, they mostly just add to the suspense. The making of a documentary brackets the thrilling mystery, and Holly Jackson uses this frame to ask a deeper question: can you choose your family?  

Sexual Content  

• Ash attaches a microphone to Bel. He has to put the wire down her shirt and attach the mic pack to her back pocket. Bel teases him about it, “Don’t we need to do more conversation if you’re about to touch my ass?” Later in the book, she makes another joke about the situation: “Like when you felt up my top the second time we met… played with my ass too.” 
• Charlie makes a joke about a story that Sherry, Bel’s aunt, tells during filming. Sherry describes Carter, Bel’s cousin, being named after Carter Dome – where she and Jeff got engaged. Charlie jokes, “I thought you were going to say it was where Carter was, y’know, conceived.” 
• Bel makes a sex joke in her head about Dave Winter, the police captain. He tells her that the man who held Rachel captive will come to justice. Bel thinks, “Was that Dave’s motto—come to justice? Did he use it in bed with his wife?” 
• Bel and Ash kiss while they’re investigating Bel’s grandfather’s apartment. “Their eyes met. Then their lips. Ash’s warm hand cupped the back of her neck, a different kind of shiver, one that moved down instead. Bel’s bottom lip slid between his, parting, like this was the easiest thing in the world.” Bel pulls away, slightly regretting the kiss because she was too vulnerable at the time. 
• Bel and Ash kiss again outside Bel’s home. “Her eyes found his, his lips found hers. Hand through his scruffy hair, pulling him in deeper, making it count. His fingers brushed her neck, moving up, but the glow moved down.” Bel pulls away, knowing that Ash is going to leave soon.  

Violence  

• Ramsey asks Bel what she thinks happened to her mother. Bel speculates, “She left. Then maybe she was killed by an opportunistic killer—that’s the term the media uses. Or maybe she got lost in the White Mountains and died in the snow, and an animal got to her remains.” 
• Bel tells Ramsey about an experience that happened when she was eight. Phillip Alves, a crazed fan, kidnapped her to ask her about Rachel’s disappearance. “He didn’t really take me anywhere, and I didn’t disappear for long… he was kind of screaming from the start. Sweating, angry. Tell me what you saw that day.” The police found her quickly, and she wasn’t harmed. 
• Rachel describes the man who took her sixteen years ago, but she doesn’t identify him. “He dragged me through the snow to his car. Slammed my head against the truck before he pushed me inside. I couldn’t get out. He drove away. No one could hear me screaming.”  
• Rachel has a scar from being chained up while she was being held captive. “Bel followed her gaze: red blistered skin in a band of raw flesh.” 
• Phillip Alves breaks into Bel’s house and attacks her when she tries to run from him. “She pulled the door as he grabbed her ponytail, jerking her head back, exposing her neck.” Bel fights back. “Bel’s arm shot up, elbow first. She slammed it into his face, right between those eyes. Heard a crunch.” Phillip pulls her hair again and pins her to the ground. Rachel attacks Phillip with a rake, defending Bel. “Rachel swung but Phillip scrabbled back, the rake catching one of his ankles.” Phillip runs, and Bel is unharmed.  
• Rachel abducts Charlie, chaining him up in the same container where she was kept. “And Dad was sitting against the far wall… There was a metal cuff around his ankle.” 
• Rachel reveals that Charlie had planned to get his father to kill Rachel. She tells Bel, “He thought I was dead, because that’s what he told [his father] to do… But your grandpa wasn’t supposed to just take me at two o’clock that day. He was supposed to kill me.” 
• Rachel had a baby when she was held captive. “I delivered her myself. Thought I was going to die, but there she was, screaming up at me.” Charlie’s father stole the baby from Rachel after two weeks. “I only let him close for one second, and he took her, where I couldn’t reach her.” Charlie was the father, and the baby was taken to Charlie’s brother Jeff, and his family. The baby was Carter, and she was raised as Bel’s cousin.  
• Charlie and Jeff chase Bel and Rachel. Charlie catches Rachel and restrains her. “Charlie had one arm around Rachel’s neck, forcing her to the ground. She fought back, ankle buckling, scrabbling at his face.” Jeff holds Bel back. “Jeff held on to her, pinning her arms down.” 
• Charlie tries to kill Rachel with an axe. Carter shoves him off the cliff to save Rachel. “[Charlie] glanced over, just as Carter bounded into him, a double-handed push, shoving him away from Rachel. He stumbled, tripping over Rachel’s arm. Dropped the axe, and tripped on that too, staggering back.”  
• Charlie grabs Jeff and pulls him over the edge with him. “Charlie disappeared over the edge. He didn’t let go, dragging Jeff with him. One of them screamed, all the way down.” Rachel hides the bodies, and they all lie and say Charlie and Jeff ran away to Canada.  

Drugs and Alcohol  

• Ash offers Rachel’s mother a beer. Ramsey declines on her behalf, telling him to get her water instead. 
• Bel catches Carter smoking. “‘You smoking?’ Bel asked… ‘What gave you that idea?’ Carter raised the cigarette to her lips.” Bel takes the cigarette away. “Bel pushed the end between her lips for one deep drag. Then she stubbed it out on the wall.” Bel is eighteen, and Carter is fifteen. Carter states that Bel smokes regularly, but this was Carter’s first time.  
• Bel asks to drink at a family dinner. “‘Can I drink?’ Bel said, throwing out a bomb herself.” Her dad says no.  

Language  

• Profanity is used regularly. Profanity includes damn, ass/asshole, shit, fuck, and variations of fuck.  
• Bel uses inventive curses like “horsefucker” and “masshole.”  

Supernatural  

• None 

Spiritual Content  

• None 

by Abigail Clark