#LongBrightRiver #NetGalley
This book left me gasping. A must read for thriller fans.
Mickey Fitzpatrick has been patrolling the 24th District for years. She knows most of the working women by name. She knows what desperation looks like and what people will do when they need a fix. She’s become used to finding overdose victims: their numbers are growing every year. But every time she sees someone sprawled out, slumped over, cold to the touch, she has to pray it’s not her sister, Kacey.
Although the lead character doesn't give much to care but that's the plus point. I cared for the lead character at every instance in the story. Its a journey from her childhood to where she's now.
Characters were good and so is the narration.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House UK for giving me an advance copy of this book.

This book was hard going but I owed it to the author to finish but it was a struggle. It was so slow, in my opion not a thriller. A slow burner at the start then it picked up pace then slowed again and as for the ending. I felt as though the author rushed it and in my mind did not make sense. Not one of my favourite reads.
I would like to thank theauthor, publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

This was a poignant and well told tale of two sisters on very different life paths that was a little bit lacking in the mystery element but very strong on the family drama. It tells the story of Mickey, a beat cop in Philadelphia and her younger sister, Kacey, a heroin addicted sex worker on the same streets.

The Positives: The characters were believable and felt authentic. Although Mickey made several questionable decisions, they felt appropriate for her character as told. I thought that Liz Moore dealt with the topic of opioid addiction with a welcome degree of nuance and empathy, showing the lengths that some community members would go to, in an attempt to make the process safe for users. The familial relationships in the narrative were raw and honest and I appreciated that all of the characters were flawed in their own ways.

The Negatives: I felt that the investigation element of the plot was a little haphazard and definitely seemed to take a back seat to the family drama. I thought the reveal was predictable and the climax was underwhelming.

Overall, this was a compelling read for the subjects it tackled if not for the mystery.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I am not keen on giving books a review which is not great as I feel that the author has worked their socks off to produce their story. However, I did not enjoy this book particularly. I found it very slow and did not really like the characters. I did not feel it was going anywhere but I did persevere with it. The ending was better than most of the book but I am afraid I cannot recommend it. For me personally I found it hard to finish

To start with this book seemed really disjointed and I struggled to get into it, but it wasn't long before I was living life with Mickey and Thomas.
It's sad to know that this situation is true for so many people and the reality is that it's not always going to turn out for the best like it did in this book.
The story will stay with me for a long time, if only to think of the poor babies being born every day with withdrawal symptoms.

Mickey is the police officer who patrols the streets full of addicts, sex workers and dealers. Her sister is a street addict and appears to have gone missing, coinciding with the murders of several women in the area. Concerned that she may be a victim of the killer Mickey is frantic to find her and put the killer away. Woven in amongst this is the story of Mickey and her sister, their childhood deprived of love and opportunity and what path this led them down. For Kacey it was addiction, for Mickey it was more subtle but no less insidious. These are nuanced characters and Liz Moore shines a light on the complexity of the opioid crisis and how it impacts on communities and families in unseen ways.
This is also a story of the power men hold and their cruelty, but also the quiet, determined strength that women wield. Bleak and oppressive in places there is also a thread of hope running throughout the book; the love that Mickey has for her son, the help that she finds in unexpected places and the small changes that some members of the community are making for the better.
It's a book that made me angry, cry, feel hope and feel very glad I read it. My thanks go to the publishers and Net Galley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

Liz Moore is a very talented writer and this book is a slow burner. The book is set in Philadelphia and is the story of two sisters, one a police officer and the other is a drug addict. This is more of a suspense novel rather than a police procedural or a thriller. It is emotional and filled with family life broken by drug addiction. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

Hit and miss for me. A Gritty and challenging read at times which is just up my street. Parts of it just felt too sensatianalised. All to taste.

Mickey Fitzpatrick is a beat cop patrolling Kensington, Philadelphia. Historically, the area has been known as a centre of gang activity, organised crime, prostitution, and an area known for having some of the highest rates of heroin use in the USA. Mickey prefers working alone since her partner is out on medical. She knows most of the store owners and locals, having been brought up in the area as a child. It’s what and who she knows.

When a number of women are found dead in the area Mickey takes a personal interest. She’s concerned one of the dead is going to be her sister Kacey and Kacey’s currently in the wind.

Long Bright River is Mickey’s journey through her childhood to where she is today. She is forced to challenge the stereotypes and her versions of people near and dear to her. She grapples with issues - Is past behaviour a predictor of future behaviour or can people change? Are those who appear good not always so? Who seeks to benefit from different relationships and at what cost?

Throughout, Mickey is strong, unflappable, and has little regard for her own personal safety in her pursuit of the truth. She has a strong sense of what it right and just. We see a different side of her with her son though and it gives her fantastic dimension as a character.

I thoroughly enjoyed Long Bright River. It’s an early release in 2020 and I received an eARC in exchange for an honest review. In my opinion, it will be a hard taskmaster who does not like this book. It was unputdownable. I believe readers can all take something away from it despite it being a work of fiction. I also loved the notes from Liz Moore about Kensington and her research there.

A resounding ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 from me.

My review will be posted to my Instagram page @aplace_inthesun closer to publication.

Thank you to Liz Moore, Netgalley and Random House UK.

This is a fantastic fast paced thriller to get your teeth into., It is very moving and quite harrowing at times, with a great plot and wonderful characters. With plenty of suspense and mystery this is a brilliant, if sometimes uncomfortable read. Highly recommended.

Set in an area of Philadelphia that is suffering from crime, mostly drug related, we follow Micky who juggles being a single parent with her job in the Police. On her beat, she keeps an eye out for sister Kacey as she plies her trade having fallen onto the wrong side of the law. They fell out a while back and don't talk anymore but they are still sisters and she still cares. But then Kacey disappears and Mickey becomes worried. Worried enough to compromise her job and her life to find her missing sister. As the story in the present progresses, we see glimpses from the past to colour and explain what is going on now. Glimpses that both shock and warm, definitely add a whole other emotional level to what is now becoming a very dangerous game for Micky.
This is a wonderful and harrowing book that grabbed me from the first page, held me captive throughout, spitting me out at the end, exhausted but wholly satisfied. There is so much going on throughout the story but it never got confusing or busy. During the present day narrative, we follow the sisters as they grow up and see what happened to each of them, the events which led to the choices they made which, in turn, shaped the people they turned into. Some of what is described, the effects that drugs and crime have on people and the area in which they live are harrowing but sensitively tackled by the author who manages to bring all that happens in the book to a personal level, played out by characters that are so well drawn that I couldn't help but connect to all of them on an emotional level. But, all this would be nothing if the story didn't stand up alongside. And it does. Very much so. Micky's search for her missing sister leads her to some of the worst places, to talk to some rather nefarious characters. And then we see her at home with her child, juggling shifts with childcare. We learn about her previous relationship and how that started. We meet her neighbour and hear about a stranger who is visiting her. There are many parts to this book but the whole eclipses their sum many-fold. And the ending, don't worry, I'm not going to spoil anything, just going to say that the ending is perfect.
This is the first book I have read by this author but, on the back of what I just read, I will definitely be checking out her back catalogue. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

In some ways Long Bright River is a fairly standard police procedural in a case with the usual twists and turns, but there's also clearly a social aspect to the novel that underpins it and gives it a little more presence, weight and meaning. Essentially though what elevates the book far above anything standard in this genre is the personal family drama that brings it vividly to life in a way and imbues it with real heart.

As far as the police procedural goes Michaela 'Mickey' Fitzpatrick, an officer for the Philadelphia Police Department, has all the expected problems that come with working in a difficult area of town and the familiar issues with colleagues and superior officers. The rundown Kensington district is rife with drugs, prostitution and populated by a lot of unsavoury characters. And now, having just been dispatched to investigate the report of the body of a young woman found murdered and dumped, she is worried that they might have a serial killer on their hands.

Mickey however has more reason to worry about that than most. She has a personal interest in what happens in Kensington because her sister Kacey makes a living on the streets of the district. Both sisters had difficult childhoods, but where Mickey's reaction to it was to become a police officer, Kacey took another direction for the worse, getting involved with drugs, with dubious characters and she's been seen and been arrested for picking up clients on the streets.

Although the two sisters aren't on speaking terms and have dropped out of each other's lives, Mickey wouldn't mind if Kacey was arrested again, because then she would at least know that she is safe. As it is, Kacey hasn't been seen or heard of for a few months. With a killer now apparently operating on the streets of Kensington, Mickey is living in constant fear of Kacey being reported as his next victim. In order to find out what has happened to her, she's going to have to ask questions in some dangerous places and deal with some difficult characters, including her own extended family.

Long Bright River is much more than a police procedural then, and it's more than just personal family involvement that gives the thriller an extra bit of edge. Liz Moore's writing has a way of delving deeply into the backgrounds of these characters, making them real, considering the options open to them and the reasons and consequences of the choices they make. It's not just Kacey who has been shaped by a dysfunctional family background and upbringing, but it also colours how Mickey sees the world and how she reacts to situations, particularly sensitive towards her own son Thomas and generally protective of children in similar difficult circumstances.

The novel works tremendously well on a number of levels. The police detective work is fairly standard in its twists and turns but Liz Moore provides a strong background and grounding in the social issues involved and, crucially, the impact it can have on a community, families and individuals. It's this aspect that makes it feel like there is something real and important at stake, giving the writing a sense of authenticity, conviction and genuine emotional engagement. In the end the crime thriller and the personal drama come together as you would expect, blending perfectly into a whole, complete and satisfying thriller.

4.5 stars

This book’s premise alone was enough to captivate me and still, it was so much more than I anticipated. Now, this is not an easy read. Rather, it’s an emotional, heartbreaking story comprised of a profound fraternal bond, drug addiction and forgiveness, all tackled with such grace.

Mickey and Kacey lost their mother to a drug overdose when they were just 3 and 4 years old. With their father out of their lives and therefore raised by their inattentive grandmother, the girls only have each other for love and support.

In the present narrative, Mickey is an officer patrolling the streets of Kensington Avenue, Philadelphia, notorious for its opioid crisis. While on duty, she always has one eye on the lookout for her impetuous sister who has fallen victim to the very thing that killed their mother and many others in the neighbourhood. Then, when several street girls are found murdered, questions about Kacey’s whereabouts arise and Mickey is desperate to uncover the mystery.

Long Bright River unravels slowly, rife with plot twists and unexpected revelations about the girls’ relationships and difficult upbringing. My only complaint would be that the police investigation fizzles out transforming the book into not so much a thriller, but a dark literary suspense novel. Nonetheless, Moore has created an intricate character study and an even more tangible setting. Her prose is so emotionally charged that I sympathised with Mickey throughout the entirety of her journey, shedding a tear or two as the book came to a close.

Overall, this was a provocative, authentic book filled with visceral characters. Long Bright River is a timely read that should be every literary suspense fanatic’s TBR list.

This is the first book I have read by Liz Moore, so I was looking forward to seeing the style of writing, it’s always good finding new to you writers. At times this is a tough book to read dealing with the opioid crisis, set in Philadelphia, I know I have seen documentaries on the opioid epidemic in America right now. It makes it interesting as I take opioids for pain, have done for 13 years and attitudes lately over here have changed with GP’s. So not an easy subject for a writer to tackle in a story.

The story follows the relationship of sisters Mickey and Kacey, Mickey is a police officer, assigned to a specific area of Philadelphia, an area where drug use is high, but Mickey is also involved emotionally into fighting this crisis, as her sister, Kacey, is an addict, and a sex worker, she will disappear for weeks at a time, which causes Mickey a lot of anxiety, wondering if she will be the next body she finds.

The story is told in past and present, the past is Mickey and Kacey growing up, a father that is absent, and the death of their mother, leaving it to the grandmother to raise the girls, the present is the investigation into a string of murders that coincide with Kacey disappearing, which causes added stress to Mickey.

This is at times a really tough story to read, emotions are high, two women who have had to fight all the way from a young age. two take two different paths in life. You really feel for Mickey, who is patrolling the streets watching over her sister in a way, hoping she is not the next dead person she will find. The characters grip you. and draw you in.

The only negative thing I could say, is that this began as a police investigation into the killing of prostitutes, but somewhere that seemed to take a back seat for part of the book, to then reappear at the end, but was then so rushed, the suspects all linked intimately with Mickey, mystery solved and put to bed. I felt that let the rest of the story down in a way. Would it have been better to have just focused on the two sisters, without the crime, as that is mostly what it was about. It would have worked on its own, the emotions are there, a story is there. Obviously the crime part was tied up nice and neatly at the end, but the social problem with drug addiction is still there. It’s not as easy to wrap up.

I would like to thank #netgalley and #Randomhousefor an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest, fair and unbiased review.

The talented Liz Moore writes a powerful, deeply affecting and harrowing account of the human cost of the out of control opoid crisis, gripping not only the Kensington neighbourhood of Philadelphia, but the country as a whole. It would be a mistake to go into this multilayered novel as a straightforward crime read, it is so much more, the crime aspects hang in the background, but at the forefront is a in depth character driven family drama, the relationship between two sisters, 32 year old single mother and beat PPD police officer, Mickey Fitzgerald, and her younger sibling, Kacey, at the mercy of her drug addiction and a prostitute. In a bleak and melancholic narrative, we learn of the sisters troubled childhood and personal history, losing their mother early, being bought up by their grandmother, Gee, unable to give her attention to the girls.

With only themselves to rely on, the sisters form an strong bond with each other, which comes to be tested in later years, as they forge separate paths from each other, becoming estranged in the process. However, Mickey continues to feel deeply connected to Kacey, trying to keep an eye out for her on her patrols, but when she fails to get any sighting of Kacey for some time, she becomes desperately worried, particularly as there is a serial killer targeting women and prostitutes in the area. Moore paints a unforgettable human and compassionate picture of economic deprivation, the urban decay with its drug addicts, dealers and drug culture with a thoughtful and pertinent social and political commentary on the scale of the opoid tragedy.

This is a tough and challenging literary read, you cannot escape the harsh realities of drugs and life on the streets, and the inevitable repercussions on the people, families and communities caught up in it. This is a beautifully written, intricate, complex, and compelling novel, about family, sisters, love, corrupt police officers and despite the darkness and sorrow, with the much needed presence of hope. Many thanks to Random House Cornerstone for an ARC.

A story of 2 sisters brought up together in Kensington (USA) by the grandmother ,Gee , after the death of their mother . One becomes a junkie and turns to prostitution and the other becomes a police officer . After a number of bodies of street girls are found , Stacey goes missing so her sister sets out to find her believing she may have become a victim . The girls talk about a policeman being involved so a number of suspects come to the front . I do not want to spoil the plot any further as there are a number of side stories to the main tale all linked together . A well written book with a number of surprise turns .

This book was absolutely fantastic I really engaged with the story with the characters and I felt invested in the characters and the situations. I wanted the right thing to happen and it did and in the end it turned out was a true story which made it even better!!! I would highly recommend this book

This book was absolutely fantastic I really engaged with the story with the characters and I felt invested in the characters and the situations. I wanted the right thing to happen and it did and in the end it turned out was a true story which made it even better!!! I would highly recommend this book and shall be doing so on my social media!

This is a portrait of two sisters living in a run down district of Philadelphia where crime and drug abuse are everywhere. The older, more studious and serious minded sister, Michaela (Mickey) survived their difficult and deprived upbringing to become a Patrol Officer in the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD). In contrast, her two year younger sister, Kacey, falls into a life of drugs and prostitution, and when she goes missing, Mickey fears the worst.

Their story is narrated by Mickey. It is beautifully written and has a really authentic feel. A compelling insight to a World I am grateful never to have experienced, enhanced by an interesting, well constructed story line.

Long Bright River is a slow-burn, suspense novel rather than a thriller. It is an emotional, heartbreaking story of sister love, drug addiction and forgiveness. The story is narrated by Michaela 'Mickey' who is the older 'better' sister. Mickey is a cop and worries about Kacey who is a drug addict and hasn't been seen for a few weeks. Whilst I normally like books told from only the main character's point of view, in this case I felt like the story would have benefited from another narrator. While I enjoyed getting to know Mickey and learning about her relationship with Kacey, I wished in some places the story moved at a faster pace. What I appreciated was the riveting portrayal of Philadelphia's drug culture which felt very realistic to me.

The story involves a murder mystery as a secondary plotline which makes the read more exciting. However, I found the mystery hastily solved at the end of the book with some holes in the plot. Certain things just didn't make sense to me, but that might just be me liking to have everything ironed out when it comes to solving murders.

I'd recommend the book to readers who enjoy suspense novels with richly drawn characters and complex family relationships.

Many thanks to Cornerstone for my review copy in exchange for an honest review.