Atmospheric mystery novel about the evil we think we see - and the ones we don´t see.

Kate Rafter might be going crazy. A war reporter, facing too many deaths, too many bodies, too many screams in her life. And now, her mother is dead. The mother who had been married to violent alcoholic, whose punches attacked her and young Kate, too. And there is also her sister Sally, Daddy´s sweetheart then, alcoholic herself now. So to say that the sisters´s relationship is strained - is understatement. And Kate is simply feeling suffocated by too many emotional attacks. So the crying little boy might be just a result of her overwrought imagination, right? Police says so. Paul, Sally´s forever caring husband, thinks so too.
But sisters are sisters forever. And maybe there is a way to save Kate´s and Sally´s relationship. And more.

Noir!
This is one emotional ride. While I think the novel is a bit uneven and too many attention is given to Kate´s emotional state and too little to the real evil, I also think that this novel is very authentic in the understanding of people´s suffering (and I like the smart and well-used psychology in the mystery novels). What Kate goes through - and also what Sally goes through. The victim mentality is powerful thing and has many faces - one copes with fighting, one copes with shutting out. Yet the real way out is in understanding - and the one who understands, is on the half way out to forgiveness, and this is the real solution.
The villain comes to the scene a bit late, yet what an intelligently plotten villain!
And kudos to the smart ending.

I have enjoyed this novel - a better one in the sea of now popular mystery novels genre. This one is worth of your attention.

Really struggled to get into this book initially with the narrative jumping back and forth and dragging on a bit but the final third was great. I had no idea how it was all going to play out and i think thats what kept me going.

3 stars

Really spooky, this book is definitely a page turner.
As all thrillers there were twist and turns and set in a place that was clearly drawn.

When Kate, an experienced journalist, returns from covering the war in Syria following the death of her mother, Kate, understandably, is in turmoil. Her time reporting from the front line leaves her with questionably fragile mental health and post traumatic stress disorder where she suffers from terrifying and disturbing nightmares and she wakes up after hearing screams from afar.

Her only surviving family is her sister, who is an alcoholic, and with whom she has a fragile relationship - most of which is done through the brother in law as a go between. Kate also suffers flashbacks to the horrifying abuse she suffered at the hands of her father while growing up.

This is a very relevant book - the subject of post traumatic stress disorder and the plight of ex servicemen and women who return from the frontline is one which is often not talked about but is suffered by many.

The book covers many topics besides PTSD and alcoholism including child abuse and the scars throughout adulthood and domestic abuse, There are some harrowing scenes within the book but the story is one which should be told and I think the author has done plenty of research while writing the book and the end product is a thought provoking and poignant story.

It took me a long time to get into this book, I had wanted to love it but every time I went to read a bit more, I had to remind myself where I was with the story. Overall, it was a struggle to read - not what I imagine it to be and the characters lacked the depth that I had truly wanted them to have.

At first I really was not sure where this book was going and whether I would or even wanted to stick with it ... then WHAM ... it hit me!!! I much preferred the second part of the book and once it had hit me I could not put it down. In the end, a really enjoyable read.

This book tackles some harrowing issues so isn't for the faint-hearted. It's well written and suspenseful, and it's a solid thriller that kept me engaged throughout.

It's a great debut and I look forward to reading more from this author.

This is a very moving story, with some brilliant and unexpected twists at the end. It does deal with some hard subjects but in a very good way.

I would definitely recommend it to everyone

If I ever hear that another book is the "next Gone Girl" or the "next Girl On A Train", the genre has become predictable.

So goes this tale of two sisters, one who became a war correspondent suffering from post-traumatic stress, and the other an alcoholic - both abused as children. One's high functioning, the other is a deadbeat mother. In between are the stories of mysterious children appearing here, there and everywhere. And the women not being believed.

The writer attempts to make a difference by bringing in stories of the horrors of the Middle East, which was a nice change - but it seemed more like a tool to follow exactly the pattern. It seemed promising, but it falls short.

Quite possibly the book of the year! Fantastic ,gripping variety of believable characters, twists galore and a brilliant storyline

Great story that had me gripped from the beginning.
I couldn't help but feel sympathy for Kate, but unfortunately couldn't find the same for Sally. I'm not sure if it was written like that or whether I just struggled to like her.
I could see where the twists should have been but I'd already worked it out by the time each one arrived.
One that I would recommend to friends!

This was an interesting read, that I would recommend. Its a slightly different perspective, however the story was very absorbing and it didn't take me long to get through it.

My Sister's Bones is a dark and disturbing novel set in the present day chaotic, violent Hell-hole of war torn Aleppo, and the scenic predictable, mundane coastline of Britain's Herne Bay in Kent.

Kate Rafter has returned home prematurely from her latest assignment as a female foreign war correspondent after the recent death of her mother, and thrust back into the fractured relationship with her resentful alcoholic sister Sally.

In the opening scene we meet Kate as she is being detained and questioned by, who appears to be, a police psychologist after displaying some very erratic behaviour and making accusations about a neighbour. She is being tormented by voices, visions and flashbacks and it is apparent that Kate is suffering from PTSD after several assignments reporting and witnessing violence, and the unrelenting devastation of war.

It is during these flashbacks, and heartbreaking revelations of a childhood tragedy, parental violence, and abuse that we find out eventually how much is real or imagined as she struggles to, keep hidden but at the same time, face the demons coming at her from all angles.  It is also a fascinating examination of how memories are formed, of how reliable they may be after years have passed, and of how individuals remember events very differently, and how using different coping mechanisms for survival have affected them.  I loved the author's in-depth perceptiveness and understanding of the human condition and of how life's experiences can mould a persons character and personality.

However, as much as I loved 'My Sisters Bones' I didn't feel the domestic crime element of the mysterious neighbour added value or substance to the storyline, even so Nuala Ellwood has written a superior, powerful thought provoking mystery thriller that, for me, only just fell short of a 5 star rating.

Highly recommended for fans of twisty-turny, creepy psychological thrillers with unreliable female protagonists, and untrustworthy supporting characters such as in, 'The Girl On The Train', 'Gone Girl', and 'The Widow'.

I am very excited about this author's debut and looking forward to reading her next novel.

<i>My Sister's Bones</i> features the mother of all unreliable main characters. Our Kate is a war reporter and to say she has skeletons in her closet is and understatement.

In Part 1, the narrative advances between current events, where Kate is locked up, and the previous week's, when she returned to her hometown after her mother's passing. As the story advances we find that Kate refuses to deal with her hallucinations, a result of witnessing such horrors, and that several bad things have happened both recently and as Kate was growing up.

During that first part I found some things quite repetitive and Kate annoyed me both in past and current accounts. Her insistence that the interviewer must not realise the truth about her state of mind particularly irked me because it seemed obvious to me that she needed help.

Towards the end of part 1, about halfway through the book, things start to get interesting and in Part two the narrative is done by a different character. After that I was really invested and wanted to know what came next.

So I didn't find the stuff that happened in the first half that interesting and I actually had to fight the urge to skim through the text because the unreliability of the character was taken to extreme. I didn't know what the heck was going on. On the other hand, I found myself exhausted by the book. All the characters and situations were so dismaying.

I had anticipated some of what happened or at least who was responsible but I was still quite surprised at a few revelations.

A solid 3.5 stars.

<i>Disclaimer: I would like to thank the publisher and Netgalley for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.</i>

An interesting combination of some of the more sensational news in recent news made into a compelling narrative. I particularly enjoyed Kate's character as she was well developed and fully intriguing.

This is an amazing book, and reads as though it could be true. With war reporters suffering in parts of the world where they report dangerous things, and how it can affect them. Add in the death of a parent, the sister who appears to be a hopeless alcoholic, a brother in law who appears to care, and thoughts of an abusive and drunk father, all swirling around.
Any wonder the reporter find herself in trouble with the police, and thinks she is having hallucinations. There is definitely a mystery at the heart of the story, and it turns out to be even more horrific than anyone could imagine or conceive.
I found this compelling reading, and the twists at the end were unexpected. Thanks to the publisher, and NetGalley for allowing me to read this powerful novel.

A fantastically gripping book that keeps you turning the pages .

My Sister's Bones, when i first started to read this book i was gripped me from the very start, it tells the Story of Kate who in her late 30's shes a war journalist who traveled to aleppo she has seen some shocking and upsetting thing's while she was away reporting in a war torn city she was staying with a local family she particularly become close to there young son...

but that is only part of the story as the story goes on and Kate back she goes to she her Sister Sally and her husband Paul while shes there in Herne bay she stays at her Family home and trying to sort things out ready to sell her mothers home now he has passed away, but while shes there she thinks stumbled upon a secret, but is she strong enough to uncover the truth? shes deeply traumatised about what happened when she was in the war torn city and what happened to the little boy Nidal plays heavily on her mind with her own troubles is she really strong enough to cope with her Sister Sally's Drinking problem that has got worse since Sally's Teenage daughter ran away also coping with the troubled memories of the childhood,

we soon discover Kate is suffering post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) the topic of PTSD is very brave and sensitive move for an author to write about, But Nuala Ellwood has thoroughly done her research and it shows and has paid off very well! i cant rate this book highly enough if i could id rate it 10/10

My Sister's Bones is a highly addictive, haunting, compulsive, unputdownable Book that with have you Hooked bring you in and rip at your hear strings! its also filled with enough twists and turns to keep you up at night! this Story will stay with you long after you have finished the last word on the page! thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for my copy!

Kate Rafter is a successful war reporter. She's the strong one. The one who escaped Herne Bay and the memories it holds. Her sister Sally didn't. Instead, she drinks.

But when their mother dies, Kate is forced to return to the old family home. And on her first night she is woken by a terrifying scream.

What secret has Kate stumbled upon?
And is she strong enough to uncover the truth . . . and make it out alive?

There are three main characters in this book – Kate, her sister Sally and Sally’s husband Paul.

I really liked Kate, even though she was suffering from PTSD she was a strong woman. Sally, I think, should have got herself away from the drink – easy for me to say, but I’m sure not so easy to do. Paul – at first I liked him, but I changed my mind later.

This book really drew me in and I read it in one sitting. 5*

I really enjoyed this book, and from the very start I found it to be a page-turner that kept me reading late at night.
I thought the way it was written in first person for each sister (who are the main characters) suited the story well.
All the characters portrayed in the book were there for a reason, and we're described wonderfully helping your imagination run on picturing each character.
Very interesting plot, with some great twists along the way. This was my first read of a book by Nuala Ellwood, but I'll be looking out for more of her work.
Thank you NetGalley for my copy.