She thought she’d buried her past. But what if it’s been hunting her this whole time?From the bestselling and award-winning author of The Marsh King’s Daughter comes a startling novel of psychological suspense as two generations of sisters try to unravel their tangled relationships between nature and nurture, guilt and betrayal, love and evil.You have been cut off from society for fifteen years, … been cut off from society for fifteen years, shut away in a mental hospital in self-imposed exile as punishment for the terrible thing you did when you were a child.
But what if nothing about your past is as it seems?
And if you didn’t accidentally shoot and kill your mother, then whoever did is still out there. Waiting for you.
For a decade and a half, Rachel Cunningham has chosen to lock herself away in a psychiatric facility, tortured by gaps in her memory and the certainty that she is responsible for her parents’ deaths. But when she learns new details about their murders, Rachel returns, in a quest for answers, to the place where she once felt safest: her family’s sprawling log cabin in the remote forests of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
As Rachel begins to uncover what really happened on the day her parents were murdered, she learns–as her mother did years earlier–that home can be a place of unspeakable evil, and that the bond she shares with her sister might be the most poisonous of all.
more
The Wicked Sister is massively thrilling and altogether unputdownable. Dionne is proving to be one of the finest suspense writers working today.
A terrifying thrill-ride of psychological suspense. Karen Dionne is wickedly good at deception, deceit and misdirection and The Wicked Sister is seductively compelling. You will not stop reading.
I enjoyed Karen Dionne’s first novel – The Marsh King’s Daughter and had high hopes for her new book and I wasn’t disappointed. The Wicked Sister has a page turning plot, beautiful scenery and a mystery that will keep the readers enthralled until the surprise ending. The story is told in dual time lines by two important characters:
Jenny tells the time line from the past. She is the mother of Diana and Rachel. She gives us the information on why she and her husband moved to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan into a family owned lodge in an isolated area. She tells us about her daughter Diana and how she and her husband worry about her mental stability and what a difficult child she was. She and her husband hoped that living in the wilderness would help Diana get better and would give her and Rachel a chance to grow up where they could learn about nature.
Rachel is the second daughter. When the novel begins, she has been in an insane asylum for 15 years. She went to the mental hospital after her parents were killed and she believed that she had killed them. Being in the hospital for so long hasn’t really changed her feelings of guilt until she agrees to tell her story to a young journalism student. He begins to dig up facts that make her question her original assumption — maybe she didn’t kill her parents, maybe someone else did it and she saw it happen and was traumatized by it. The possibility that she wasn’t guilty makes her want to find out who really killed them. As Rachel begins to uncover what really happened on the day her parents were murdered, she learns—as her mother did years earlier—that home can be a place of unspeakable evil, and that the bond she shares with her sister might be the most poisonous of all.
This novel takes place in a remote area in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The landscape and the giant lodge that they live in are so well described that I could see them in my mind. The book is about family and love, mental illness and fear with a little magic mixed in. About half way through the book I felt like I knew how the book would end but there were still several surprises that I didn’t see coming. This was a fantastic second novel for Karen Dionne and I can’t wait to read her next book.
Karen Dionne is back with a dark, atmospheric and chilling tale set in the deep woods of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Beautifully written, The Wicked Sister moves seamlessly between past and present, unraveling the truth behind a family tragedy. From her insightful depiction of both the grace and bitter cruelty of humanity, to her command of the plot and pacing, Dionne’s brilliance shines through on every single page. Prepare to be blown away!
A tightly written page-turner by the author of the Marsh King. I took off a star for a weaker end twist than I’d hoped for. Not as strong as her first book, but still good with the answer to a question I explore in my books: are psychopaths born, or made?
Some are born.
This one was.
Trigger warning: I deducted 1* for what I felt was overly descriptive animal cruelty
I’ve decided to put any trigger warnings at the top of my reviews so that a reader can decide quickly if they want to read further.
I definitely enjoyed this ride of a book. At times I liked it, loved it, then didn’t like it, but in the end it was a very good story.
We have two POV’s, Jenny, from the past. She is the mother of Diana and Rachel, they live in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and I loved the descriptive writing of the background and atmosphere of the book. An immense lodge built by Jenny’s great-great grandfather becomes the family home. This sounds like a museum, again the descriptions were wonderful, I could actually picture this lodge and get a feel for it.
Jenny thought “a hunting lodge in the middle of four thousand wilderness acres sounds just about perfect to me” . . . “A wild child living in the woods. What could be more appropriate”.
So they think this is a great place to raise their two daughters, one of which they know has psychiatric problems. The parents are also hesitant to admit to themselves how sick Diana is. They make excuses and downplay or self deny that Diana has severe enough mental disease that she should be institutionalized or be seen by consulting psychiatrists. This part of the descriptions of the parents was somewhat hard to believe since they are educated biologists and understand human nature, etc. But it’s fiction so I went with it.
We open in the Present with Rachel, a 26 woman, while she is talking to a spider in her room.She has had the ability to talk to all animals, insects etc since she was very young. She has been in a mental institution for 15 years. She’s there for several reasons, she either witnessed her parents getting killed and was traumatized or she committed the crime and can’t or won’t admit it. Further, most attempts at psychiatric therapy and medication failed to help Rachel. She’s convinced that she killed her parents — until a young journalist arrives on the scene. He wants to tell Rachel’s story, Trevor’s the name and remember it as he will have an important part in the story later!! He starts digging into facts and some surprising and interesting facts are revealed, yes a very good part!!
The other point of view is that of Jenny, told as Past Time. Jenny is a hard woman to understand. On the one hand she is loving, caring, educated, intelligent and yet she and her husband make so many ridiculous mistakes, I just wanted to SHAKE THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!
The past starts with Jenny finding a toddler face down in their pool. Efforts at resuscitation failed. No one knew how the little boy had gotten through a locked gate and made it to the pool so quickly. .
We learn about Diana and Rachel’s early years. Jenny’s sister, Charlotte, comes to help with the kids, cook, etc, but mainly to always keep an eye on Diana.
Well no more of the plot, you’ll just have to reac it, and you will and you’ll like it. If you liked The Marsh King’s daughter you will love this one. I think the former is still my favorite.
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through Edelweiss.
This novel is set to publish on August 4, 2020
As a huge fan of Karen Dionne’s The Marsh King’s Daughter, I was thrilled to receive an early copy of The Wicked Sister. I loved returning to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and would have gladly lingered if the past and present tension of Rachel’s plight and Diana’s psychopathy hadn’t forced me to race to the finish. I may have to buy the audiobook so I can enjoy this story again at a more leisurely pace!
What a read!
I read The Wicked Sister in one sitting. Karen Dionne proved she was a great writer in her previous book, The Marsh King’s Daughter. She confirms it with The Wicked Sister, about a child psychopath from early childhood to adulthood. Taut, scary and really interesting, this one kept me glued to the page from start to finish.
Once again, Karen Dionne took me far! She is a true storyteller who has the gift of mixing two literary styles that I adore: nature writing and psychological thriller! Reading Karen Dionne is a pleasure, I love nature and dream of someday visiting the north of the United States and Canada. I liked this book very much, the plot is good and Karen Dionne describes once again this magnificent place that is the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (I enjoyed looking at pictures on the internet, getting to know the place better, hoping discover it “for real” one day, a place I had never heard of before her previous novel which I highly recommend too! It may be interesting to know that the author grew up in a large log cabin in the woods of Michigan’s upper peninsula much like the ones described in her novels. This is probably why she tells us so passionately about this region. There is one side that reminded me of fairy tales, a magical side that I liked, the fact that Rachel “speaks” and “understands” the language of animals. A tip to finish: read it!
I discovered Karen Dionne’s work when a friend recommended The Marsh King’s Daughter, which I loved. Once again, Dionne knocked it out of the park: complex characters, a setting that’s just as much a character as any of the people, a haunting plot, and more.
At first I thought it would be predictable because it’s pretty clear early on who the “wicked sister” is–but the story remains tense, driving the reader forward, the entire time, as we learn what really happened in family events from the past.
Hard to stop reading and to put it dow!
I loved this book! I really enjoyed the author’s previous novel, The Marsh King’s Daughter, so I was really excited to get the chance to read this book. Unfortunately, when this book was released, I was in the process of moving so I couldn’t get to it right away but I never forgot about it and made sure to work it in just as soon as I could. I was hooked by this story right away and had a very hard time putting it down. This book was just as good as I had hoped it would be.
Rachel has spent the past fifteen years in a mental institution. Nobody believes her but she knows that she killed her mother and deserves to live this limited existence. Then she gets some new information that leaves her doubting everything she thought she knew. She decides to check herself out of the institution and go back to her family home to see what she can remember from all those years ago.
This story is told from two different points of view. Rachel’s point of view is set in the present day with some flashbacks to her memories from when she was growing up. We also get to see things from Jenny’s point of view which is set in the past starting with Diana is very young. Jenny is the mother of both Rachel and Diana. We see how much of a challenge Diana is and how hard her parents work to keep her calm and under control. I really felt for Jenny and wasn’t sure what decisions I would make if I were put in her situation. Eventually, these two timelines come together and things get really intense.
I was completely taken with this story. I wanted to see what Diana would do and how her parents would handle the situation. I couldn’t imagine living with someone so unpredictable and dangerous at times. I was equally invested in Rachel’s story. I felt just how desperate she was to figure out what really happened to her parents. This story was violent at times, including injuries to animals and children, so it may not be for everyone but I thought it was an excellent read.
I thought that the two narrators, Kristen Sieh and Andy Arndt, did a phenomenal job with this audiobook. I thought that the two voices worked very well together in this book and that each narrator did a great job in bringing the characters to life. I thought that they added a lot of excitement and emotion to the story and that their narration added to my overall enjoyment of the book.
I would recommend this book to others. I thought that this was a fantastic book that kept me guessing throughout the story and worrying about what would happen to the characters next. I kept my headphones glued to my ears with this book and look forward to reading more of Karen Dionne’s work soon.
I received a digital review copy of this book from G.P. Putnam’s Sons via Edelweiss and borrowed a copy of the audiobook from my local library.
This book is the definition of a page-turner, in that I didn’t want to put it down. Honestly, I didn’t like it as much as The Marsh King’s Daughter, but that can hardly be considered a criticism since TMKD is one of the best books I’ve ever read.
Unpredictable, and I’m so envious of the gorgeous forest and lodge in which the characters lived.
I love Karen’s work and this did not disappoint. The story was heart-wrenching. The voices of the protagonists strong, honest. The thread of the story, scary as all get out. Enjoy as she takes you on a journey of a family torn apart.
The Fates are smiling but not in the way expected.
Wickedness can be skillfully hidden.
Rachel has spent fifteen years in a mental hospital suffering from complicated grief disorder because she thinks she killed her father and mother, even though the police ruled her parents’ deaths were a murder‑suicide perpetrated by her father. Trevor, a budding journalist, wants to interview her about her past. She decides that she has been serving a self‑imposed life sentence for a crime she did not commit, and desperately wants to know everything. The answers she needs are buried in her past, so she checks herself out of the hospital, and her adventure of discovery begins.
The story unfolds in Rachel’s first person “now” narrative, alternating with “then” chapters in a first person narrative by Jenny. Dionne structured the narratives so readers gradually discern the connection of the narrators, and a troubling picture emerges. Relationships are complicated, complex, and difficult to interpret. The children are exceptionally bright, very manipulative, and difficult to interpret. Neither past nor present events are as they seem. And then there is the rifle, the Remington, the most‑loved hunting rifle in America, bought for Rachel.
The title “The Wicked Sister” implies that the sister is, in fact, wicked, but there are several sisters in this drama, and wickedness can be skillfully hidden. I received a review copy of “The Wicked Sister” from Karen Dionne, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, and Penguin Publishing Group. Readers are kept guessing right up to the twisted, yet satisfying, ending.
I absolutely adored this book!! Marsh Kings Daughter is one of my favorite books so I had high hopes and The Wicked Sister delivered!!
Loved this book! Not quite as much as much as I loved “The Marsh King’s Daughter,” but it contained the same great psychological drama and tenseness, the same wonderful atmospheric setting in Michigan’s Upper Penninsula, the same dark, dysfunctional family theme, and a wrap-up that dangles the hint of a sequel. This author has a talented ability to weave dark psychological themes into engrossing stories.
I just returned from a trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. So this book really resonated with me and in my mind, extended my time there. Great descriptive of the UP.
The story is about a family dealing with serious mental illness. Their daughter is a psychopath in the true sense of the word.
Often graphic, its a page turner. Its a little dark and twisted and so good. I stayed up half the night to finish.
The Wicked Sister is a great read that features an intriguing plot that’s full of suspense and will keep you guessing until the very end.
For fifteen years, Rachel Cunningham has believed herself responsible for her parents’ deaths and has locked herself away in a mental hospital as punishment. With few memories of the day her parents died, the one thing Rachel is sure of is that she was the one who shot her mother. But when Rachel discovers new information that shows it would have been impossible for her to have been the shooter, she makes the decision to go home and find out what really happened that fateful day. But as Rachel begins to uncover the truth, she learns that the idyllic lodge where she grew up is more dangerous than she thought.
This book is told in alternating chapters of Rachel in the present and her family in the past leading up to Rachel’s parents’ deaths. I found the chapters in the past to be a bit more interesting solely because I was invested in finding out how Rachel’s parents died. It’s clear that their deaths didn’t happen the way Rachel remembers, but beyond that we don’t know what happened to them until it is revealed near the end of the book. Due to her jumbled memories, Rachel is somewhat of an unreliable narrator which made following her in the present an interesting experience. As Rachel slowly regains her memories or learns new information about her parents’ deaths, we experience it alongside her. The ending of the book is suspenseful with a few interesting twists I didn’t see coming and overall I was happy with the way the book wrapped up.
I intentionally tried to keep this review as vague as possible as I think a decent portion of my enjoyment was discovering the twists in the book as they popped up. As a warning I will say there is a fair amount of animal cruelty in this book. I had to skim those passages as it’s not something I can read about. The book also includes taxidermy, a character is actively involved in the practice, which is another subject I struggle with, so I had to skim those parts as well. Definitely be on the lookout for those passages if these are subjects you have a hard time reading about. I’m glad I saw a review mentioning them which allowed me to keep an eye out for it while reading and jump forward several pages once it came up.
Overall I really enjoyed The Wicked Sister and I would definitely recommend it along with the author’s previous book, The Marsh King’s Daughter, if you’re looking for a suspense novel full of surprising twists.
**I received an advance copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.**
Fresh, truly original, and utterly unpredictable, Karen Dionne is at the top of her game with the gorgeously told The Wicked Sister. I devoured this book in one sitting! It’s hard to balance complex and heartrending familial relationships with pulse-pounding suspense, but somehow this book does exactly that. Propulsive and terrifying to the very shocking end!