A familiar Sight is the second book in the series of Gretchen White.
This story is about friendships from younger years and how they transform into adulthood with secrets, lies and murder.
It’s also about child abuse and after suffering for so long what it can make a child do to make it stop.
For most of this story you think the murderer is one person or another but when you realize who it actually is you are rooting for them even though they committed a crime.
Gretchen will bend the rules as usual to make sure the end results are as she wants them to be.

I loved this from start to finish. This was a true psychological thriller - and the concept totally had me hooked: a non-violent psychopath, Dr. Gretchen White, consults for the police as a Psychologist and Criminologist as she literally knows what's going on in killer's heads. When her friend Lena, a lawyer for a seemingly open and shut case against a 13-year old violent psychopath who killed her mother, is found dead Gretchen finds herself being drawn into the case. Especially, with Lena's cryptic voicemail from the night before.
But the case she was working on hits a little too close to home for Gretchen and we soon find out that Lena was connected to family in more ways than one. There are so many twist and turns in this book, most of which I never saw coming, kept me hooked the whole way through.
There were times when Gretchen's own thoughts and psychopathic tendencies seemed redundantly focused on, but there were also times throughout where I did forget she was actually a psychopath, so the author did well to remind us.
Overall, I would highly recommend this myself and will be picking up a physical copy for myself once it's available.

When do we get a character with a personality that is usually reserved for the villain, but here is the main voice of the story. I thoroughly enjoyed reading from a point of view that is not considered in societies norm. A sociopaths voice doing not harm but good. It was new and not disappointing to read.
The killer was not what I expected, but that was just one more bonus to reading. I was surprised by the ending also, as the people who were portrayed all came out different than expected.

I was really excited to read this book but i was disappointed sadly. I felt the author had too many characters and she had them going back and forth with them made it very confusing to who was who. I shouldnt have to write down each character and who they are. It also was a very slow read.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book.

My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Great story! A psychiatrist who is also a sociopath consulting on police cases - how unique! I certainly hope more books are written with Gretchen as the main character, because she is fantastic and I loved seeing how she thought about things.

***SPOILER ALERT***

The words "sociopath" and "psychopath" are used way too much (especially in Chapter 5!), and I found it a bit of work to keep track of all the relationships between the characters. I wasn't sure if I liked how Reed's chapters were going backwards in time (usually I like a chronological storyline), but I can see why it was done and it worked nicely. The crime was a little complex and hard to wrap my head around, and also left me with a few questions regarding the deaths of Lena and Tess.

I feel like the fact that Gretchen was a psychiatrist could have been flushed out more, and she could have made more clinical diagnosis of other characters.

Overall, a great read, and I hope to read more of Gretchen & Marconi in the future!

A Familiar Sight is one of the most unusual books I've encountered! Dr. Gretchen White is a police consultant. She's also a sociopath who may or may not have murdered her aunt when she was young. Although Gretchen was never proven guilty, the detective she now works with, Patrick Shaughnessy, still suspects Gretchen was guilty. However, her unusual expertise has helped close many cases.

When he comes across a case where it appears a young teenager is guilty of stabbing her mother to death, Gretchen is called in. There, she meets Shaughnessy's new partner, Marconi, and therein lay my favorite part of the book. Marconi was the perfect foil for Gretchen! They started out suspicious of each other and as time went on, they started respecting each other - and I loved their banter! I also liked how Gretchen had to go to great lengths to avoid killing anyone. Any little thing could set her off, and being inside her head was rather scary at times.

So why only 3 stars? I have to confess I didn't finish the book. The author switches between the present and the past, with two different points of view: Gretchen's and the husband of the victim. The chapters are not at all chronological, so there would be a chapter taking place three months prior to the victim's murder, then a chapter taking place a week prior, and then a chapter taking place five months prior. You get the idea. I think it prevented my having a real connection to the characters. For me, it felt as though the author would give me just enough information to draw me in, and then she'd shift back to a time in the past. Or to a more recent time.

There are so many fabulous reviews for A Familiar Sight that this is probably a case of "It's not you! It's me!" Just too much flipping around in time for me.

My thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC!

I almost put this book down several times but stuck with it mainly because it had so many 5-star reviews on Netgalley.

The beginning was very sluggish. There were so many characters, and the author flipped back and forth in time, making it very hard for me to connect with the story. I ultimately finished it and it did get interesting toward the middle, but was it a 5-star book for me? No. Was I happy with the ending? Not really - I expected a better twist.

I also felt that the dialogue was too focused on psychopaths vs. empaths, and the two terms were used WAY too much to the point of being annoying. I actually think the story would have been better had this part of it not been introduced. Gretchen was like the big bad wolf, and Marconi was in awe, studying her every move - even to the point of her being surprised she ate? Come on, give me a break.

Overall, fairly interesting read, but not the great mystery I was looking for.

I didn’t care for this book at all. The ending was predictable and the characters were so so. I won’t read this a second time

I greatly enjoyed this book and thought it was extremely unique in a crowded genre. The protagonist is a psychologist named Gretchen who is a diagnosed sociopath- she has been brought in to assist with Boston PD investigations over the years and forged a friendship with one of the detectives. In this case, a woman is murdered and the prime suspect is her teenage daughter who displays sociopathic tendencies- it's up to Gretchen to dig in and see if there is more to the story.

The plot for this book was great, and I enjoyed that it went back and forth between previous events and current times to build up a picture of the various players and their experiences. The ending completely threw me; it was literally something hadn't even thought about at any point throughout the book, which is extremely rare for me.

I liked Gretchen and thought it was fascinating to see how her mind worked and how she related to others. I am no expert, but have done some research in this field and her thoughts and actions felt authentic. If I had one nit, it would be that the world 'sociopath' was used SO MANY TIMES throughout the book- I was like 'we get it, already!'.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book and I hope the author writes more books about Gretchen. It's fast paced and cleverly written with a unique storyline, not to mention a true twist. I'd recommend it for those who like mysteries and psychological thrillers. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Great story with such a unique main character. I loved this book and finished it in one day!!

While Gretchen White identifies herself as a sociopath, she is really quite a likeable character. As a child she was suspected of having killed her aunt and this experience has led her to work as a police consultant for the Boston PD. The story opens with her discovery of her friend's body; a friend who was the defense attorney for a young girl, a psychopath, accused of killing her mother. Things take off from there and alternates POVs in an interesting way - from the present to the past and back again.

This was a well-written, well-plotted book with a host of interesting and unusual characters and an unexpected ending. This was the first book I have read by this author and there is no doubt that I will pick up her other books to read. I can't recommend this book enough and hope to see future books featuring Gretchen White. Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for an advance copy and kudos to Brianna Labuskes for writing such a phenomenal book!!

Dr. Gretchen White is a criminologist. And she's also a sociopath who was the lone suspect in the muder of her aunt when she was a child. Now she spends her days consulting for the police at the behest of Detective Patrick Shaughnessy, who happened to be the lead detective on her aunt's case back in the day. He's also convinced that Gretchen got away with murder all those years ago.

When Gretchen finds herself consulting on a case where a teenage girl stands accused of murdering her mother in cold blood —she is determined to solve the case —by any means necessary.

The author did an amazing job of humanizing sociopathy and psychopathy. Granting the reader exclusive access to the inner machinations of Gretchen's cold and unfeeling mind. All the while peeling back the layers of what drives her to do the things she does or does not do. Gretchen is by far one of the best characters that I have read in a really long time.

The story rangled my attention from the very first sentence and held it until the last period. It's the kind of whodunnit that makes one thing clear —things are almost never as they appear from the outside looking in.

Definitely a must-read!

Wow! What an interesting story!

Psychologist and criminologist Dr. Gretchen White works with the police to help solve cases. She is also an admitted sociopath who was once accused of killing her aunt by one of the very officers she works with.

When she receives a light night message from her attorney friend, it has her concerned so she rushes to her friends house to find her dead. As she tries to find out what the message means, she becomes involved in the case that her friend was working on. It appears to be a cut and dry case. An evil sociopath teenager has admitted to stabbing her mother to death. As Gretchen digs deeper she realizes that things are nothing like they seem.

Very unique story with a surprise ending. Highly recommend this one!

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book.

This was an interesting story. I'm not sure it was my favorite, I didn't particularly like the characters, but it was still entertaining and kept me turning the pages.

First, the thing with constantly reading thrillers and mysteries is you automatically think you've read them all. You think to yourself, what ever could they possibly write about that others haven't written before!

Then some books just come along, to wipe that arrogant smirk off of your face and prove you wrong.

This book is one of those books.

I wasn't fascinated by the whodunnit aspect, rather I admired the way that this story was crafted. Psychological thrillers are generally easy to follow, 40% into the book and you've already solved the puzzle.

This book? Nope.

It literally started with the beginning of the end and then went back to what happened 3 days earlier. It's clever and crafty in that the author just gives enough information for you to wonder and then she'll shift back to an older time. She leaves clues but not in such a way that would ruin the mystique. Honestly, I can't put together the recollections, it just uses way too much brain energy that I just long resigned myself to just read and stop guessing.

However, I did have an inkling of what had happened and I was right. BUT. If the truth is this whole book, then I only got two sentences right. Haha! I truly thought it was going to be typical and dramatic. I didn't expect it to be that brutal, dark, angry and tragic.

I also find it worthy to note that while I expected it to be dramatic, oddly enough I can't seem to connect with the characters. Is it because of how it's written or because of Gretchen's thoughts and her detached personality? Possibly both?

The circumstances in the story made me think about my own moral compass, my relationship with humanity and life in general. See, the case was "solved" but precious lives have been wasted, relationships broken and yet for me, justice was never served. Death was way too easy an escape for that person who started all this brutal nonsense. Funnier, still, is that person ensured that even in death they not be forgotten. Funny yet it left me angry and wronged.

A bunch of thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this free ARC. This review is of my own accord, with no monetary compensation whatsoever from those mentioned above and/or the rightful owners of this ARC.

Brianna Labuskes’ A Familiar Sight at first had me a bit frustrated, the way the story jumps around in time, but I should have had more faith in this author’s gift in weaving her story, building a reality and slowly breaking it down to the cold, hard truth. Excellently written.

HOLY. CRAP. This book blew me away. If I am being completely honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I first read the synopsis of it, but I figured…why not give it a chance?! It sounded interesting, and different than most of the thrillers I’ve read before. And I am extremely glad that I did. I absolutely LOVED Dr. Gretchen White, and her unique character and overall development. She is a literal sociopath, as well as a psychologist and criminologist, who consults the local police department on various cases, even though her main contact, Patrick Shaughnessy, is the one who once believed she was the main suspect of a murder many years ago. Yes…she may have urges, but Gretchen has enough self-control to stop herself from acting out on her sociopathic nature (or does she..?).

I loved how this book alternates between two POVs—one being Gretchen’s, the other being a man named Reed Kent. Reed is the father of Viola Kent, the teenage girl who is accused of murdering her mother, and the case which Shaughnessy is in charge of.

This is an extremely fascinating novel, and I couldn’t wait to find out how everything came together, and finally get the answers to all the questions piling up in my head!! It was such a quick read and if you like anything remotely thrilling or mysterious, then THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU! It’s five stars from me!!

Synopsis:
When Claire Kent is violently stabbed to death in her bed, all eyes are pointed towards her thirteen-year-old daughter Viola. With the murder weapon found in her dresser, psychologists who have noted her psychopathic tendencies and a confession in her own words, the case is iron-clad. Or is it? Regular Boston P.D consultant and self-admitted sociopath, Dr Gretchen White, is determined to find out the truth as she can’t help but find similarities between herself and the incarcerated teenager.
Plot:
I found the plot of this book particularly intriguing. I admit, I do have a slight obsession with psychopaths and how their emotional-range and moral compass is seen as so abnormal in our society. I find the intricacies of their psyche both so fascinating and terrifying as they are so unpredictable. Throughout the book, it is extremely clear that the author dedicated a lot of time into research as all of the characters are complicated, layered and problematic, yet terrifyingly plausible. Every action, decision and thought process is explained and justified in a way that may not be normal to ‘empaths’ but feels believable for the characters.

I did not see the twist coming! There were many avenues that this book could have taken, and I loved the twist that was chosen. It was emotional and raw and perfect for the storyline.

The only negative I could find with the plot were the unpredictable timelines. They almost gave me whiplash. The plot is set in both the past and present, however, the timeline in the past changed from days before the murder, to months, then years and switched between them often. This meant that I was sometimes disorientating, which meant I couldn’t quite piece all of the information together as it was hard to remember where it fit within the bigger picture.

Characters:
I really enjoyed Gretchen’s character and she definitely gave me some Sherlock Holmes vibes. She was not fixated upon believing things based solely on face value and she is determined to find truth, regardless of what that may mean. She sees the world differently and this can have both a positive and negative effect on the Boston police department. The interviews between her and Viola were so fascinating! I loved reading the delicate power-play game played out between the two of them. It was almost like watching chess, they never wanted to give any information away without it benefitting them... I just wish we would have seen more of it.
The relationships in this book were one of the highlights. I especially enjoyed reading about the blossoming relationship between Gretchen and Marconi. Particularly as Gretchen does not tend to make friendships in a normal way and so that dynamic is interesting to watch play-out. Additionally, the almost familial affinity between Gretchen and Shaughnessy was a well-needed tonic from the dark themes in this book. The Kent family is definitely dysfunctional (to put it lightly) and the authors choice to drip-feed the information added to the mystery. I eagerly read every chapter that surrounded the Kent family as I was desperate to uncover their secrets.

Ending comment:
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and I will be definitely checking out the author’s other work. The storyline was tied up nicely and I would love to see more novels including Gretchen’s and Marconi’s partnership.

I loved this thriller of a cat and mouse game of a police detective and a psychologist that is a murder suspect. A great read!

Fantastic storyline! Quick and easy read with interesting characters.. Can't wait to read more by Brianna Labuskes

Super good book!

Confession time: I have a weakness for books about assassins, or sociopaths or serial killers. Wow that sounds twisted..

This book was really interesting because it told the story from the point of view of a police consultant/psychologist who is also a sociopath. I was fascinated by her thought processes. And it was so well written, that I sympathized with her! She could kill someone without guilt, and yet I really liked her - thats good writing..
There were multiple stories in one - who was the real killer - was it the child? There was the story about the sociopathy of the main character and then finally the story of the BFF and what happened to her.

I kept the pages turning all night!

Thank you to the author, the publisher and #netgalley for the ARC which did not impact my review.