'Aaron Decker's life changes one December morning when his wife Allison is killed. Haunted by her absence--and her ghost--Aaron goes through her belongings, where he finds a receipt for a motel room in another part of the country. Piloted by grief and an increasing sense of curiosity, Aaron embarks on a journey to discover what Allison had been doing in the weeks prior to her death.
'Yet Aaron is unprepared to discover the dark secrets Allison kept, the death and horror that make up the tapestry of her hidden life. And with each dark secret revealed, Aaron becomes more and more consumed by his obsession to learn the terrifying truth about the woman who had been his wife, even if it puts his own life at risk.'
Come With Me tells the story of Aaron Decker, a man struggling with the sudden and brutal death of his wife, Allison. Having chosen to stay home one morning when Allison goes shopping he's shocked when he learns that there's been a shooting in the local shopping precinct. Rushing down there he can't find his wife, and has to wait around for hours waiting for any news of her; unfortunately, when that news comes it's devastating. Trapped in the same shop as the shooter, Allison ran at him to try and draw attention away from the people trying to run to safety. Whilst this saved others lives, it cost Allison her own.
Struggling to figure out how to cope with such a tragic moment, Aaron retreats into his work, allowing himself to go onto autopilot as he loses himself in routine. This all changes one day, however, when he finds a receipt in Allison's belongings, a receipt for a motel out of state. Realising that this considered with one of his work trips he begins to question what it could mean. Was Allison away on work? Or was she perhaps having an affair?
Travelling to the motel to try and find answers Aaron comes away without any proof as to what Allison might have been doing there. He's about to give up on ever learning what was going on when he opens the locked trunk in Allison's closet and discovers files full of interviews and reports on a series of murders that have taken place over the last decade. Aaron realises that Allison has been tracking a serial killer in secret, a series of murders that not even the police realise are connected. Wanting to learn more, Aaron decides to carry on what his wife stared.
The blurb for Come With Me really doesn't do this book justice. Yes, it raises the mystery of what Allison was doing in this motel, but I think that by not mentioning the hunt for a serial killer it's really burring the most exciting part of this book. Okay, the relationship between Aaron and Allison is a huge part of the story, and the whole book is written from Aaron's point of view as if he's talking to his wife, but the most exciting part is this hunt for the killer.
The first several chapters of the book take their time in setting everything up, and even though when the book begins Allison has already been killed we get to know her through Aaron's memories of her, so that once he relives the day she died we're already invested in them; and it hurts to see him go through that pain. It's also sad as we watch Aaron searching for answers, beginning to question if perhaps his beloved wife was cheating on him; betraying him in the worst way possible. Getting to be inside his thought process we see how much it affects him, how the doubts begin to creep in and alter his perception of everything.
Malfi made a genius choice in presenting the book the way he does. This isn't a narrator talking to some random reader, it's a man in mourning talking to is departed wife. It makes everything he's going through feel so much more powerful. He's not just wondering if his wife cheated on him, he's opening up to her about what that possibility means to him. Aaron pours his everything into the narration of this book, and it feels incredibly personal, like we're looking in on something we shouldn't be.
We also get to see a lot of development in Aaron over the course of the book, and his search for the answers to the central mystery change him a lot. He goes from a man who'd never think to look into something like this to a man who's questioning everything he sees, unsure who to trust, but willing to walk into danger to find the answers he seeks. With so much of the story being focused on the hunt for this killer it's impressive how much time we spend with the characters too, and how well developed everyone feels.
There are a lot of spooky moments in the book too, times where you're not sure what's going on. Like Aaron you begin to wonder is Allison might still be around in some way, whether her spirit is watching over her husband, leading him along this journey as tiny little things that are just out of the ordinary seem to happen. The inclusion of these moments definitely change the narrative somewhat, and you're often left wondering if perhaps Aaron is losing him grip on reality a bit due to his grief and growing obsession with the case.
I honestly had a ton of fun with Come With Me, even if it's not the most uplifting book to read. It deals with grief, depression, and obsession in frank and honest ways; as well as throwing in a genuinely engaging mystery that will have you reading long after you know you should put the book down for a bit. Whether you're coming to the book hoping for a good character driven drama, or an interesting mystery thriller Come With Me will keep you hooked right up until the end.
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