Thursday, September 24, 2020

The Half Sister

Title: The Half Sister
Author: Sandie Jones
Published: June 16th 2020 by Minotaur Books
Format: eBook, Hardcover, 320 pages
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for an opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.

After a sluggish start that will turn off many readers, the Half Sister took off, and I found myself in a race to the end.

Only Lauren knew the woman who interrupted the usual Sunday lunch at their widowed mother’s home. Jess, barging in and demanding to speak with her father, catching protective Kate off guard and demanding she leaves, only sets in place more questions. Questions only Lauren has partial answers for and letting the reader know that once you put your DNA profile out there, there is no knowing who will show up at your front door.

Is it possible that Harry, their father having died only a year prior, had another child that the girls were unaware of; Is it possible that their mother knew and never told them? Kate refuses to believe their saintly father could ever do such a thing, while Lauren remembers an incident from 20 years prior which bubbles to the surface.

Where this book begins and where it ends are so opposed, and the reader spends a moment or two wondering what they missed. Then it dawns on you. Words from a wife to a husband, words about responsibility, and then it all fits into place.

Sandie Jones throws in all sorts of side stories and variable what-if, and you, as the reader, are right there with her. As you are trying to tie the parts together, Jones is one step ahead of you systemically tearing them apart. Until the final moments, when each daughter is lying there, gutted with the truth.

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