SOMEONE ELSE’S LIFE is a thriller, and Lyn Liao Butler provides carefully curated clues to help us figure out what is really going on. The ambiguity of parts of the narrative is purposefully confusing, but she clearly creates a protagonist who is filled with sadness and self-doubt and trying to overcome heartbreak in her life.

In some ways, this story feels like it's partly based on Butler's own life. Like Annie Lin, Butler's family is from Taiwan. Like Annie, Butler is from New York, is married to a fireman and has a son. Like Annie, Butler adores dogs and fosters dachshunds through a local rescue. Like Annie, Butler loves Hawaii and actually moved there to write this novel.

"The themes here and the questions Butler raises would make SOMEONE ELSE’S LIFE a great book club choice. I can foresee many wine bottles emptied while discussing these issues of family and trust."

But Annie relocated to Hawaii with her husband Brody and son Finn to get away from New York after the deaths of her mother and beloved dog, and the collapse of her dance studio. Her father and sister had moved to Kauai, so she followed with her family. Brody got a job, but she is struggling with her mental health and unable to move forward not only from her recent losses, but from an unsettling event that involved Finn. Although her husband and friends encourage her to get therapy, the Taiwanese side of her family shuns any suggestion of mental health problems, viewing that as a sign of weakness. So Annie struggles alone, taking sleeping pills to get some much-needed rest and drinking too much wine to supplement the medication she takes for her panic attacks. As a result, she feels woozy and thinks she has a hard time remembering things.

During a terrible storm, when Annie is alone in the guest house behind her father's place, a stranger knocks on the door. The woman seems harmless; she claims that her car broke down and she needs a place to stay until the storm passes. Finn is at the main house with her sister and father, so Annie invites Serena in. As time passes, they talk and share a bottle of wine, and Annie feels a connection with the woman who is divulging so much of her own tragic past. Yet there are signs that something is off. Serena seems to know more about Annie than she should.

Annie is insecure about her mental status, so she doubts herself. Is she forgetting what she told Serena? She has been forgetful recently and lost many items that have resurfaced since they moved to Hawaii. Gardening gloves went missing in New York and reappeared in a box. Her favorite sunglasses, which she couldn’t find for weeks, showed up on her dresser that very afternoon. We, of course, immediately suspect Serena, but Annie is filled with insecurity and doubt. She feels that her competence as a mother is in question since she let Finn be cared for by a teenage babysitter who fell and died while watching him. He says that a strange woman tried to kidnap him.

As Serena grows increasingly comfortable with Annie, and as the bottles of wine empty, she lets clues drop about the real purpose of her visit. And Annie comes to realize some truths that she had not wanted to face --- truths about her son, her family and even herself. Annie is alone. Brody cannot get to her because of the storm. Is she strong enough to stand up for herself and her loved ones?

The ending is perfect as Butler demonstrates what we know. Your family is what you make of those around you. And love can be there even when it's not prominently displayed; you just have to trust that it's there. And dogs? Well, Butler knows as much as anyone that dogs make everything better. Especially rescue dogs.

The themes here and the questions Butler raises would make SOMEONE ELSE’S LIFE a great book club choice. I can foresee many wine bottles emptied while discussing these issues of family and trust.