Book ~ "The Girl with a Clock for a Heart" (2014) Peter Swanson

From Goodreads ~ George Foss never thought he'd see her again but on a late-August night in Boston, there she is, in his local bar, Jack's Tavern. 

When George first met her, she was an eighteen-year-old college freshman from Sweetgum, Florida. She and George became inseparable in their first fall semester, so George was devastated when he got the news that she had committed suicide over Christmas break. But, as he stood in the living room of the girl's grieving parents, he realized the girl in the photo on their mantelpiece - the one who had committed suicide - was not his girlfriend. Later, he discovered the true identity of the girl he had loved - and of the things she may have done to escape her past. 

Now, twenty years later, she's back, and she's telling George that he's the only one who can help her.

George dated Audrey for three months during their first year of university.  When she went home for Christmas holiday, she committed suicide.  Looking for closure and grieving, George visits Audrey's parents in Florida to express his sympathy ... and discovers that the girl he loved wasn't Audrey at all, so wasn't really dead.  He goes back to university hoping she'd contact him.

Fast forward twenty years and she shows up in his life asking for a favour.  Only then does he find out that the girl he knew he didn't know ... he knows her even less than he thought.  But she gets him tangled up her web of lies and he's torn between naïvely wanting to help her and wanting to know the truth.

This is the first book I've read by this author and I liked it.  I thought it got off to a slow start but picked up once it got going.  It is written in third person perspective.  It jumps back and forth from today to twenty years ago ... the chapters that are in the past are in italics so it's easy to keep track.  I liked this approach for this story because it kept me wanting to read more to see what the heck had really happened twenty years ago ... so I liked that all wasn't revealed chronologically.   As a head's up, the language and some activity is for mature reader.

George was admittedly at a point where he was just cruising through life ... he had a job he'd been doing for a while and a girl friend he occasionally hooked up with.  Having the love of his life suddenly come back into his life gave him the jolt that he needed to care again.  I wasn't crazy about the ending ... I would have liked to have known what really happened rather than it being left in the air with a couple possibilities.

I'd recommend this book and look forward to reading others from this author.