Jude Archer is one of the novel’s primary characters. Her former name was Martha Clifton. She is the daughter of Gerald and Myrna. Her siblings are Tommy and Henry. She and her twin brother Henry were inseparable throughout their childhood and adolescence. Then one night, Jude was raped by Adam Huntsinger. When she told Henry about what happened, the twins got drunk and Henry waded into the Falls and drowned. Henry’s death left Jude reeling. She started drinking and causing trouble in town. Eventually she ran away, only to show up on her parents’ doorstep some time later with a newborn baby, Emmy. Gerald agreed to raise Emmy with Myrna but sent Jude away, still blaming her for Henry’s death and tired of cleaning up her “messes.” He then told everyone she had died in a recent car accident.

These events define Jude’s sense of self in the narrative present. When she left North Falls, she struggled to overcome her sorrow, but eventually got back on her feet and made a life for herself. She effectively proved herself to be a strong, capable, and competent woman. In the present, she is a special agent for the FBI. Despite her growth, she feels overwhelmed by her fraught personal history when she returns to North Falls after learning of Gerald’s death and Paisley Walker’s disappearance. North Falls represents her traumatic past and thus floods her with memories. She wants to make amends for the past, but struggles to overcome the town’s impressions of her.

Jude is a dynamic character who changes as a result of her experiences and relationships. Her reconnection with her estranged daughter Emmy particularly contributes to her character arc. When she returns to North Falls, Jude has a hard exterior and a biting tongue. Working with Emmy on the Paisley Walker and reopened Broken Angels cases softens her over time. She learns empathy by sharing space with Emmy. Devoting herself to these cases also compels Jude to reexamine the past with fresh eyes. She is given a second chance to prove herself. Restoring her relationships is a way for Jude to become the person she has always wanted to be.

Gerald Clifton is another primary character of the novel. He is Tommy, Henry, and Jude’s father and Mryna’s husband. He has also raised his granddaughter Emmy as his own daughter, leading her to believe that he is her biological parent rather than her maternal grandfather. Despite this deception, Gerald does everything in his power to foster a healthier relationship with Emmy than he had with Jude. He quits drinking as soon as she appears on his doorstep, and devotes all of his energy to her upbringing. His care leads the two to have a close relationship.

Gerald is an archetypal guide in Emmy’s storyline. He is Emmy’s primary confidante and she trusts him with everything. He has also taught Emmy everything she knows about policing. He is the North Falls police sheriff and Emmy respects his work. She relies on his guidance whether they are working on cases or simply navigating life together.

Gerald dies 12 years after the Broken Angels Case reopens. Although Gerald doesn’t know that Hannah’s husband Paul will kill him outside Adam’s house, he does have a sense that he is dying in the days leading up to his murder. He is sick and tries to make amends with his family and friends in anticipation of his death. At the novel’s end, Emmy tells Jude that Gerald wanted to apologize to her for his cruelty. Gerald is a dynamic character who proves capable of great change despite his past mistakes. Over time, he realizes The Impact of the Past on the Present and tries reconciling with his personal history to provide a better future for the next generation.

Madison Dalrymple and Cheyenne Baker are secondary characters. They are the two teenage girls who are kidnapped and murdered at the start of the novel. Madison’s dad is Paul and her stepmother is Hannah. Although Hannah loves Madison, she often rebels against her stepmom because she misses her late mother. She starts acting up when she becomes friends with Cheyenne, too. Cheyenne’s parents are Ruth and Felix Baker. They are strict and removed. Cheyenne feels controlled and unloved by them and does everything in her power to claim her independence. She starts selling drugs, drinking, and partying. 

Determined to run away from home, she starts doing sexual favors for older men for money. She and Madison plan to use their savings from these activities to flee North Falls together. Ultimately, they get involved with the wrong men—Walton Huntsinger, Virgil Ingram, and Dale Loudermilk. These men exploit the girls’ innocence. They try escaping the men’s clutches by blackmailing them with an explicit sex video, and their abusers retaliate by murdering them. Their fates are the central mystery of the novel.

Adam Huntsinger is a secondary character. He is another North Falls local and works as a landscaper and farmhand on Emmy’s aunt Millie’s property. He is also known by the teenagers in town as The Perv, because he hangs out with young girls, attends high school parties, and does drugs with underage children. When Emmy and Gerald are investigating the Broken Angels Case, all clues point to Adam and ultimately lead to his arrest and conviction. Twelve years later, he is acquitted and released from prison after the police discover he was in fact involved in a rape in the next town at the time of Madison’s and Cheyenne’s deaths.

Adam is an antagonist. He creates narrative tension by behaving in unpredictable ways. He is big-headed, lascivious, violent, and abusive. The narrative later reveals that he raped Jude when she was just 15 years old. He also threatens police officers with a sawed-off shotgun. Emmy and Jude determine that he wasn’t behind Madison’s and Cheyenne’s fates. His character is a red herring for the mystery’s true resolution. Adam is later arrested on different charges, but he isn’t the ultimate villain of the story.