This Is a Safe Place

The gate was built to keep danger out. But what if the danger was already in? The suburban gated community of Eden Village is a safe place, they are told. Enclosed by a thick stone wall with only one way in and one way out, it promises refuge from the violence, crime, and uncertainty of city life. The application process is extensive and the rules are strict, but for fearful residents, it’s a small price to pay to live in a community that hasn’t seen one instance of crime in fifty-five years. To celebrate its crimeless history, residents participate in The Breach, a one-day annual event in which one person is anonymously assigned to carry out a harmless crime. This year, someone has broken into Gus Mercer’s cottage. It’s a simple crime but for one unusual detail: a riddle left by The Crook that hints of a more sinister intent. As a security guard elected detective for the day, Tom begins to follow its clues, encountering more riddles that reveal residents’ darkest secrets—including his own. Later that evening, Tom realizes that the break-in was a diversion from a much more serious crime: kidnapping. Battling The Association’s reluctance to disrupt the sense of safety and the increasing evidence that Eden Village is not what it claims to be, Tom must uncover the truth and confront his own chilling past to find the missing child before it’s too late.