After reading some other reviews of this book, I was happy to see I wasn't the only one with mixed feelings. Holly receives a call from her sister, Vivian, who asks her to come get her at a marina, right in the midst of a terrible storm. Holly goes and Vivian isn't there. Thus begins Holly's search for her sister and what could possibly have led to her disappearance. The story is told in alternating timelines, now and in the past, when the girls were growing up. Their mother was terrible - cold and clinical, using her children as research subjects rather than nurturing them with a loving relationship. Their father wasn't as bad, but he was a weak enabler who let his wife treat them as she pleased. Some of the events were painted as much worse than I would have categorized them, though. At one point, she has her daughters answer questions that veer towards invasive, inquiring if they're sexually active, or even interested in that, yet. So it's nosy, yes, but it's not like parents don't talk to kids about that stuff, and the girls are teenagers at the time, not young children.

We also see from the point of view of Vivian's husband, Clay. He's involved in some nefarious dealings and has plenty secrets of his own. But do they extend to involvement in the disappearance of his wife? Holly's husband, Mark, is no prize, either. Happy marriages don't exist in this story. Neither do divorces, apparently. All of these unhappy couples stay together and seek happiness elsewhere. Even Vivian and Holly's mother has an extramarital admirer, and she's just awful, so that one's a stretch for me.

I wasn't a fan of this story, which was a shame because I did enjoy this author's previous book, Sweet Water. I'll still read her next one - sometimes you just don't connect with one book but can still appreciate an author's other works.

An Oddly Familiar Scenario.,..
An oddly familiar scenario haunts Holly as she embarks upon a search for her sister. Soon she’s seeking answers from the past and uncovering secrets that become gradually more sinister. Red herrings and a colourful cast of characters make for an enjoyable read although a slow burn,

Into the Sound is the latest domestic family drama from author Cara Reinard. I've read the author's previous book, but not her lighter / earlier works. I enjoyed this one a lot, and it has some great perspective points. Two sisters, a recurring theme for me lately, with a troubled past. One disappears. What does the other know?

Truthfully, this book traveled all over the map. Mostly set in the current time period, there were a couple of minor leaps to the past to set the tone... but ultimately, we learned about history through the main character's eyes. The sisters' mother was an atrocity, and the woman should've been put in prison. Wow! What a great way to make us hate a character and feel sympathy for the daughters. But even there, they were both guilty of things too. Holly married a man with some horrible tendencies and control issues. Vivian fell in bed with the mob. Of course they'd have drama!

Reinard is a good writer. The plots are intriguing. The characters are flawed and multi-dimensional. They are somewhat not realistic, but I do enjoy the intensity of them. I plowed through this one in a few hours earlier today. Looking forward to her 2022 release even more now.

A terrified voice on the phone. The line goes dead. The mystery begins.

Holly Boswell receives a panicked phone call from her sister, Vivian asking her to come get her because there is someone coming. Holly goes to where her sister says she is, but Vivian is not there. The two sisters played hide and seek as children - could this be the grown-up version of it?


For whatever reason, some books work for reader, while others do not. This clearly did not work for me. I struggled to connect with the characters and sadly found myself disinterested in the plot. When I read the synopsis, I thought this would be an engaging and entertaining read and it is for some. Unfortunately, it just didn't work for me.

We can't love them all and this was simply the case, also look at the reviews of those who enjoyed this book and decide for yourself.

I have not read this author before but would be open to reading another of her books. Perhaps, this was a one off for me.

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Into the sound by Cara Reinard.
During a superstorm, Holly Boswell receives a panicked call from her sister, Vivian: Come get me…There’s somebody coming. But when Holly arrives at a Long Island marina, there’s only her sister’s abandoned car. Vivian is gone.
I did enjoy this book. Holly sleuthing was very believable and realistic. 4*.

This is a fast-paced story with a few twists and turns as well as family problems and the mafia in the background.

Vivian went missing during a severe storm, calling her sister earlier with a desperate plea for help. Holly, her sister, tries to find her and at the same time understand what was going on in the lives of Vivian and her husband, while her own marriage is far from perfect and Holly is getting fed up with her life. The sisters share a unique bond that was built in their childhood through the constant psychological experiments to which they were subjected by their overbearing mother.

We meet a group of fascinating characters. Starting with the sisters, Vivian and Holly, whose childhood was far from easy and influenced the decisions they make as adults. Usually, I do not like fragments in which we move back to the past of the main characters, but in this case, it did not bother me, and it allowed me to better understand the trauma that these two women experienced growing up. Vivian and Holly's husbands you wouldn't call boring either. And their uneasy marital relationships add an interesting element to the story. There are also various supporting characters, which are also far from average. They all hide secrets and behave suspiciously.

This story has a good, fast pace that I personally like very much. The case of Vivian's disappearance is very mysterious and even when we are not getting closer to finding Vivian, we are constantly discovering new secrets in the life of her and the people around. With Clay, Vivian's husband, linked to the mafia, the stakes are high and the risk that Vivian might be already dead is high. You'll also find some nice twists.

The ending is interesting and very satisfying. It definitely fits the story. It is also consistent with what we know about the characters.

I definitely recommend this story, and not only to people who like the missing person theme. And if you like exploring the details of one character's life one by one then this story will be definitely for you.

A normal thriller will keep me intrigued to where I’m not doing laundry or cooking. This one moved so slow I needed breaks to keep my brain moving. While Holly is looking for her sister she’s remembering details about her childhood and the mental abuse by her mother. It’s a twisted convoluted puzzle with a ton of story and so-so dialogue. I’m glad I finished it but I wasn’t “thrilled.” Netgalley provided the early copy and my review is given voluntarily.

"Into the Sound" follows Holly, an unhappy stay-at-home mom/wannabe journalist, that decides that she is going to find her missing sister. During a storm, Holly receives a call from her sister, Vivian. Vivian is calling from Long Island marina - someone is out to get her and she is afraid. Holly races into action, but Vivian is gone by the time that she arrives. And the plot begins!

... but unfortunately, the setup was the highlight of the book. This book took me longer than most books of this genre. I don't classify this book as "thriller" or "suspense"... it's a mystery with many over-the-top weird circumstances. There were too many unlikable, flat characters doing unlikable things. The events take place on two timelines, with the second timeline being when the two sisters are children and living with an emotionally abusive mother. The second timeline isn't any more attention-grabbing than the initial timeline.

Cara Reinard did a good job resolving the mystery. I wish I enjoyed this story and I wish that I had nicer things to say about it. "Into the Sound" was available as an Amazon First reads, although full publication is set for December 1st, 2021. Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer for an advanced e-copy of this book.

This book did not interest me at all.
The synopsis made it sound like it was going to be good. It fell short.. very very short.
Blah characters and the way the women are treated just couldn't finish it. Was not for me.

Thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley forcan early release of this book.

During a Long Island superstorm, Holly Boswell receives a panicked call from her sister, Vivian, but when Holly arrives at a Long Island marina, there’s only her sister’s abandoned car. Holly begins a frenzied search for Vivian which gets her into all kinds of trouble.

Holly did some really bizarre things in her search for her sister and I was thinking 'No Holly, not a good idea' a lot. Like a train wreck though, I couldn't look away. The book went off on all kinds of tangents - flashbacks to the sisters' horrible childhood, infidelities, secret journals, the mob and so on. Maybe it was a little too much for one book and I did need to put on my disbelief suspenders but I had to keep reading until I learned what happened. I actually laughed out loud a few times but I'm not sure if the parts that made me laugh were meant to be funny or not. That's what I found so intoxicating about this book; my head was spinning!

Ratings are all over the map for this one so I think you just have to take your chances. I enjoyed it for the most part in spite of some repetition.

I was invited to read an ARC of this novel by Ashley Vanicek at Amazon Publishing so thank you to her, to Thomas & Mercer and Netgalley as well as Cara Reinard for this opportunity. All opinions expressed are my own.

Publication Date: December 1, 2021

A picture is worth a thousand lies”. Vivian and her younger sister, Holly, grew up in a family that played mind games. Hiding the parts of themselves that they didn’t want the other to know. Their parents manipulated them throughout their childhood into the people they wanted them to be. Perhaps they would have chosen nicer men if their childhood had been different. When Vivian goes missing in a super storm, Holly will stop at nothing to find her. Is she alive? Forester’s never quit, so there was no way she committed suicide, right? Did her mob connected husband have her killed? A former crime writer, Holly digs in deep and follows clues she’s sure Vivian has left for her. This book had a good premise, but lacked the suspense and depth to make it great. It came across convoluted and asked the reader to suspend belief too many times. With a cast of unlikable characters, this book was just an OK read.

Everyone's childhood is different...some are lived out like fairy tales, while others are stuff of nightmares. Into the Sound is a brave and contemporary view into the lives of two sisters who unfortunately lived the latter. Cara Reinard's brilliant novel is full of complex characters and their deep, personal existences. The dynamic between Vivian and Holly was both beautiful and tragic. This novel delves deep into the Nature Vs. Nurture debate with nothing short of fireworks right from the start. I throughly enjoyed reading this thriller as it had many plot twists that were each better than the last. An undisputed 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️novel!

Is Vivian playing hide and seek with her sister Holly or has something dire happened? That's the question in this paced paced novel with a familiar plot. Holly didn't know all her sister's secrets but they come out slowly, making her hunt for Vivian even more urgent. There are some twists but the characters didn't grab me the way I'd hoped. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Meh for me but others might enjoy it, especially for travel.

A twisty family drama that was a decent solid read. A little bit unbelievable in parts but if you dial in your imagination I'm sure you will love it. A while it was a bit predictable it was nicely played out and enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this early reading copy.

Cara Reinard's INTO THE SOUND is a character-driven novel about HOLLY, who at the beginning receives a panicked, but mysterious, phone call from her sister VIVIAN in the midst of a hurricane. But when Holly rushes to rescue her--against her controlling husband's wishes--she's vanished. This launches her on a quest to find out what happened, pouring through Vivian's journals, dealing with family issues, and involving flashbacks to their own twisted past. A book to pick up for sure if you enjoy pulse-pounding thrillers involving family issues.

Into the Sound by Cara Reinard Tells the story of two sisters, Holly and Vivian. They did not have the best childhood. Their parents were psychology professors who like to play mind games with their own children, damaging them psychologically. Present day, Holly is married and has two boys. Vivian is married to a sleazy defense lawyer and has not been able to have any kids.
One night Holly gets a distressed call from Vivian begging her to come get her at the marina. Before she hangs up she says someone is coming. When Holly gets there Vivian‘s car is there but Vivian is not. Where has she gone? Did someone take her? Or is this just another game from their childhood? Holly is determined to find out.
I don’t want to go into too much more detail and give away the plot. I really enjoyed the first half of this book. The second half was a little convoluted to me. It seemed like there was iinformation missing. Overall, I really enjoyed the story. Holly was very relatable as a troubled mom trying to find her sister. The plot was also unique in my opinion. I haven’t read any other books with a similar plot. Thank you to net galley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This book was not for me. I dnf at about 30%. I didn't like any of the characters nor did I like the storyline.

I enjoyed this. It's about two sisters, and one goes missing while the other tries to solve the mystery of what happened to her. It also talks about how they grew up, and it's the kind of whodunit where basically there are a ton of potential suspects. The characters are flawed and real, with real problems. I do kind of wish that their childhood would have been worse than it was, or that there was more actual suspense. I was just looking for a bit more badness, instead of the hint of it. Other than that, it was a good story.

In Cara Reinard's Into the Sound, this thrilling new thriller will leave you breathless and speechless by the time you finished reading. It all started for Holly Boswell, a housewife and doting mother of two sons, and a former journalist, when she received a call from her older sister Vivian in the midst of the storm. She dropped everything and rushed to find her missing at the marina when she was too late and called the cops to help search for her. But what can she do other than to confront her brother-in-law Clayton, a sleazy lawyer who helps the bad guys in court, as a prime suspect. But his house of cards is about to come crashing down at him like a domino effect when his hidden secrets came pouring out into the public. While the press focused their attention out on him, Holly looked for clues to discover more about her sister's disappearance and reflected to their emotional abusive childhood with their mother who played manipulative mind games with them for her studies, it might her take a look at her marriage with Mark and how he controlled her all the time. The closer the truth she would be to finding out if Vivian was dead or alive, the more she learned about more secrets from her youth to shed a dark light into their relationship with a startling ending you would never believe.

This book was not for me. It was chaotic mess of a story full of despicable people. Even the main heroine Holly is not very likeable and I was not able to find a connection to her or the story. The pace is slow and it almost was a DNF. But somehow I pushed through and it got a little bit better but the end ruined it again. It was so unrealistic and over the top and it failed to get me interested.