The Sacrifice by Caroline Steiger
Yes, I know it’s only fiction, but still you have to reread the first few pages of Caroline Steiger’s psychological thriller The Sacrifice to make sure you’ve got it right, that a cool cucumber named John is casually explaining how he just murdered a girl in a swimming pool in Cancún during Spring Break in 1989.
The Sacrifice has a lot going for it. As Steiger describes, “It’s a series of people who did unconscionable things, for reasons they thought were right.”
Strangely, some of the biggest crimes besides actual murder, committed by John’s two successful buddies Joseph and Jason, “had been deep intoxication rendering them nearly useless to a man who had exactly one thing in mind when he came into the pool, which he accomplished and has lived a life of freedom since.”
How, exactly, did a pool full of partiers not see that a killing happened right in front of their eyes — as blurred as their vision might have been during a stereotypical Spring Break moment?
Specifically, how did Joseph and Jason not see it? Or did they — and they just weren’t man enough to stop it.
That lack of reaction from two of the three J’s kicks off a complex and fast-moving plot with as many twists and turns as a conga line weaving its way through a tropical resort.
Doubt and Betrayal Through the Decades
There are characters aplenty, and while each has his or her unique vantage point and role in this undoing, the merging of their stories make for a compelling read. Take Delilah, another victim, although not a fatal one, of John’s sociopathic behavior, who hatches a scheme to exact revenge, using John’s new wife Lee as a pawn — Lee already having her own suspicions about the man she recently married. Why did John, for example, conveniently not share with Lee that he was in Cancún when this horrible tragedy occurred, only serving to raise doubts?
How do Joseph and Jason’s wives, Mel and Kay, figure into the storyline? Or Lee’s mother? Or the parents of the dead girl? Or a mystery person serving as an accomplice to Delilah?
While the narrative itself is riveting, the author shines in getting into the heads of the characters. Each chapter is narrated by someone different — primarily John, Joseph or Jason — spanning three decades. First there’s the Spring Break event of 1989, then a 10-year Cancún reunion among the three friends, and then the 2009 aftermath when it all comes together.
Piecing Together the Crime
While characters try to come to terms what with that saw and felt, what they did or didn’t do, and how to act or not act moving forward, there’s enough guilt to spread among all of them. Each seemingly knows only a piece of the puzzle, and the events haunt them in different ways, imprison them. “A secret hidden turmoil,” says one, “a buried but inscrutable noise, a look which can be seen even if you hid behind a wall, a secret so substantial its weight could unbalance me.”
Also, by not coming to a resolution when the opportunities present themselves, the drama rages on and secrets remain secrets, twisting and turning the principals’ psyches into emotional pretzels. Characters hold others on short leashes until it all reaches its unpredictable outcome.
“I know their truth,” says another, “having had a front-row seat to the worst live action thriller a person could not imagine.”
Caroline Steiger imagines it. And does a brilliant job of capturing it in The Sacrifice.
Caroline Steiger was born in New York City and is now living the Florida life. Winters are not missed. Summers are her sweet spot and the water her peace. She is married to a man who is the support to her backbone and works alongside the most beautiful dog ever. Blessed. Happy. Writing. This is what she was born to do. Visit her website at www.clsteiger.com.
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