Genre: Psychological thriller
This author just gets me every time! I discovered Lucinda Berry last year, after reading her amazing book, 'The Perfect Child' (read this if you want the hairs on your arms to stand up! You can find my review of that book here). In her books, she confronts you with the most heartbreaking, confusing, nerve-wracking and confounding situations and this book is no exception! Why would the sister you've known all your life, who is happily married, suddenly try to kill her own husband? How can life transform 180 degrees in a few days, leaving you questioning everything you thought you knew? Well, Lucinda Berry will tell you how!
Synopsis
Foster sisters Krystal and Nichole have always been there for each other, so when Nichole is committed to a psychiatric hospital after trying to kill her husband, Krystal drops everything to defend her.
Scarred by a hard upbringing, Nichole and Krystal managed to construct comfortable lives for themselves. Krystal became a respected lawyer, and Nichole was happily married to an architect - until Nichole starts raving that her husband isn’t her husband, believing that he’s an imposter.
Driven by fierce loyalty, Krystal starts asking questions, but she’s not sure she can bear the answers. Her investigation leads to the sisters’ dark shared past…to a horrible tragedy and a well-guarded lie that cemented their sisterly bond.
But that lie can’t kill the truth - the battered, gasping, clawing truth that’s coming for them both. Now Krystal and Nichole must both fight for the lives they’ve built before they’re consumed by the one they left behind.
My thoughts
Captivated by the first chapter, I just had to know what was behind this tragedy. I love how each of this author's books poses an unusual situation as front and centre of the story. It's like an Agatha Christie novel exploring the human psyche. And yet, the reader is never overwhelmed with medical jargon but guided along the story through the characters as they respond to things as they unfold. I became quite attached to the two sisters in this book and almost felt like a third sister in their narrative.
I've always been intrigued by human behaviour and I think I'm drawn to the author's books because of this. She doesn't write traditional psychological thrillers but always tries to educate and remind us that people experience unusual circumstances in their lives and have to find ways to explain them as well as process and deal with them. At the same time, she manages to scare you, confuse you and bring out conflicting emotions in you by amplifying the plot with some extra spice! Now, living in India, I'm used to some extra chili, but even I needed a large glass of milk to neutralise the spice after this one! Another totally recommended book!
About the author
Dr. Lucinda Berry is a former clinical psychologist and leading researcher in childhood trauma. Now, she spends her days writing full-time where she uses her clinical experience to blur the line between fiction and nonfiction. She enjoys taking her readers on a journey through the dark recesses of the human psyche. If she’s not chasing her eleven-year-old son around, you can find her running the streets of Los Angeles prepping for her next marathon.
As taken from Lucinda Berry's author website.
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