Suspenseful domestic drama and psychological thriller.

What would a loving mother do to protect her daughter? Ruth is living those things every day after becoming pregnant at 16 and leaving her family and home to fend for herself. Ruth has always done whatever it took to keep them safe. Catherine is now 24, has gotten her nursing degree, and is about to embark on her own life which begins with her moving away. Ruth can't bear it. Catherine doesn't understand it. But why is Ruth so desperate to keep Catherine close?

Secrets and lies have built the relationship between Ruth and her daughter. Now things start to fall apart as Catherine no longer believes her mother and suspects that her whole life might be a careful construction. They become wary of one another as the layers of deceit are revealed.

This was an engaging and compelling drama with some twists and shocks as the mother and daughter start to learn more about each other. Lots of emotional buttons in the narrative that flips back and forth between Ruth and Catherine as each tells her perspective. I found that both characters had qualities that I could relate to and actions that I could understand at times. Not that their behaviors or choices would be those I might make, but they were believable in context. I liked the writing style and the narrator in the audio did a good job though I'm not sure the voices were different enough that I would have known who was speaking had I not also been following along in the e-book.

I like mother-daughter stories for the most part and this did not disappoint. Thank you to the publishers for the e-book ARC to read and review. I obtained the audio format from my library. ( )

Good book about murder, mother and daughter, running and hiding. Worth the read. ( )

QUITE a surprising book that seemed to start rather calmly and then....took right straight off!!! A very clever back and forth in the chapters between the mother and daughter each showing their view of their relationship changing. Hard to put this book down and reach......a series of twists in the end!!! ( )

My new favorite book by this author! Great narrator and an interesting premise with plenty of twists to keep you guessing if either Ruth (the mom) or Catherine (the daughter) is telling the truth and what secrets they're hiding.
I held my breath at times while listening to this, waiting for what surprise would come next. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an audiobook of this great suspense thriller! ( )

Ruth Sterling will do anything to protect her daughter, Catherine. She has invented an entire life to protect Catherine from the truth about Catherine's father, James. But, Catherine is curious about her mother, and digs until she finds her biological father. This sets up a dangerous showdown between James, Ruth, and Catherine.
When James and Ruth (Ava) were teens, and in love, James needed to protect Ava, and in doing so, committed a crime. He never knew about their daughter, Catherine. Ava left town, changed her name, and cut off communications with her family. Now years later, Catherine stirs it all up.
Mother and daughter hide secrets from each other in this psychological thriller. ( )