The book starts with a private investigator Raymond Lovell (in short, Ray) in a hospital suffering from a food poisoning. The whole book is written by two perspectives: one is of Ray and the other one is of a 14-year old JJ smith.
The investigation starts when Leon wood comes to Ray to hire him to find out his missing daughter Rose Wood, who went missing 7 years ago. She was married with a guy named Ivo Janko who is the uncle of JJ.
The Janko family is one of the oldest Gypsy families alive. They are travellers who live on road in their trailers. Ivo has a disabled child Christo Janko, who is suffering from a genetic disease. Ivo and Christo lives with Tene Janko(father of Ivo), Sandra(cousin of Ivo), JJ(son of Sandra) and JJ's grand-dad and gran.
7 years earlier, Ivo's wife Rose suddenly disappears without informing anyone, even her father. Ray investigates the whole case and suspects the Janko family of doing any harm to Rose. During the investigation, he meets Lulu, sister of Tene and kind of falls for her.
On investigating more, Ray comes to know about a place called the Black Patch through Tene who claims Rose went missing when they were near that place. When Ray drives to that place, he discovers a set of bones, which on further diagnosis turns out that it belongs to a Gypsy person aged between 16-18 years. This makes Ray question everything he knows till now.
Why Rose's father had an urge to find her after seven years of her disappearance? Did Rose run away or was harmed by the Jankos? How did Christina (sister of Ivo) died twelve years ago? Was it an accident or some conspiracy? Whose dead body was found in the Black Patch? Was it of Rose or of someone else? Did Ivo killed her? Does Ivo or Tene know anything about that dead body? Did they buried it?
The questions take a turn when one day Ray gets a call from a man who claims he knows the whereabouts of Rose!
The story starts with Ray grieving about his ex-wife who cheated him and was asking for a divorce. He is a head-strong character who doesn't prefer giving up on the case. No matter how much he suspects the Janko family, still he helps them out with Christo's health, which shows the kind heart he has.
The character of Ivo draws some pity in the starting, but going towards the end it somewhat turns inot anger. At first, he seems a sad widower who loves his son Christo. But when one reaches the end, the whole perspective about Ivo changes completely.
Tene is a stubborn old Gypsy who is partial when it comes to purebloods. He considers the non-Gypsies as someone lesser than the Gypsies, which seems racist. In the beginning, the character does not seem the one to get the pity or love from the reader. But, the end makes one feel sad about him.
JJ is a young teenager who is around always but is least appreciated by everyone. He observes a lot and is a bright kid. He loves his cousin Christo and is always there for him, which makes his character more loveable.
Christo is a one happy boy. Despite the disability, he keeps smiling, which shows how strong he is and how the heart which beats inside him is pure. His smile seemed beautiful and makes you smile throughout the story.
Overall, this book is a real page turner. It keeps you reading more and more and makes you question every suspect or a victim.
The end is not what you expect!
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