When people say a book has an unreliable narrator it is usually a clue that you shouldn’t believe everything they say. Well, this book has an unreliable narrator but since there are two you have to guess which one is unreliable (or maybe it’s both!!!)
Alexandra and Ruth Van Ness grew up on a farm in North Dakota but, as grownups, they live far apart and far from their birthplace. Alexandra (Alex) is in an idyllic resort town in the Rocky Mountains, living with her handsome boyfriend, Chase, and working as a child protection officer. It’s a high-pressure job but Alex loves it since it means she can protect children and she always wants to do what is best for the children. Ruth ran off from home with one boyfriend who was bad news and she has been living in Pittsburgh with a dope-dealing boyfriend. The two sisters haven’t talked in years and then suddenly Ruth turns up on Alex’s doorstep. She’s pregnant and has nowhere else to turn so, reluctantly, Alex and Chase let her stay. It turns out Ruth isn’t entirely without resources. Before she left Pittsburgh, she took a coffee can that had substantial amounts of cocaine and cash in it. Of course, this belongs to her boyfriend, Eli, and he wants it back. Ruth hid the tin far in the back of the bathroom vanity but shortly after her arrival it disappeared from there. Ruth lets this go for a while but when Eli shows up in town and wants the stash back, she finally tells Alex and Chase about it. Both deny knowing anything about the tin. Maybe Alex’s good friend, local policeman Sully, can do something about Eli. Sully would probably do anything Alex asked him to. They’re just good friends, however. Or are they?
Roz Nay is Canadian. She has lived and worked around the world but now lives in BC with her husband and two children. Why did she feel the need to set this book in the USA? It would have worked just as well with a Canadian setting and other writers (e.g. Louise Penny) have done just fine setting their books here. This wasn’t a bad book but I don’t know that I would seek out anything else by this author again. ( )

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review here and on my blog Samwise Reviews.This was certainly a twisty book, and I found myself not being able to choose which sister to root for. This was my first novel by Roz Nay and I'm definitely a fan of her writing style. It was a bit of a slow build and felt more like a family drama than a thriller, but I very much enjoyed the ride. The switching POV confused me occasionally when I forgot to pay attention to which sister it was focused on, but that's my fault for ignoring chapter headings. Overall, I'd definitely look for more of her works. ( )

Whoa! What happens in this novel is every mother’s worst nightmare and fear, including my own. Be warned, this book is crazy good but it will get you right in the gut.

It starts out on sure-footing, but doubt and chaos slowly creep in and before you know it, you can’t tell who is wrong or right, or what’s up or down. From the beginning, I sensed something was off, but the author has a way of assuaging those niggling thoughts and making the questionable seem justifiable. There was no way to tell where it was going and each page peels back another layer of deceit or revelation. Only until the very end can you (maybe?) be completely sure that everything has been explained and ironed it out, but you’re still left wondering.

Save this book for a lazy weekend or relaxing vacation because you won’t want to put it down.

Thank you, Crooked Lane Books, for this copy for an honest review. ( )

It's a chilling and suspenseful domestic drama. Both estranged sisters have dark secrets from the past that both want to remain deeply buried. Alex now has what seems to be the perfect life. She has a handsome boyfriend, Chase, who she lives with in his beautiful loft in the Rocky Mountains. She has the job that she always wanted working in Child Protective Services with at-risk children. But all that is at risk of change when her sister Ruth appears unexpectedly at her door. With a long history of trouble in Ruth’s life, Alex is certain that Ruth’s appearance will only bring upheaval to her world...but they are still sisters so Alex agrees to help Ruth. She makes Ruth promises never to bring up anything from the past. The story is told from both Alex’s and Ruth’s points of view, and needleless to say the points of view are very different. The secrets are slowly revealed, leaving the reader wondering who is telling the truth and who can be trusted. Many twists and turns that keeps the reader guessing right up to the shocking conclusion. ( )

I absolutely loved this book! It got me hooked right from the beginning and I didn’t want to put it down. I didn’t know which character to believe or which one I was supposed to like that by the time I finished the book, I found out I had picked the wrong character to root for. ( )