Sunday Suspense: The Other Daughter by Lisa Gardner

 

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,

  

  The Other Daughter is a stand-alone novel written by Lisa Gardner. It is published by Bantam Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House Publishing. In it, we are introduced to the Stokes family. Having suffered the tragic loss of their four-year-old daughter, Meagan, to child murderer Russell Lee Holmes, parents Harper and Patricia are devastated. They continue on with their remaining child, Brian. Five years later on the night of Holmes' execution, a nine-year-old girl with memory loss is found abandoned in a Boston hospital where Harper is working the night shift. Harper and Patricia continue to visit her daily and decide to adopt her. Since she has a close resemblance to Meagan, she seems to be the right child to adopt. She is named Melanie and goes to live with them in their lavish home in Boston.

  Twenty years later Melanie is an event planner with a happy life. Recently she has separated from her boyfriend, William, and thrown herself into her work. At a charity event held in her family's home, Melanie crosses paths with reporter Larry Digger. Having interviewed Russell Lee Holmes in the past, he is certain that he is about to break the story of his career: Whatever Happened to Russell Lee Holmes' Child? He is certain that Melanie is the daughter of Holmes. Soon someone has begun a vicious game of cat and mouse with the Stokes family. Grisly packages and cryptic letters begin to arrive alluding to a long-buried secret. And when an assassin is thrown into the mix, Melanie is on the run for her life.                                                                                                                                                                    The Other Daughter was one crazy read. Gardner's mix of family angst and thrills made this book soar along quickly. I finished this novel in a day because I could not stop reading it. The overall mystery is mind-bending and when the final reveal came I was astonished. Melanie Stokes was a very likable character that at times seemed naive, but as she went along and faced her fears and the danger around her she adapted fast.  The darkness of serial killer Russell Lee Holmes permeated the narrative and at times was chilling. Gardner definitely knows how to put her readers in her characters' heads. She even gave FBI Profiler, Pierce Quincy a guest appearance, giving an assessment of Russell Lee Holmes.

  I read the Other Daughter with the audio narration of actress, Brittany Pressley. Her slow and dramatic reading of the novel served very well with a 1.25x and 1.5x speed. I enjoyed her voice and she never had the same one for any of the characters. Her reading drove the book forward and was excellently done. I am happy to see that Penguin Random House is now offering audio presentations to all of Gardner's books. They deserve to be available in their original, unabridged format.

  The Other Daughter was a great time. This four-star read had me guessing until the end. Lisa Gardner never fails to deliver.    

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 Because there is always time to read,

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