I look forward to the second book to see what explanation turns up for the last 25 pages in this book. Interesting and quite dark. And I just know there's something going on with good ole Mom that doesn't quite meet the eye. She's going to be a surprise, somewhere along the line. Betcha.
I'm not a wild fan of book series in which the individual books are not complete within themselves. Each book should carry the story forward, but I really dislike the cliffhanger thing. Although, technically, there wasn't a cliffhanger in this book, the ending was abrupt and the answers to the obviously dangling questions are anybody's guess. Oh well.