If you, like me, adore books that delve into family secrets, then you might just love this twisty thriller.

Laura has just lost her husband to a tragic accidental fall. Now, with the insurance held up, she is at risk of losing her home and her business... She is just the type of woman who is ripe for the unscrupulous to take advantage of. When a local communal community who run an organic farm offers Laura some much needed emotional support, she and her teenage daughter, Tilly, move in on what they are sure is a temporary basis.

When anyone has no emotional support, no one who is firmly in their corner, they are made vulnerable. Laura and Tilly definitely fit the bill. Charismatic Alex, the group's leader, seems just too good to be true. He is a lawyer and offers Laura some much needed guidance regarding her financial woes and her husband's estate. Very handsome, he also appears to really care about them and warmly welcomes them to Oak Leaf Organics. There, they are both embraced into their new 'found family'. Seventeen year old Tilly, who has been bullied at school, finds this new lifestyle very comforting. She turns over her mobile phone and disengages from her toxic circle of 'friends' on the outside. Also, Tilly has a huge crush on the handsome Alex.

As weeks turn into months, Laura and Tilly learn more about the farm and those who reside behind its barbwire fences. Laura suspects that all is not as it should be, and feels an overlying sense of dread - with good reason as it turns out.

I appreciated how the author switched the narrative from the points of view of Laura, Tilly, and Alex. This gave the reader a fascinating glimpse into the mindsets of each.

Oak Leaf Organics was presented in a very attractive light, making you understand why Laura was so tempted by it. A Utopian setting in that it made the flaws in our modern society very obvious.

Many themes run throughout this thriller. The whole divide between biological family and 'found' family; trust, manipulation, family secrets, the toxicity of social media, and mental health. Mostly though, it was a novel about mother daughter relationships.

I found this to be a fast-paced, well written, twisty thriller. The ending is not quite what I was expecting and I always appreciate that. However, that being said, I think that the novel would have got a five star rating from me if it had ended at about the 95% mark. The very end presented one twist too far, at least for my personal taste. All in all though, a compelling thriller.

Laura was just 17 years old when she became pregnant with her daughter, Tilly. As The Family opens, Laura is mourning her husband, Gavan, and awaiting the conclusion of the coroner's inquest into his tragic death. Before he died, there had been scandal and stress because he and his brother, Iwan, formed a construction company and built homes on a former landfill site. Ashleigh, one of Tilly's classmates, was diagnosed with leukemia after he parents purchased and moved into one of the homes. They blamed Gavan and Iwan for Ashleigh's illness. Now the rent is due on both the home in which she and Gavan raised Laura, and her flower shop. But Laura has no way to pay it until she receives the proceeds of Gavan's life insurance policy. The company, however, refuses to pay until she can provide a conclusive, not provisional, death certificate and the coroner's inquest is still months away.

Through Laura's first-person narrative, Jensen convincingly conveys Laura's despair and desperation, and her chance meeting in her shop with a young woman named Saffron, a member of a local community known as Oak Leaf Farm that sells organic vegetables. "Three is a power number, although I didn't know that at the time, I came to learn it later. . . . It took three decisions to destroy my life," Laura laments. Saffron explains that Alex is a former attorney and would be willing to help Laura pro bono since Laura has no funds with which to retain counsel.

What begins as a consultation and tour turns into a full-time residency. In exchange for living in the farmhouse, Laura and Tilly work alongside Hazel, an older woman who took up residence after leaving behind an allegedly abusive husband and children who sided with him, and Olivia, an idealistic young woman. Tilly notices that they dress only in white and soon adopts their dress code, leaving behind her dark eyeliner and colorful, mismatched clothing.

Laura's desperation, gullibility, and naivete are required for the storyline to work, but in Jensen's capable hands, it does. Laura gradually recounts the tragic history that led her to Oak Leaf Farm, including being disowned by her parents when she was just 17 years old, how she met Gavan, and a medical condition that complicates things. Her explanations reveal that her predicament is understandable. Describing the little kindnesses that exemplified her relationship with Gavan, she notes: "The big thing, the truth, was that he saved me all those years ago after my parents cast me adrift. He's be heartbroken to know that I was once again drowning, but this time it was his fault. . . . I had to save myself, save Tilly But how? So much was broken, I didn't know where to start."

When Laura arrives at the farm, she dreams of the ways she will use Gavan's life insurance proceeds to get her life and Tilly's back on track away from Oak Leaf Farm. But she believes Alex when he relays developments and delays in the case and authorizes him, as her representative, to act on her behalf.

As time passes, Laura finds herself drawn to Alex . . . but Tilly is thoroughly enchanted by him. Suspicious events, including the death of a young visitor to the farm, and foreboding messages meant for Laura cause her to rightly be increasingly skeptical about Alex's motives. It slowly becomes clear to Laura that Oak Leaf Farm is a kind of cult that she and Tilly will never be permitted to leave of their own accord.

The Family is a skillfully crafted, slow burning thriller about vulnerability and loss, the longing for family, and the power of secrets and lies. Despite her flaws, Laura is likeable and empathetic, her devotion to her only child completely relatable. Their mother-daughter relationship is believably fraught and complicated, more so because of the secrets both are withholding from the other. As Jensen reveals details about Laura's past, events begin unfolding at the farm at an accelerating pace. The story is full of unexpected twists and secrets, and as they are unveiled they propel the action forward to a frantic, life-and-death climax. When Jensen finally divulges how the characters are interconnected, it all makes perfect sense and showcases the uniquely clever story she has constructed.

The Family is a creepy, engrossing, and thoroughly satisfying thriller that keeps readers guessing right up to its bone-chilling conclusion.