He Started It - Samantha Downing (Replay)

Thriller/Fiction

Rating: 8.5/10

In advanced of the review for the excellent thriller No One Will Miss Her that I will up on Thursday I wanted to repost this other, not to be forgotten, standout.

You want a heroine.  Someone to root for, to identify with.  She can’t be perfect though, because that will just make you feel bad about yourself.  A flawed heroine then.  Someone who may break the rules to protect her family but doesn’t kill anyone, unless it’s self defense.  Not murder though, at least not the cold-blooded kind.  That’s the first deal breaker.

If you want to know all the deal breakers in this story you are going to have to read past this intriguing first paragraph.  And trust me, it’s worth the turn of every page.

Beth, Portia and Eddie haven’t seen each other in years, for very good reasons.  But when their wealthy grandfather dies and leaves a cryptic final request, the siblings and their respective partners must come together for a cross country road trip to fulfill the conditions of their inheritance. Despite the fact that I didn’t believe a single word or deed from any of these characters, I loved them all.  Vividly drawn, they were complicated, droll and utterly unique.

This author layers twist upon twist with a relentless pace that leaves the reader in wonderous freefall for the bulk of the book. My advice, buckle up, you are in for a bumpy ride!

Footnote: Family dysfunction at its best! Darkly funny, fabulously clever and compellingly addictive.