When Eva’s stepmum, Linda, takes a phone call, it’s not long before Eva’s world turns upside down. Eva’s mum died soon after giving birth to her, Linda and Eva’s dad brought her up together. Linda reveals that the call was from a hospital to say that Eva’s sister, Nancy is in hospital with a head wound. Eva didn’t know she had an older sister!

This is a fantastic psychological thriller with a clever plot. The twists in this book were fantastic and threw me completely off the scent! The characters are believable and I felt really sorry for Eva, I found that I could identify with her. Beautiful descriptive writing of Wales, I could picture it all so clearly in my head.
I would highly recommend this book.

My thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for my copy of the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Deliciously dark and twisty, this tale of deception, secrets and family ties by Rona Halsall, will have you locking all the doors and flipping pages in order to find out what happened to the missing sister. Seriously one of the best psychological thrillers I’ve read in a long time!

When the phone rings with a call from a hospital miles away, it signals the end of everything Eva knows to be true. The end of trusting her family. The end of everything keeping her safe.

A woman has been admitted with a serious head injury and claims to be Eva’s older sister. The hospital insists that a family member must come to collect Nancy. Eva was raised an only child. Could the two people who raised her have lied to her for her whole life? Eva’s dad is dying and relies on her stepmom for care, so Eva offers to collect Nancy.

Yes, she has an ulterior motive. Perhaps this sister that she never knew she had can give her some answers. Why did she leave and never return? What happened to her birth mom?

What Eva doesn’t realize is that what she’s about to find out is far darker than she could ever imagine.

The author admits to being intrigued by sibling relationships and wondered how the relationship would develop if there was a huge age gap and if the younger sibling didn’t know she had a sister. Once she’d settled on a scenario, she wanted to show how young people can be easily taken advantage of, mistaking manipulation for kindness. She explores how coercive control can be used to create a virtual prison, rather than using the force of violence. Extremely skilled at her craft, Halsall uncovers the layers of this family a little at a time, mixing in enough twists and turns, so that you have no idea what direction the story is taking. By the time you’ve turned the last page, your heart will be pounding and you’ll want to confirm your reality…after your dizziness subsides!

Thank you to Rona Halsall, Bookouture and NetGally. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Publishes April 26, 2021

Absolutely love this book it read so fast and it was a great plot. This is going to be one of the best thrillers of the year. I highly recommend it.

Imagine having a call from a hospital saying your Sister has been admitted as a patient there but not knowing you ever had a Sister,Eva gets this call,intrigued,nervous,anxious and a bit excited she goes to collect ‘Nancy’ and their lives will never be the same again
Where has Nancy been? Who has had her and why has her Step Mum never explained what happened?
Eva is determined to find out but once she starts she is opening a pandora’s box, a dark version that wont be easy to close
Rona Halsall writes gripping psychological thrillers,this is the same...and more,full of secrets,lies and resentments it was difficult to stop reading once started as I needed to find out who Nancy was and like Eva the more I learnt the more shocking it became
I love books that feature a call or letter or conversation that change everything,a mundane/ordinary life thrown into chaos by something unpredictable
A perfect read

10/10
5 Stars