I have read and enjoyed other books by Thomas Cook, so was anxious to read his latest, Red Leaves. This may be one of the best books he has written so far. Eric Moore is a successful shop owner - successful enough that he and his wife, Meredith, own a lovely home on a large secluded lot in the kind of town where everyone knows everyone and life is quiet and serene. Eric is still in love with his wife and completely content and secure in his life. The only fly in the ointment is their teenage son, Keith. To say he is going through teenage angst would be an understatement. The boy has no friends and keeps his communication with his parents to a bare minimum. Eric recruits Keith to work part-time as a delivery boy for his business, but Keith's main interest is staying barricaded in his room playing video games. Meredith works at the local college and broaches the idea of counseling for Keith by one of the professors, but Eric prefers to keep the blinders on as regards Keith's isolation, sure that he will "grow out of it". Eric himself had a difficult, emotionally needy childhood. He regularly visits his unappreciative and brutally critical father at a local nursing home, and maintains contact with his older brother, Warren. Warren had borne the brunt of the father's physical and emotion abuse growing up, and is now an alcoholic, self-employed house painter in town. Keith occasionally babysits for a local couple's 8-year-old daughter, Amy, and this is where the plot of the story begins. Keith returns home later that night, but when her parents go in to check on her, Amy is gone. As the last person known to have seen her, Keith comes under immediate suspicion. Eric and Meredith totally support their son's innocence, but engage an attorney to protect Keith during police interrogations. And then, gradually, tiny cracks appear in Keith's story. Amy's father, convinced Keith is responsible for his daughter's disappearance, verbally attacks Eric and Eric can see the town's good will slowly turning against him. Before he knows it, his world starts to crumble. Plagued by suspicions about Keith, and gradually questioning his marriage, Eric begins relentlessly searching for the truth. The book begins with a brief prologue - Eric is sitting in a coffee shop years later, reflecting on all the events surrounding Amy's disappearance, so we know right from the start that his marriage finally failed and he is no longer living his idyllic former life. Then the story of the disappearance and Eric's relentless search for the truth, his doubts about his son, his wife and his brother, are described in all their downward-spiraling detail. At the end, we are back in the coffee shop and all loose ends are neatly woven in. There are several unexpected and startling twists - I never saw the ending coming. In addition to a totally engrossing story, the author's writing is expressive. This is a beautifully written book that delves deep into each character, so deeply that I formed mental pictures of all the players - what a great movie or mini-series this would make. I highly recommend this book to all readers who enjoy a riveting and suspenseful story, meticulously detailed accountings of the characters' motives and thought processes and beautifully written and evocative looks into the doubts and inconsistencies of people's lives. I am a voracious reader and this is a book that will stick with me for quite a while.