By: Georgina Cross
Narrator: Lauryn Allman
Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins
ISBN: 978-1800199033
Publisher: Hachette UK - Bookouture
Publication Date: 09/02/2022
Format: e-book & audiobook
My Rating: 3 Stars
All it takes is four words to shatter everything: “Your sister is dead.” Someone set fire to her house, and my niece is the only survivor. With trembling hands, I reach for the window and rip open the blinds. Everything remains quiet. But deep down I know: They’re coming after me next.
When I left my parents’ home in Kentucky, I never thought I’d see my sister again. For years, we kept a terrible secret, and eventually it tore us apart.
But when I get the call to say that my sister has been killed and my teenage niece Hannah is coming to live with us, I leave the past behind. Hannah is family, and I need to keep her safe. I know what could happen to her if I don’t.
When my niece arrives, she bonds with my daughter Cassie instantly. But then I hear a scream from the girls’ bedroom. And in the garden, someone has lit a fire. It’s a warning.
Then the note arrives. “I’m coming for you.” In that moment, I know that if I want to keep us alive, we have to leave everything behind.
Someone from my past won’t let me forget what I did all those years ago. They will stop at nothing. But are they closer to me than I could have ever imagined?
An utterly addictive psychological thriller packed with suspense about how far we will go to protect our darkest secrets. Perfect for fans of The Wife Between Us, The Woman in the Window, and Gone Girl.
My Review
Set in Alabama, dark buried secrets of the past connect with the present in Georgina Cross's latest Southern family drama mystery, THE NIECE.
Tara has been estranged from her sister, Beth, for the last 13 years. Now her sister has died in a house fire, and she now has custody of her sixteen-year-old niece, Hannah, whom she has not seen since she was three years old.
Tara also has a twelve-year-old daughter, Cassie, who seems to be excited about having her cousin come live with them.
There is an ongoing investigation into the fire, but Tara seems to think that someone is after her, her daughter, and her niece. The threatening notes come, and the phone calls. Then a lot of other suspicious activity that something is not right. Is the past coming back to haunt her?
From past to present, we get flashbacks of Tara's and Beth's complex past back in Kentucky. The dark secrets that tore them apart.
What goes around comes around. A plan of revenge.
The book had a good setup initially, but when it switched to the past, it went downhill from there. Then the ending wrapped up and how the past and present connected with a twist.
While I am sure this author is very talented, this book did not do it for me. I found all the characters to be unlikable and very dysfunctional. I purchased the e-book and the audiobook, and the narrator, Lauryn Allman's country Alabama southern accent, was nerve-grinding!
I found myself fast-forwarding to get to the end. I had just finished Robert Bailey's Rich Blood, also set in Alabama with a cast of crazy dysfunctional families full of drama, and two books in a row were too much for me.
Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this one, especially the audiobook. Maybe the book versus audio. Not sure why anyone would compare this book to Gone Girl, in my opinion. However, appears by other reviews, many enjoyed it.
I look forward to picking up another book from the author next go around.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
Pub Date: Sep 2, 2022
My Rating: 3 Stars
About the Author
Georgina Cross is the author of ONE NIGHT and NANNY NEEDED with Bantam, Penguin Random House, and THE STEPDAUGHTER, THE MISSING WOMAN, and THE NIECE with Bookouture, Hachette Publishing. All works are psychological suspense/thriller.
She is represented by Rachel Beck with Liza Dawson Associates with her books appealing to readers of The Good Girl by Mary Kubica, The Marriage Lie by Kimberly Belle, and The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth.
Georgina has been writing since she was a child. Notebooks & printed pages filled with stories: adventures growing up in New Orleans and tales from Malaysia & England where her family lives. After graduating from Louisiana State University, she enjoyed a career in marketing & communications and founded Susie's Wish non-profit which sends patients with life threatening illnesses to the beach. She spends time with her husband and their combined family of four sons watching scary movies and basketball tournaments and is thrilled to be a full-time author.
Author website: www.Georgina-Cross-Author.com
Twitter: @GCrossAuthor
Facebook: GeorginaCrossAuthor
Instagram: GeorginaCrossAuthor
Goodreads: GeorginaCross
BookBub: @georginacrossauthor
