Perfect for fans of Alafair Burke and Megan Collins, Sarah Warburton’s debut novel that explores the dangerous bond between sisters.When her sister goes missing, Zoe assumes it’s just another one of her estranged sibling’s stunts–but the danger is all too real.Zoe Hallett and her sister, Ava, are the precocious offspring of two pioneering scientists, but the sisters have been estranged for … sisters have been estranged for years. When Zoe reads a news story about Ava’s mysterious disappearance, she assumes it’s just another of her sister’s twisted fictions, designed to blame Zoe and destroy the peaceful life she’s created with her husband and beautiful stepdaughter in Houston. But Zoe’s email is hacked to send threatening messages to Ava–and a more sinister picture begins to emerge.
Zoe returns to her home state of Virginia to prove her innocence to the authorities, to her parents, and to Glenn, her ex-boyfriend and current brother-in-law. For the first time, Zoe begins to believe Ava is in grave danger, and when Glenn catches her searching for clues in Ava’s home, she looks guiltier than ever–but maybe Glenn is not all he seems.
The clues Zoe finds point to a bizarre link between Ava’s disappearance and her mother’s “research”. Is there a secret someone is trying to protect? And would someone be willing to kill to protect it? As her sister’s life hangs in the balance, Zoe draws on hidden reserves of strength and hope to save the sister she never thought she loved.
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This is my first book by Sara Warburton and would definitely read another. This is a story of two sisters that are very different and are estranged. Having moved away and changed her name. When she sees a news story that says her sister has been kidnapped she assumes it a stunt by her sister until her email gets hacked and threatening notes are posted to her sister from her that she never sent. She returns home to try to prove her innocence to her parents, brother in law and the police. She starts searching for clues and discovers things that make her believe Ava is in alot of danger. A great psychological thriller, you will not suspect or figure it out …When push comes to shove Zoe and Ava realize the sister bond is stronger than the problems they thought they had with each other. .
Zoe’s been living a new life away from her family after changing her name to Lizzie. She refuses to let their toxicity spoil her new family. But when she hears her sister Ava has gone missing, and she’s the prime suspect, she must fly back East to clear her name, and find her sister. Even estrangement can’t break the bonds of sisterhood that formed in their cold home.
This was a fairly fast-paced read that was told in alternating timelines. I liked the fact Warburton used known government experiments to weave her story. It made it much more interesting to me. The thing that’s holding me from giving it five stars is how rushed the last chapter before the epilogue was. I felt it glossed over some issues and would have liked to see it expanded. But overall, this was a fun storyline to read. Thank you, Crooked Lane Books, for sending this along.
“Once there were two sisters. The older was a storyteller, and the younger was her favorite story.”
Estranged sisters Zoe and Ava are as different as can be. Ava is controlled and collected and Zoe is emotional and explosive. The only thing they seem to have in common is being raised by two very reserved and logical clinical psychologists. Then Ava is kidnapped and Zoe discovers by watching the news that she is a suspect. She returns to her home state of Virginia to clear her name and try to find out what really happened to Ava. Is this just another publicity stunt, or is Ava in real danger? Zoe and her brother-in-law Glenn are caught in the middle of a conspiracy that makes them look guilty.
This was a real page-turner. I couldn’t put it down. The first person narrative immediately sucked me in. The author did a wonderful job building suspense and developing her characters. I loved the main characters, well rounded, authentic, and wonderfully flawed. They both find the strength they didn’t know they had and discover things about themselves and their relationship that forever changed them for the better. I would highly recommend this to anyone that loves thrillers.
I honestly don’t even know how to review this book without spoilers because there’s so much going on here that can’t be discussed with revealing details.
The story talks about Teo sister that don’t have a “good” relationship because one turns out to be the bad sister and one is the good sister that has to run away and change her life completely after so many years of suffering all the injustices from her sister.
The parents play a big part here as they aren’t the normal kind of couple due to their job and the sisters are left more or less to find their own way into this life.
Nothing to suspenseful or twisted, quite predictable in many moments but a good story overall.
Zoe and Ava are sisters ….. who haven’t seen or talked to each other in several years. Zoe claims that Ava .. an author of some distinction… ruined her childhood. There was also the boyfriend that dated one, then dated the other, until the first one wanted him back.
While watching the news, Zoe (who changed her name to Lizzie) discovers that her sister Ava has gone missing. At first it’s thought this to be a publicity stunt as she has a new book coming out. But then Zoe’s email is hacked and severl vicious emails were sent to Ava.. threatening letters.
What’s more troubling is that Zoe is now going to have to tell her husband and young step-daughter the truth about her life…. that she has a sister … that her parents are not dead … that her childhood was not the idyllic life she had portrayed.
Zoe has no choice other than to return to her hometown …. she must prove her innocence in having any part of her sister’s disappearance.
So begins an odyssey that tackles the menacing bond between sisters. The love/hate relationship is characterized by ambivalent feelings of love and hate felt by each of the sisters. As Zoe investigates and looks for her sister, she finds another bizarre link within the family.
But if this isn’t a publicity stunt … where is Ava?
This is a well written debut novel that, full of twists and turns guaranteed to keep the reader riveted to the pages. Told mostly by Zoe, it’s like looking through a window and being unable or unwilling to close your eyes, as she remembers what it was like as a child.
Many thanks to the author / Crooked Lane Books / Netgalley for the digital copy of this psychological thriller. Read and review voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.