How It Happened - Michael Koryta

How It Happened

By Michael Koryta

  • Release Date: 2018-05-15
  • Genre: Mysteries & Thrillers
Score: 4
4
From 199 Ratings

Description

An FBI investigator must uncover the secrets of his hometown to solve a double murder in this twisty "page turner" that's "perfect summer reading" (Stephen King).

"And that is how it happened. Can we stop now?"

Kimberly Crepeaux is no good, a notorious jailhouse snitch, teen mother, and heroin addict whose petty crimes are well-known to the rural Maine community where she lives. So when she confesses to her role in the brutal murders of Jackie Pelletier and Ian Kelly, the daughter of a well-known local family and her sweetheart, the locals have little reason to believe her story.

Not Rob Barrett, the FBI investigator and interrogator specializing in telling a true confession from a falsehood. He's been circling Kimberly and her conspirators for months, waiting for the right avenue to the truth, and has finally found it. He knows, as strongly as he's known anything, that Kimberly's story -- a grisly, harrowing story of a hit and run fueled by dope and cheap beer that becomes a brutal stabbing in cold blood -- is how it happened. But one thing remains elusive: where are Jackie and Ian's bodies?

After Barrett stakes his name and reputation on the truth of Kimberly's confession, only to have the bodies turn up 200 miles from where she said they'd be, shot in the back and covered in a different suspect's DNA, the case is quickly closed and Barrett forcibly reassigned. But for Howard Pelletier, the tragedy of his daughter's murder cannot be so tidily swept away. And for Barrett, whose career may already be over, the chance to help a grieving father may be the only one he has left. How it Happened is a frightening, tension-filled ride into the dark heart of rural America from a writer Stephen King has called "a master" and the New York Times has deemed "impossible to resist."

Reviews

  • Captivating

    5
    By Michele Khoury
    Michael Koryta is one of my favorite authors. Using few words, he describes scenes, sensory, and characters that elicits emotional responses. The plot is intricately woven, and he gives the reader a few threads that pulls us forward. I’m in awe of his skills and admire his story-telling skills. How It Happened grabbed my attention and didn’t let go.
  • Read this in one day

    5
    By Madscientist_13
    This is, in my opinion, Koryta’s best novel in several years. The characters are well developed, the pacing is smooth and his tension keeps you turning pages.