S. F. Prescott

Steady paced and filled with suspense.

Kimberly McCreight is the New York Times bestselling author of eight novels including RECONSTRUCTING AMELIA, A GOOD MARRIAGE and FRIENDS LIKE THESE. Her next book LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DAUGHTER (Knopf) is forthcoming in summer 2024. She’s been nominated for the Edgar, Anthony and Alex awards and her books have been translated into more than twenty languages. She attended Vassar College and graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She lives in Brooklyn with her two daughters.

Published July 30th, 2024.

This is the first Kimberly McCreight book I’ve read but it won’t be the last. An intriguing story about a broken family, a mother’s complicated relationship with her daughter, and the traumatic past she left behind. I enjoyed the dual narrative/timeline between Kat and Cleo which created a lot of suspense, while the therapy transcripts/diary entries cleverly revealed details from Cleo and Kat’s past. I always prefer a non-linear structure when reading suspense/thriller because it feels like more of a puzzle to solve. And this book has a lot of clues and clever reveals which layer the suspense nicely throughout. Kat and Cleo’s characters were also very relatable, and I was rooting for both of them, desperate for them to be reunited in the end.

As much as I enjoyed the reveals, the pace was a little too slow for me. There were so many red herrings it definitely kept me on the edge of my seat but I wanted bigger twists at the end. Kat’s past was dark but not as shocking as i would have liked.

For readers who enjoy stories about family, complex relationships, corporate thriller vibes, and steady reveals.

Synopsis:

When Cleo, a student at NYU, arrives late for dinner at her childhood home in Brooklyn, she finds food burning in the oven and no sign of her mother, Kat. Then Cleo discovers her mom’s bloody shoe under the sofa. Something terrible has happened.

But what? The polar opposite of Cleo, whose “out of control” emotions and “unsafe” behavior have created a seemingly unbridgeable rift between mother and daughter, Kat is the essence of Park Slope perfection: a happily married, successful corporate lawyer. Or so Cleo thinks.

Kat has been lying. She’s not just a lawyer; she’s her firm’s fixer. She’s damn good at it, too. Growing up in a dangerous group home taught her how to think fast, stay calm under pressure, and recognize a real threat when she sees one. And in the days leading up her disappearance, Kat has become aware of multiple threats: demands for money from her unfaithful soon-to-be ex-husband; evidence that Cleo has slipped back into a relationship that’s far riskier than she understands; and menacing anonymous messages from her past—all of which she’s kept hidden from Cleo . . .