One of Us Is Back

“The digital billboard at the edge of Clarendon Street has had the same ad for as long as I can remember—a dancing energy drink—so the fact that it’s changed catches my attention while I’m stopped on my motorcycle at a red light.

TIME FOR A NEW GAME, BAYVIEW.”

Nate is the first to notice the hacked billboard that alerts Bayview of a new game, like the games Simon and Jared played in the previous two novels. The fact that the game is announced on a billboard and references Bayview rather than the individual members of the crew means that Chelsea holds resentment against the entire town and feels that they are partially responsible for Jake and Jared’s actions going unpunished.

“It’s a welcome change, after the week I’ve had, to be in charge of a mystery where there’s no bad answer.”

Addy takes charge of the envelope that contains the gender of her sister Ashton’s baby. This envelope symbolizes the future and the hope that comes with a new generation of family. Addy’s comparison of the envelope’s contents and mystery foreshadows the beginning of Chelsea’s practice makes perfect game and the trouble it will bring for the Bayview Crew in the near future.

“‘I…I should really learn how to change a tire,’ I manage.

Jake stands there with his hands on his hips, eyes glinting as he holds my gaze for a few beats too long. I can’t help it; I back up another step. Then he smiles again—more wolfish than charming this time—and says, ‘It’s easy, Phoebe. All you need is practice.’”

Phoebe is the first of the Bayview Crew to interact with Jake after his release from juvenile detention. Although Phoebe once had a crush on Jake, this interaction unnerves her. The moment implies that Jake has changed in detention because he performs an act of kindness by changing Phoebe’s tire. However, her uneasy response to him belies this. It is also important to note Jake’s use of the word “practice” because it is a red herring that suggests Jake’s guilt in the new game and foreshadows the word that will be written on Phoebe’s arm when she is rescued after her kidnapping.

“The more Jake waltzes through town like he’s a regular guy, the more people are going to start thinking that he is one. And that impartial trial he’s supposed to get will suddenly be biased in the wrong direction. Instead of jurors looking at him like a criminal—the way they would’ve looked at me if I’d ever been in front of them—all they’ll see is Bayview’s golden boy.”

Nate’s assessment of Jake’s future trial introduces the theme of Privilege and Entitlement as a Hindrance to Justice. Nate compares Jake’s family wealth and ability to hire a strong legal team to what might have happened had Nate, who has a lower socioeconomic background, gone to trial with Eli as his pro bono lawyer. Although Eli is a good lawyer, the comparison is meant to emphasize Jake’s advantage, showing how wealth and appearance can bias a jury and create a favorable impression, foreshadowing Chelsea’s motivation for punishing Jake herself.

“‘What’s going on is that I’m a disaster and I’ll leave,’ I say, turning on my heel to stomp away before I burst into tears. I can’t wait to get away, and yet—it still hurts when I reach to other side of the room without anyone tugging at my arm. Not even Knox.”

Phoebe’s secret, touching again on the theme of The Peril of Keeping Secrets, causes her to isolate her friends after they confront her for allowing Jake to change her tire. Phoebe keeps that interaction a secret because she feels guilty for interacting with Jake and for protecting Owen, whom she thinks may be following in Jake’s footsteps. This moment also connects with a similar incident Simon shares later in the novel, contrasting the different ways each character responds to a similar situation.

“I don’t know her all that well—until recently, she was just a coworker of Addy’s whose annoying friend planted one of me during the Truth or Dare game—but going through a Bayview crisis together bonds you for life. Plus, Phoebe lost her dad, and her mom’s run ragged trying to care for everybody. I know what it’s like to feel as though you’ve got to solve all your problems on your own.”

Nate compares his and Phoebe’s lives as he looks through his home for clues to where Phoebe might have gone after the Fourth of July party. Nate’s comment about solving all your own problems touches on his struggles living with two parents with addiction. This begins an exploration of the theme of Seeking and Offering Redemption as he begins a redemption arc with his father now that his father, Patrick, is sober and attempting to make up for his mistakes with Nate.

“It’s been more than a year since I graduated, but when I hop off the back of Nate’s motorcycle in the Bayview High parking lot, time slips away and for a few seconds, I feel like her again: Adelaide Prentiss, the always-anxious princess of Bayview High. I used to linger in this parking lot until the bell rang every morning, locked in Jake’s embrace and worrying about a half-dozen petty things at once: his mood, my hair, and whatever was front and center in my latest friend drama—like whether the snotty remark I’d made about Vanessa’s new boyfriend would get back to her (it did) or whether I’d get more votes than Keely for prom queen (I didn’t). Running beneath all that, even before everything imploded with Jake, TJ, and Simon, was my deepest, darkest, most constant fear: I’m not good enough, and I never will be.”

Addy has gone through some growth since the first book of the series. She points out feelings of inadequacy she had during high school and how she is no longer that person. These feelings of inadequacy stem from her mother pushing her to be the person her mother wanted her to become, not the person she wanted to be. Exploring the theme of Seeking and Offering Redemption, Addy comes to understand that she isn’t that person anymore. Through her mother’s offer of an explanation and Addy’s offer of redemption to both her mother and Vanessa, who bullied Addy during the period referred to here, Addy shows she is ready to move on from her past with Jake.

“The word is written on Phoebe’s left arm in what looks like black Sharpie, each capital letter so big and bold that it should’ve been impossible to miss:

PRACTICE.”

The word written on Phoebe’s arm, “Practice,” was foreshadowed by Jake’s words of advice to Phoebe when she lamented her inability to change a tire. This connects Jake to Phoebe’s kidnapping. However, the word will later lead the Bayview Crew to an advertising campaign designed by Chelsea Alton’s father, Alexander, and the game she has invented to get revenge on Jake and other citizens of Bayview.

“Jesus, I hate that he’s right. I hate that the only choice I have is to walk away with Jake’s words echoing in my ears and to let Gavin smooth things over. I hate that Jake is back in my world and there’s nothing I can do about it. And maybe most of all, I hate the fact that in less than five minutes, he managed to yank all my worst fears out of my brain and shove them in my face.

Some things never change.”

Jake begins to show his true colors when he bullies Nate at his job at the Bayview Country Club. Nate reveals his maturity when he takes some of the blame on himself instead of seeing that Jake manipulated him into turning to violence. This shows that Nate has more integrity than Jake, setting them apart as the novel’s events unfold. However, it also underscores the idea that things don’t change, supporting again the theme of Privilege and Entitlement as a Hindrance to Justice.

“I kept thinking about pulling over and asking to borrow somebody’s phone, but the thing is, I don’t know any of your numbers off the top of my head. That’s a lesson learned, by the way. All of us should memorize at least one phone number, it doesn’t even matter which one.”

The ability of digital media to be manipulated—from billboards to apps to cellphones—is a running theme in the novel. Here, Bronwyn points out the common problem that people rely on their cell phones to store their contacts’ numbers instead of memorizing them. This is a key point that is a direct cause of Nate, Maeve, and Addy believing Bronwyn was kidnapped. It also offers a solution that Addy will use later in the novel.

“I swallow hard against the lump in my throat. What if having the scary conversations means that you lose your friends? On top of everything else you’ve already lost?”

Phoebe reveals her true motivation for not sharing Owen’s secret with the Bayview Crew here. Phoebe has been worried about what Owen might do if she and Emma don’t tell someone the truth, but she also worries what her friends will think when they realize Owen was involved with Jared. This foreshadows the moment when Phoebe finally comes clean and is supported by her friends, which is different from what she anticipated.

“‘She knows I’m sorry about everything that happened senior year.’

‘You told her?’

‘No, but of course I am. I’m not a monster.’

‘That’s not how apologies work.’”

Vanessa Merriman was a classmate of Addy and Nate’s in the first novel, One of Us Is Lying. After Simon died, Vanessa bullied both Addy and Cooper based on the secrets Simon’s app revealed about them. Vanessa also took Jake’s side until he attacked Addy in the woods. Exploring the theme of Seeking and Offering Redemption, Vanessa confesses to Nate that she regrets what she did, and suggests she would like to apologize to Addy and Cooper, foreshadowing the moment Nate orchestrates the apology for her.

“It’s Reggie. He’s gagged and blindfolded, tied to a plastic classroom chair that’s overturned on the floor. There’s a gaping cut on his forehead, a puddle of blood around his head, and more spatters on the corner of the wall between the shower and the locker areas. His skin is grayish, his body stiff. There’s a word scrawled on his right arm, in the exact same block letters someone used to write on Phoebe.

MAKES.”

Reggie’s kidnapping connects to Phoebe’s because he was found at the school with a word written on his arm. Reggie is a choice victim for several reasons, including his relationship with Nate and Reggie’s habit of recording women without their consent in his bedroom. While his death is cruel, it represents a kind of justice: Like Jake, he is another person whose illegal, immoral actions will go unpunished. This foreshadows the revelation that the architect of this game is seeking to punish people who do bad things. Reggie’s death also suggests the game’s designer is capable of murder.

“Emma stares after him, open-mouthed. I’m horrified, too, but there’s also a sense of relief that she’s seeing what I’ve been seeing. I’m not paranoid or overly sensitive; Owen is being legitimately awful.”

Phoebe began the novel concerned that, because of Owen’s role in the truth or dare game, he might be turning into a bad person. This is Phoebe’s motive for remaining quiet about Owen’s actions. This moment shows the reason for her concern, but it also foreshadows a time when Phoebe will come to understand that there might be other reasons for Owen’s change in behavior.

“He’s not going to say anything. Why would he? I gave him exactly what he wanted that night: confirmation that I’m still afraid of him. Now all he has to do is bide his time until a joke of a legal system hands him full freedom.”

The theme of Privilege and Entitlement as a Hindrance to Justice comes into play when Addy imagines that Jake will likely be freed during his second trial. This idea recurs throughout the novel and is eventually highlighted as the motive for Chelsea seeking her own justice against Jake.

“‘That she did, in fact, have an affair with Alexander Alton,’ Vanessa says, pushing her stack of bracelets up her arm. ‘It was a huge deal. She met him after she graduated from college, when he was separated from his wife. He was, like, ten years older, and she totally worshipped him. They were a couple for almost a year, but he broke her heart when he decided to give his marriage another try. His kids were little, so he felt like he owed it to them.’ Vanessa rolls her eyes.”

Vanessa not only confirms that Katherine Riordan and Alexander Alton had an affair, but she introduces new information about the Riordans’ past. Katherine and Alexander weren’t just workplace lovers, they’d been in a relationship years before their affair at Conrad and Olsen. This foreshadows the revelation that Alexander, not Scott, is Jake’s father and provides Jake and Chelsea with motives for murder.

“He’s sobbing too hard to continue, but I understand his meaning. I never wanted Brandon to die. It’s what Emma and I believed all along, and it’s why we were willing to lie to protect him. I think Emma always understood the burden we were taking on, and she did it willingly, as penance for her own part in Brandon’s death. I was a lot more naive; I thought that once Owen was safe I’d be able to go back to normal, not realizing that the secret would start to feel like a ball and chain wrapped around my neck. And I never fully processed—even when Knox tried to tell me—what keeping silent would do to Owen.”

Phoebe once again addresses her motivation for keeping Owen’s secret, but she also finally understands that his behavior wasn’t because he was a bad person; he also carried around a heavy guilt about Brandon’s death. This moment makes Phoebe see that Knox was trying to help her—not judging her—when she told him about Owen. Finally, this moment is the beginning of healing for this family, of redemption, touching on the theme of Seeking and Offering Redemption.

“All Sana did at Café Contigo was pick up a backpack that somebody else had already slipped Reggie’s necklace into. Somebody who was at Nate’s party the night I disappeared, who’s been at the edges of every Murder Club conversation over the past few weeks, and who had plenty of opportunity to wait for my brother to leave his backpack dangling from a chair at Café Contigo while he used the restroom.”

Phoebe has been convinced that Sana, Nate’s roommate, is Chelsea Alton until she sees wallpaper in Evie’s apartment that correlates with her memory of her kidnapping. Now that Chelsea’s identity has been revealed, the plot can advance to the climax.

“The worst part is the picture a few rows down from her. A kid wearing a suit and tie, beaming a familiar smile. He’s heavier now than he used to be, but I still would’ve recognized him even without the caption beneath his name: Gavin P. Barrett. My fellow bar worker and all-around good guy apparently knew Chelsea Alton way back when and had been with her in Bayview the entire time people were disappearing.

And I just handed Addy over to him.”

Phoebe has a shocking moment when she realizes her coworker Evie is Chelsea Alton. Now Nate has the same moment when he realizes Gavin, his coworker, is working with Chelsea in her practice makes perfect game. This moment is ironic for Nate because Gavin has been nothing but kind to him and even saved him from hitting Jake, which would have caused him to lose his job. The two moments happen close together and signal the climax of the novel.

“Gavin tosses him the jacket and Nate holds it up, frowning. ‘This isn’t—’ he starts, but before he can get out another word, Gavin’s blur of motion, lunging for Nate so quickly that I don’t understand what’s happening until there’s a sickening, crunching sound and Nate collapses on the ground with Gavin standing over him, a crowbar dangling from one hand.”

Gavin turns on Nate and knocks him out in order to protect himself and Chelsea. This moment brings up a comparison between Phoebe protecting Owen and Knox’s declaration that he would do anything to protect his sisters. Protecting loved ones is a basic instinct for most people, but in this case, Gavin is protecting someone who is out to hurt the people around her, bringing into question his true character despite the kindness and generosity he has thus far shown.

“‘Our son?’ Dad repeated harshly. ‘What son?’

Jake closed his eyes, wishing he could close his ears, too, as Alexander said, ‘Jake.’

‘What in god’s name is wrong with you? Jake is my son,’ Dad said.

‘No, he’s not,’ Simon whispered.

Right then Alexander Alton said the exact same thing. Except Alexander also added, ‘He’s mine.’”

A flashback reveals how Jake found out that Alexander Alton is his father—a moment foreshadowed by the conversation Vanessa had with Katherine Riordan. The way in which Jake finds out, by overhearing an argument between his father and Alexander, reveals another aspect of The Peril of Keeping Secrets. Had Jake’s parents been honest with him, Scott and Simon’s deaths could have been avoided, and Jake could have had a much different future.

“‘I got a letter with all the details a few months ago.’ From my startled look, she adds, ‘He used some kind of service that sends mail on a future date. It was dated three days before he died. He wrote that he was tying up loose ends.’”

McManus connects the first book of the series with this one by revealing one last secret Simon was keeping. Simon’s letter to Chelsea ensured that Jake would pay for his crimes in the past even if he didn’t pay for the crimes related to Simon’s death. It is clear by Simon’s actions that he felt betrayed by Jake and was looking to get his own revenge against him.

“Addy freezes in place, stopping so abruptly that she has to place one hand on the wall to steady herself. Then, without turning to look at me, she says, ‘Jake’s gone.’”

Addy’s in shock when the ordeal with Chelsea is done. This moment is profound for Addy not only because she experiences the trauma of watching someone die, but because Jake was such a big part of her life for so long. This moment is a conclusion to a long arc that began with the first book in the series, and it will change the way Addy faces the future.