But all that changes when a trip to the mall explodes into violence and Andrea suddenly sees a completely different side to Laura. Because it turns out that before Laura was Laura, she was someone completely different. For nearly thirty years she’s been hiding from her previous identity, lying low in the hope that no one would ever find her. But now she’s been exposed, and nothing will ever be the same again.
The police want answers and Laura’s innocence is on the line, but she won’t speak to anyone, including her own daughter. Andrea is on a desperate journey following the breadcrumb trail of her mother’s past. And if she can’t uncover the secrets hidden there, there may be no future for either one of them. . . . (Pub Date: Aug 21, 2018)
Honest review based on an ARC provided by Edelweiss. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.
Not my favorite but this was different-good. 3.5.
Andrea has settled for the small town where she was raised and to which she had decided to move back so she could take care of mother after a cancer diagnosis. Now Laura has recovered, she asks her daughter to move on. But a shooting changes everything. Neither are severely hurt physically, Andy's perception of who her mother is, however, seems to have changed forever when Laura seems to cold-bloodedly kill the shooter and after events Andy can't understand send her away to as far as possible with an unbelievable amount of money and many questions—above all, who is that woman who has raised her?
Indeed, this isn't what Slaughter seems to usually write, surely nothing like her latest The Good Daughter. This time, the main character isn't a lawyer, a policeman or anything, she's a young woman who has lost her way in life and gave up trying for improvements. We also meet Jane, in a different timeline, who comes from a wealthy family but won't accommodate and do what it takes to make the world a better place for the child she's expecting, even if it means killing.
I know Slaughter has worked with double leads but it's the first time I read anything with two intertwining timelines. I can't say it was her first time, but this felt like a different thriller notwithstanding. Still, I'm not fond of that style. Not even Slaughter could sell it to me. Jane was very likable but she was so deep in the save-the-world story her own story didn't appeal to me.
I think the biggest let-down here was the lack of big surprises. As a thriller, it's hard to write a good book without lots of either tension or plot twists. Not that there wasn't any of those, but it wasn't enough. Especially for a book this long, you want to feel more excited about what you're reading. What I think happened is that Slaughter went for a more dramatic thriller and lost the opportunity to show what she's really strong at, which is a pity.
Even so, this was a good book and it only got better as I went on. Also, I said it's long but it was very easy to read, I barely felt it. I expected much more from this author but compared to the average she's far above. Also, I wouldn't mind more of this new style, as much as I love her usual. As I said, this was a good kind of different.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
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