When They Find Me
Some secrets refuse to die. They simply wait, sharpening their claws, until it's time to hunt.
Annie Wolfe has done everything to vanish. Tucked away in the isolated speck on the map called Expanse, Colorado, she and her daughter Coral are nearly off the grid. It’s the perfect hiding place, if only the past would stay buried. But Annie knows the people coming for her are relentless. They never forget, and they never forgive.
Meanwhile, Riven has spent a lifetime living off the land, a shadow in the wilderness with her family. Now, her father has led them to this forgotten town, driven by a thirst for retribution against the man he blames for shattering their lives. Their plan is starkly simple: swift revenge, then disappear.
But when Riven’s quest for vengeance knocks on Annie’s door, their worlds violently collide. What unfolds is far more twisted and perilous than either woman could have imagined. This isn't just a hunt for revenge. It's a desperate chase for a truth that, in Expanse, Colorado, could be the deadliest secret of all.
- Riven (Alexis) - Boone’s sister, 20
- Boone - Riven’s brother, 23
- Coyote (Alban) - Boone and Riven’s father, 57
- Mama - Riven and Boone’s mother, Coyote’s wife
- Jesse Lynch - Head of the Lynch crime family
- Julian - Works for Jesse
- Annie (Luci) - Coral’s mother
- Coral (Sofia) - Annie’s daughter, 12
- Gabriel - Annie’s husband, Coral’s father, deceased
- Harley - Annie and Coral’s golden retriever
- John (Richard) - Annie’s neighbor, Coyote’s former neighbor
- Charlie - Woodworker, police officer
- Part I
- Annie and Coral have been on the run for four years.
- Boone sends Riven into a house in Expanse, Colorado to kill Richard but instead she finds Annie.
- Annie assumes Riven is someone sent by the Lynch family to kill her and she shouts a code word that instructs Coral to hide in their safe room, which is accessed from Annie’s bedroom closet.
- Riven texts Coyote to say Richard isn’t in the house so he and Boone come to Annie’s house.
- Coyote ties Annie up and shows her a picture of Richard - it’s John but Annie tells Coyote she doesn’t recognize the man.
- Coyote finds Coral’s bedroom and realizes that she lives there too.
- Annie says Coral is in Florida with her father.
- Part II
- Four years earlier: Gabriel has a side job stealing art and money for the Lynch family.
- Gabriel returns home one night with cash and jewelry from his share.
- Gabriel also took a multimillion-dollar piece of art that was not part of his share.
- Present: Charlie comes to the house to see Annie and Coyote pretends to be family visiting from out of town.
- Annie manages to signal to Charlie that she needs help before sending him away.
- Five years earlier: Coyote attacks Richard and accuses him of trying to break up their family by stealing Mama from him, and the police take Coyote to a psychiatric hospital.
- Coyote breaks out of the hospital and Boone tells him that Mama and Richard have been talking about taking him and Riven and running away from Coyote.
- Boone poisons Mama’s food with oleander and she dies.
- Richard finds out Coyote is home and runs away, and Coyote, Boone and Riven have been chasing him ever since.
- Part III
- Four years ago: Julian kills Gabriel for stealing the painting from Jesse.
- The next day Annie hunts down Jesse Lynch and kills him for ordering Gabriel’s murder
- Annie takes Gabriel’s body, weighs it down with weight plates and puts it in the Gulf of Mexico.
- Present: Charlie comes back to help Annie but Boone shoots Charlie in the back and he dies.
- Annie shoots Boone in the face, killing him.
- Annie goes to the safe room but finds that Coral isn’t in there.
- Annie shoots Coyote in the shoulder and runs outside.
- She finds Coral outside and tells her to go to John’s house for help.
- Part IV
- Coyote shoots at Annie, taking off part of her index finger.
- Annie stabs Coyote in the neck and he quickly bleeds out.
- Riven leaves the house and drives off in Annie’s vehicle, hits a downed tree in the road and survives the crash.
- John shows up at the house but says he hasn’t seen Coral and had no idea Annie was in trouble.
- Annie begs John to help her look for Coral but John tells her that Coral isn’t real.
- Four years ago: The night Julian killed Gabriel, he killed Coral too, and Annie sank both their bodies in the Gulf of Mexico.
- Present: Everyone in town went along with Annie’s delusion that Coral was real because they could tell that she was grieving.
- Annie asks John to clean up the bodies in her house and gives him the painting Gabriel stole as payment.
- Annie takes John’s truck and drives with Harley and Coral to New Mexico.
- One year later: Annie has stopped seeing Coral since leaving Colorado.
- She is happy living in New Mexico.
The momentum in this story kicks into high gear immediately and never takes a breath. What caught my eye right away were the small sketches scattered throughout the text, adding a great visual layer to the suspense. The structure relies on rapid-fire, short chapters that jump between Riven and Annie’s perspectives, keeping the tension tight.
We experience the unfolding events primarily in the present day, with just enough brief flashbacks from both narrators to flesh out their backgrounds. I found both Riven and Annie easy to sympathize with. They both end up stuck in bad situations that feel difficult to escape, and are dealing with the consequences of the choices they made on the path that got them to the present day.
This book was hard to put down, and that is something I do not say lightly. Just when I thought I had the trajectory figured out, a massive twist dropped near the end that was so well done that I did not see it even though it was there all along! It fit seamlessly into the plot rather than feeling tacked on, leading right into a satisfying and tight wrap-up. If you want a book that will suck you in and keep you entertained, then you will love When They Find Me.
- Jesse - Dead - Shot in the face by Annie
- Gabriel - Dead - Shot in the face by Julian
- Mama - Dead - Poisoned with oleander by Boone
- Charlie - Dead - Shot by Boone
- Boone - Dead - Shot in the face by Annie
- Coyote - Dead - Stabbed in the neck by Annie
- Coral - Dead - Shot by Julian
- Annie - Alive - Living in New Mexico
- Riven - Alive - Location unknown
- John - Alive - Still living in Expanse
- Violence
- Murder
- Animal abuse
- Loss of a parent
ISBN: 9781464272684
Publication Date: November 10, 2026
Note: Details are for the original edition. Other formats, editions, and audiobook versions may be available.
