SISTER
DEAR
Author:
Hannah Mary McKinnon
ISBN:
9780778309550
Publication
Date: May 26, 2020
Publisher:
MIRA Books
Buy Links:
Book
Summary:
In Hannah Mary McKinnon’s psychological thriller, SISTER DEAR (MIRA Trade; May 26, 2020;
$17.99), the obsession of Single White
Female meets the insidiousness of You,
in a twisted fable about the ease
of letting in those who wish us harm, and that mistake’s dire consequences.
The day he dies, Eleanor Hardwicke discovers her
father – the only person who has ever loved her – is not her father. Instead,
her biological father is a wealthy Portland businessman who wants nothing to do
with her and to continue his life as if she doesn’t exist. That isn’t going to
work for Eleanor.
Eleanor decides to settle the score. So, she
befriends his daughter Victoria, her perfect, beautiful, carefree half-sister
who has gotten all of life’s advantages while Eleanor has gotten none.
As she grows closer to Victoria, Eleanor’s obsession
begins to deepen. Maybe she can have the life she wants, Victoria’s life, if
only she can get close enough.
Chapter
1
The
police didn’t believe me.
A jury wouldn’t have, either, if I’d gone on trial, and most
definitely not the judge. My attorney had more than a few reservations about my
story. Ms. Allerton hadn’t said as much. She didn’t need to. I saw it in her
eyes, could tell by the way she shuffled and reshuffled her papers, as if doing
so might shake my lies clean off the pages, leaving only the truth behind in
her inky, royal blue swirls.
After our first meeting I’d concluded she must’ve known
early on—before she shook my hand with her icy fingers—that I was a liar.
Before she’d walked into the room in shiny, four-inch heels, she’d no doubt
decided she’d heard my excuses, or a variation thereof, from countless clients
already. I was yet another person claiming to be innocent. Another criminal who’d
remained adamant they’d done nothing wrong, it wasn’t their fault, honest, despite the overwhelming amount
of evidence to the contrary, a wall of impending doom surrounding me.
And still, at the time I’d believed the only reason Ms.
Allerton had taken on my case pro-bono was because of the amount of publicity
it gave her firm. Reducing my sentence—for there would be one—would amplify her
legacy as a hot-shot lawyer. I’d accepted her help. There was no other option.
I needed her knowledge, her expertise, saw her as my final hope. I now know her
motivations were something else I’d miscalculated. All hope extinguished. Game
over.
If I’m being fair, the judgements Ms. Allerton and other
people had made about me weren’t completely wrong. I had told lies, some, anyway. While that stripped away part of my
claim to innocence, it didn’t mean I was entirely guilty. Not of the things
everybody said I’d done. Things I’d had no choice but to confess to, despite
that being my biggest lie of all.
But I’ll tell you the truth. The whole truth and nothing
but. I’ll start at the beginning, and share everything that happened. Every
last detail leading up to one fateful night. The night someone died because of
me. The night I lost you, too.
I won’t expect your forgiveness. Our relationship—or lack
thereof—will have gone way beyond that point. No. All I can hope for, is that
my side of the story will one day help you understand why I did the things I
did.
And
why I have to do the things I’ve not yet done.
Excerpted from Sister Dear by Hannah
Mary McKinnon, Copyright © 2020 by Hannah McKinnon.
Published by MIRA Books
Hannah Mary McKinnon was born in the UK, grew up in Switzerland and moved to Canada in 2010. After a successful career in recruitment, she quit the corporate world in favor of writing, and is now the author of The Neighbors and Her Secret Son. She lives in Oakville, Ontario, with her husband and three sons, and is delighted by her twenty-second commute.
Social Links:
Twitter: @HannahMMcKinnon
Instagram: @hannahmarymckinnon
Facebook: @HannahMaryMcKinnon
No comments:
Post a Comment