When Groundhog Day came out in 1993, I doubt anyone thought it would kick off a new genre. But over the last 30 years, there’s been a surprising number of conceptually similar, time-looping movies (Happy Death Day, The Map of Tiny Perfect Things, Source Code, Palm Springs, Edge of Tomorrow) and books (Life After Life, Before I Fall, The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle).

With her thriller novel, Gillian McAllister has pushed the genre even further.

It’s October 30th, and Jen is living any mother’s worst nightmare. Her son Todd murdered a man right in front of her and he won’t explain why understand why. After being sent home from the police station without any answers, Jen struggles to sleep but eventually, she drift off.

In the morning, she wakes up to discover it is now October 29th. Maybe the 30th was just a terrible dream. But when she wakes the next day, it’s October 28th. Then it’s the 27th and she can’t deny there’s something weird going on. As she travels further back in time, she learns more and more secrets about her family. But her most important questions still need answers. How did her son become a killer? Can she stop it from happening? And will she ever get back to her own timeline?

Like most of the new, time-loop genre stories, Wrong Place Wrong Time is a high concept mystery that keeps you on the edge of your seat with twist after twist. But at it’s core it is a simple family drama about a mother coming to understand how even the smallest mistakes we make can affect those we love.