All the Little Raindrops

All the Little Raindrops (2023) by New York Times best-selling author Mia Sheridan is a psychological thriller that portrays the captivity of two teenagers and their subsequent unraveling of the mystery surrounding it. Likening the blood sport played by its privileged and wealthy characters to a “digital coliseum,” this novel explores The Concurrence of Humanity’s Good and Evil impulses as well as The Corruption Associated With Power and Privilege. Finally, the novel demonstrates The Psychological Impact of Trauma through the experiences of protagonists Evan and Noelle.

This guide refers to the 2023 Montlake paperback edition.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of graphic violence, death, child death, death by suicide, rape, child sexual abuse, child abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, gender discrimination, addiction, substance use, sexual content, and cursing.

Plot Summary

A teenager named Noelle Meyer is in a cage. Another teen, Evan Sinclair, is pushed into a second cage, and they realize that they know each other: Noelle’s father, Bennett Meyer, sued Evan’s father, Leonard Sinclair, for killing Noelle’s mother, Megan, six years ago. Meanwhile, a man known as “the Collector” watches Noelle and Evan on a screen.

With the next delivery of bread and water, each teenager gets something extra, and they share, vowing to work together. A man enters and tells Noelle that she’s been “rented”: She can go with him, or he will cut off two of Evan’s fingers. Noelle goes, and the Collector notes details about the teens’ behavior and tucks them away. He knows that Noelle’s mother had an affair with Evan’s father, a shipping tycoon, and that Sinclair shot her. Noelle’s father sued for wrongful death, but the defense painted Megan as a spurned lover. The Collector wonders if he can help the teens escape and shuts “the game” off while a man rapes Noelle. He orders treats for each of the teens.

That night, Evan and Noelle link their index and middle fingers together. The next day, at mealtime, Evan gets peanuts, while Noelle gets a chocolate-covered strawberry and artificial rose petals. Noelle says that there were cameras in the other room, so they assume they are being watched. The “guardian” comes again: Evan can follow him, or he will cut off Noelle’s ear. Evan promises her that they will stay “whole” and goes with the man. When he gets back, Evan asks for privacy, and Noelle sings “You Are My Sunshine,” emphasizing some words meaningfully. Later, Evan realizes that Noelle purposely changed words in the song to convey a message. He understands that she wants to strategize in secret.

The Collector realizes that Evan and Noelle are speaking in code and books a very expensive trip to see them. Noelle is blindfolded when he arrives. He emphasizes some words, like “break,” as he tells her a story about a rich man who collects things, including kidnapped women and precious jewels; this man plans a ball, which turns into a massacre when 14 people are murdered. The Collector says that he also collects things and that he’d like her to write something for him. He points to a pencil and paper, emphasizing the word “hot.” When he leaves, she writes a poem and then breaks the pencil.

Evan and Noelle need the codes for their cages, and they plan to look for reflections in the guardian’s silver tie pin. The Collector is impressed when he realizes what Evan and Noelle are doing. Noelle communicates that she stole part of a pencil and could start a fire in the electrical outlet. With their next meal, Noelle gets cuticle scissors, and Evan gets a small mallet. He suggests a frightening plan, and Noelle knows that they’re running out of time.

After the lights go off, Evan pounds his hand with the mallet while Noelle takes her scissors, rose petals, and graphite to the outlet, unscrews the plate, and sticks the graphite in, catching a spark with a petal. Evan fits his smashed hand through the bars and unlocks his cage. Then, he frees Noelle, who cuts a wire in a control panel, opening the room’s door. As the guardian gets closer, Evan and Noelle manage to kill him. They then run.

Outside, they realize that they are in Mexico and flag down a truck. A family takes them to a town, cautioning them against the police. They find a motel, where Evan tells the clerk that they’ve been robbed and that his father will pay double if she lets him make a call. Noelle showers while Evan calls his father. After sleeping for a few hours, Noelle and Evan have sex, feeling a desperate need to reclaim their bodies. When Evan’s father arrives, he separates them into different vehicles. Evan wakes in San Diego, California. Meanwhile, Noelle learns that her father died while they were missing. Evan must talk to the detectives, and Noelle’s best friend arrives to take her home. Three days later, Evan goes to Noelle’s house, and they have sex again. Evan’s father then arrives, demanding that they part ways; Noelle agrees. The Collector reads an article about Evan and Noelle, feeling connected to Noelle in particular. He is certain that she will not forget him.

A year later, Noelle and Evan meet in San Francisco. They go to Noelle’s hotel and have sex, but it is tender this time. Noelle loves him. They wake up with their fingers linked, and Evan realizes that he was having an old nightmare. He recognizes that while they do comfort each other, they also revive one another’s painful memories.

Seven years later, Evan is a private investigator looking into abductions like his own. His contact at the Reno Police Department, Aria Dixon, found an old man who claims that he was caged in a Texas warehouse. Aria also discovered that Noelle’s father, Meyer, reported a friend missing days before she went missing. This friend, Dow Maginn, owned a computer shop and was found dead; two days later, Meyer learned about Noelle’s disappearance. Evan travels to Texas to interview the old man, Lars Knauer, who is in prison. Lars’s story is very similar to Evan and Noelle’s, and Evan concludes that their captivities are part of a modern bloodsport. He decides to revisit the psychiatrist he saw after his escape, Dr. Caspar Vitucci.

Vitucci explains trauma bonds and cautions Evan about getting involved with Noelle again. Nevertheless, Evan finds her in South Carolina and learns that she has a little girl, Callie. As soon as Evan sees Callie, he knows that she’s his daughter. Noelle agrees to let Evan spend time with Callie that week and then work out a visitation schedule. Evan tells her what he’s learned, but he says that their abduction differs from the others because they had a personal history with one another. Noelle remembers her father’s planners, and she decides to go home and sort through her storage unit.

Meanwhile, Cedro Leon, a 14-year-old orphan, and Grimaldo, a man with an alcohol addiction, are in captivity. They assume that they were taken by gangs. The guardian tells Cedro that he’s been rented and gives him a choice: Follow the guardian, or he’ll take Grim’s eye. Cedro goes, and when he returns, Grim can tell that he was sexually abused. When Grim is faced with the guardian’s next choice, he protects Cedro.

Noelle and Evan find her father’s last planner and learn that the week before Noelle was taken, her father had an appointment with Maginn. He also had an appointment with André Baudelaire, an antiques dealer. Evan and Noelle go to Baudelaire’s shop, and Noelle sees her mother’s wedding ring. Baudelaire remembers her father being desperate for money. The next day, Evan and Noelle locate Maginn’s sister, Louise. She gives them a box of his things, and they find a bag with the cash that Meyer got from selling his wife’s ring.

Aria finds another relevant case, so Evan and Noelle meet Tallulah Marsh, a sex worker, and learn that she also received personal gifts in captivity. Noelle remembers the man who called her “Little rabbit” and how he emphasized certain words; she realizes that their gifts were not random. Noelle tells Evan about the man who spoke in code and the massacre. Evan does some research and finds an article about Dedryck Van Daele, the Belgian heir to a gem-mining company who had a big party around the time when several women went missing.

Louise gives Noelle an iPad that she found with Maginn’s things; it contains pictures of Evan’s gym and a blurry photo of a website where viewers play “the game.” Evan suspects that Meyer planned Evan’s kidnapping for revenge on Sinclair. Noelle then finds more pictures, one of which shows Sinclair masturbating while he watches a screen with people in cages. At his father’s house, Evan finds proof that Noelle’s mother worked for Sinclair, and he and Noelle realize that Megan was not a scorned lover; she had evidence against Sinclair, so he killed her. Meyer must have found the photos after the trial, realized the truth, and arranged for Evan’s kidnapping. Noelle finds a paper containing a Brussels address and the name “Fontane Lejeune,” and Evan finds a necklace with a giant red gem. Noelle finds a photo of a young Lejeune, and Evan realizes that Lejeune is Sinclair. They revisit Baudelaire, who identifies the red diamond and shows them an article with a picture of a man with a matching jewel. It’s Vitucci, Evan’s therapist, and Noelle says that he was also her father’s.

Evan and Noelle arrive at Vitucci’s home, and Noelle recognizes his voice. He says that his mother worked for Van Daele and that she and his sister, Celesse, died in the massacre. Afterward, the mortician sent him to a man named Dr. Vitucci; the doctor healed him, gave him his name, and sent him to live with his cousin, Baudelaire. Years later, Vitucci learned that the men who killed his family relocated and changed their names. Now, as “the Collector,” he helps captives escape. Vitucci asks to see Celesse’s diamond, and while Evan and Noelle are distracted watching the new captives on the screen, he absconds with it. Vitucci goes to Van Daele’s annual ball, and a server offers a tray of champagne, indicating one flute with his pinkie; Vitucci takes that one. Others guzzle glass after glass, and Vitucci raises his glass to Sinclair, his sister’s rapist.

Eventually, Grim and Cedro develop their own code. One day, when the henchman enters, Cedro begins to cry. He pretends to choke and steals the cage key from the henchman’s pocket. Finally, Cedro stabs the man with a sharpened tin whistle while partygoers watch onscreen. Suddenly, the screens switch, displaying the party instead of the captives. Men start choking and dying. Vitucci instructs Gervais, the server and his adopted brother, to free the women and go. He sent the diamonds to Baudelaire, who will use the money to help other escaped prisoners. Watching from Vitucci’s office, Evan films everything on his phone. Vitucci kills Sinclair and Van Daele and then drinks several glasses of poisoned champagne himself.

Evan visits Callie and Noelle in South Carolina and expresses a desire to move there. Evan produces her mother’s ring, a promise for their future together.