The Second Sister audiobook

Woo! This is a rollercoaster ride of a psychological thriller, it hooked me from the first few pages. There have so far been a plethora of great psychological thrillers in 2017 and this rates extremely highly against those. This will certainly be near the top of my Best of 2017 list.Ella's sister Miranda disappeared ten years ago, leaving her baby behind. A man named Jason Thorne, currently in prison for murdering several women, is linked to Miranda through new evidence. Did Miranda know this guy? Ella is finding it increasingly difficult to hold it together but her love for her sister's child and her job keep her together, just. Ella is haunted by the possibility that Thorne took Miranda, and driven by her nephew's longing to know what happened to his mother, Ella decides to do whatever it takes to find the truth - even when it becomes dangerous. This is a slow burner with unpredictable twists and is genuinely creepy. The book highlights the unbreakable bond of love between the two sisters and shows the lengths people will go to for the people they love. The relationship and bond between Ella & her nephew is beautiful, they are tied together through Miranda. The writing is, in my opinion, pretty flawless. The Book of You, Kendal's debut novel, is one I have heard about but not read. I now plan to buy it. I'm hoping it'll be as fabulous as this is, friends have assured me it is.Thank you to Claire Kendal, HarperCollins, HarperFiction & NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, The Second Sister is a twisted tale indeed in the very best way possible.I loved “The Book of You” (and I still have my promotional Book of Liz from way back) so I was very keen to read this and turns out for good reason because it was absolutely beautifully addictive, really rather clever and often very very creepy. What’s not to love?Ella as a character was top notch, driven, unforgiving yet extremely likable, you follow her along through good decisions and bad and can barely look away – some of the most chilling scenes come when she faces down the man she believes took her sister – but that is just the tip of a very deep iceberg.Family relationships are explored, a strong theme of the affects of loss run through the storyline, what I loved most of all was its multi-layered strands that allowed things to be unpredictable (at least for me until about 3/4 of the way through) To be honest by about half way I didn’t really care about whodunnit, if indeed anyone did, but I wanted Ella to find her closure, to be able to move on. For me that’s the sign of a great crime book.Claire Kendal takes us down a dark and dangerous road to the truth, every step on that road is an obfuscated one, keeping things off kilter and making for a completely gorgeous read and a finale that left me clutching my hair.Overall very very good indeed. Loved it. Highly Recommended.

I was lucky enough to receive an advanced readers copy from the publisher. I'm finding that I enjoy thrillers more and more. Wouldn't have been my thing when I was younger but the second sister was fantastic! Gripping and mysterious, I really felt for Ella as the 10 year anniversary of her sisters disappearance arose. The characters were deep and well constructed, with all their flaws and qualities portrayed in a way that made you feel you knew them all personally. I didn't guess the ending either which is always good - though this may be because I am still relatively new to the thriller genre. 4 stars and I'm now never letting my sister out of the house alone!

Yes! This was a true-to-the-genre, tension-filled, heart pounding, never let up thriller!! Characters were great, mystery was great, background & relationships.. great! So good! It reminded me of why I love psychological thrillers! The twists felt so authentic.. I was hooked.. What fun! Definitely recommend this to any of my friends that enjoy psychological thrillers! (& the audio was.. you guessed it- great!😂)

I loved The Book of You and even though it had quite a harrowing storyline I was unable to read my eyes away from the horrors that were unfolding before me. So I was really keen to read Claire Kendals second book but would it live up to my expectations compared to her previous well written and researched psychological thriller? Well, it was never in doubt really was it?! Although I think I actually loved it more! It certainly pulled me in very quickly with its killer plot lines, peppered with some intriguing twists and one of the scariest prison visit scenes I have ever read!There do seem to be a lot of “sister” books around at the moment. Using the relationship between siblings as a starting point for a psychological thriller seems to be growing in popularity but this felt very different right from the start for me. The sisterly dynamics were more intriguing here as, although Miranda wasn’t actually there with Ella, we were still able to feel their strong connection through the techniques used by the author as she explored the sister’s relationships with their parents and with Luke. And Ella still had conversations with her missing sister in her head which seemed to guide her towards most of the decisions she made.Ella and her parents have been bringing up 10 year old Luke since Miranda, his mother and Ella’s sister, disappeared when Luke was just a baby. Although someone was convicted of similar murders, the police have never found her body but new evidence discovered in her belongings is now pointing towards a connection, although the police don’t seem very interested in pursuing it. But as Matilda still lives on in Ella’s head, as well as every time she looks in the mirror, so she decides to investigate further herself despite a warning from her friend Ted who is a local police officer.I loved how I got a real feel for the character of Miranda throughout.  Her voice came through so clearly due to Ella keeping her relationship with her sister alive with her memories and imagined conversations. Although 10 years have passed, her grief at losing her sister was still raw, crushing her and affecting her decisions. I found her narrative utterly heart breaking at times especially when Ella was with Luke, her nephew. I would probably have to say at this point that this isn’t a fast paced read but that didn’t stop me from becoming absolutely bewitched by the beautifully crafted characters and totally engrossed in the tension filled plot from page one.And right from that first page the I had a strong sense of foreboding about what had happened to Miranda and what might also happen to Ella if she wasn’t careful! This is definitely one of those books where you want to scream at the characters for making ill advised and rash desicions that are obviously going to make things a hell of a lot worse for themselves! Well, obvious to the reader of course but seemingly not to Ella!The Second Sister is creepy, claustrophobic and utterly compelling as the tension builds towards its twisty, terrifying climax. Highly recommended by me.

Ella's sister has been missing for ten years. Ten years since Miranda dropped her baby son Luke at their parents house and drove seat never to be seen again. Ella has never been able to let go of her sister and with the encouragement of her now 10 year old nephew Luke Ella steps up her own investigations to find out the truth of what happened to Miranda. There are so many people to suspect and so many twists and turns that you are completely drawn into this book. Though at times I did find Ella slightly annoying overall she is a charachter I really warmed to. The plot draws you through a serial killer that holds some secrets, a stalker, a manic ex friend and a seemingly harmless old lady....all of which convene in a cracking finale. This is a fantastic book.

Claire Kendal’s first book, The Book of You, was a top read for me a couple of years ago, so I was very excited to read the author’s next novel, The Second Sister. The story involves Ella, whose sister, Miranda, went missing ten years previously. Miranda’s son Luke is ten years old now and asking difficult questions. Ella is also 30, the age her sister was when she mysteriously disappeared, bringing up all kinds of new emotions, fears and her own unanswered questions. As Ella digs deeper, fresh information arises through renewed press interest and a new suspect is in the frame, a sadistic killer, Thorne. Ella, however, can’t bring herself to believe he’s involved, as this would mean her sister is dead. Until now, there has always been the thread of hope that she is still out there, somewhere.The immediacy of the narrative swept me up straight away, partly through the use of second-person narrative – this time, the author employed a nice twist in using it to refer to someone dear, the lost beloved sister, rather than the antagonist, as in the first novel. From the opening pages there was a gentle, delicate and fragile quality to Kendal’s narration that made me want to turn the pages ‘oh so tenderly.’ The writing seemed to capture the details ‘behind and between’ the aspects we normally notice about people – so sensitive and satisfying, as a result.The revered older sister, Miranda, is ever-present in the pages, as Ella 'hears' the internalised memories of her short punchy comments, as if she’s standing right beside her. There are also clever single line flashbacks to help the reader gain context and see how things stood in the past. I particularly admired the artful blend of literary fiction (which led me to savour the writing) and psychological thriller (which compelled me to turn the pages!). The author manages to find the tipping point between the two, perfectly!As the story progresses, there is a steady unfolding of clues and details which lead Ella onwards in her quest for the truth. She has to confront certain key figures and puts herself at risk to dig deeper. The outcome is shattering and the harrowing scenes towards the end took my breath away. So much is good about this book – and just like The Book of You, it will stay with me for a long time. Highly recommended.

I'm happy to say that I found The Second Sister to be a worthy follow-up to Claire Kendal's first novel, The Book of You. It's a densely-plotted, tenderly-written story with familial love at its heart. The narrative unfolds with perfect pacing in truly gorgeous writing, with just enough twists to keep the reader guessing and some truly chilling imagery that will stay with me for a while (a bracelet made of desiccated bugs, to name just one). The character of Ella is determined, fierce, and well-wrought, and strikes the perfect balance between toughness and vulnerability. This is a well-done psychological thriller with memorable characters and lots of heart.

With a slow build up this one has a roller coaster ride of an ending!

A sharp thriller with lots of twists and turns. Parts of the story reminded me of Silence of the lambs and other parts American Horror Story Asylum, and that's only a small piece.

In a way a missing person is often a sentence worse than death. It has no finality and it promises a lifetime of uncertainty. It’s one thing knowing the fate of a loved one, even if the details are inhumane and almost impossible to bear. It’s quite another to spend minutes, days or years imagining the worst, whilst simultaneously hoping for the best.This is the situation the reader finds Ella in. She is quite simply obsessed with the disappearance of her older sister Miranda. Vanished without a trace and leaving behind a young child. Was she overwhelmed with life or did someone take her?Ella is absolutely obsessed with finding out what happened to her sister. She knows in her gut that Miranda would never just abandon her son. It has an impact on her health, her life, her relationships and everyone around her.The scenes between Ella and Thorne are especially tense and nightmarish. The serial killer is only too happy to help Ella with her investigation. Of course, there is always a price to pay when a manipulative psycho is involved.Kendal writes a gripping story, although it does occasionally wander into some unbelievable sub-plots and perhaps superfluous red herrings. It was still a good read, because the disappearance and the truth were delivered in a captivating way.*I received an ARC of this book courtesy of the publisher via NetGalley.*

Two sisters with a strong bond, who lives take the same path for a while inadvertently. A mystery and a strong main character makes for a super read. In this book I was pleasantly surprised by the last couple of chapters.

WOWSERS! When my other half presented me with this book - I didn't really know what to expect as I haven't seen anything about this book or the author before. But I tell you what, I am SO glad I went into this book blind.The blurb does not give this book justice. I'm usually turned off by psychological thrillers. I can't put my finger on a specific reason why, but THE SECOND SISTER has restored my faith in the genre and I loved every page! It did take me about 60 odd pages to really get into the story - but once I was in, there was no turning back! So many questions that needed answers!The writing style is unique in that it appears to be penned by Ella (our protagonist) to her missing sister Miranda. This gives an interesting take to the story which I haven't encountered before. The chapters are also set out as mini stories, accompanied by a date - as if to emulate diary entries. For me, this helped to break up the story to allow for a better flow and pace. The story doesn't feel rushed, nor is it a slow burner. It travels along at the right speed that you are comfortable, but can start to feel that something isn't quite right.There are so many different layers to the characters involved. Their development has been captured beautifully and the reader is given the right amount for them to understand and gain a connection.A truly gripping read. One that I'm not going to forget in a hurry!