Admittedly, I’ve been in a little bit of a reading rut lately, and I needed one of those “un-put-down-able thrillers” to get me back into the binge-reading mood. Lisa Scottoline’s What Happened to the Bennetts turned out to be just the book to fill that void.

Jason Bennett is an average American dad with the ideal middle-class suburban life – the beautiful wife, the house, the daughter and son, even the dog. Recently, he’s upgraded his car on top of all that, and life is good. Then, one night after his daughter’s hockey game, his family is tailgated by a pickup truck in the dark. Jason decides to let them pass, but when he does, the truck stops and two thugs jump out brandishing guns. They demand his vehicle, his family gets out, and with one heinous act of violence, their lives are changed forever.

The carjackers turn out to be part of a drug trafficking ring, and the Bennetts are forced to go into the witness protection program. Demanding justice for his family and irritated with the system, Jason decides to take matters into his own hands.

I’d originally gotten this in a Blind Date with a Book box from TikTok, and it’s just been sitting there on my TBR shelf waiting for the moment I needed it. It really delivered when it came to pulling me out of that reading drought. At nearly 400 pages, it felt like a long haul after going so long mostly reading shorter books, but in a good way that made me feel like I’d accomplished something by the time I reached the end.

If you’re looking for an action-packed crime thriller starring an average dad, this is a fun one for you. Just know that while it ties together all the loose ends really well, the ending is still bittersweet – but in a satisfying way.