30 Sep Two Sisters By Kerry Wilkinson – Review

Happy Monday, amigos! Wait..did I just use Monday & happy in a same sentence? Yup, we’re having an extended weekend here in Macedonia so it’s a really happy Monday for me  Hope yours is great too. It’s going to be a really busy week on the blog as I have FOUR blog tours lined up and there will be some reviews & guests posts, so do check to see what will be happening. Today I’m taking part in Kerry Wilkinson’s blog tour for his latest psychological thriller TWO SISTERS, which is a great story about lies, dysfunctional families, eating disorder, missing kid and siblings. I’ve been so excited to read it and finally share my review..and hope I get you intrigued enough to pick up the book. Many thanks to Bookouture and lovely Kim for the galley and the chance to be part of this blog tour. Rock on, guys!

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Two Sisters by Kerry Wilkinson
Published by Bookouture
Published on 23.6.2017
Genres: thriller, psychological thriller
Pages: 334
Format: e-book

They told us he had been missing for nearly two days, that he probably drowned. They told us a lie.

Megan was ten years old when her older brother, Zac, went missing among the cliffs, caves and beaches that surround the small seaside town of Whitecliff.

A decade later and a car crash has claimed the lives of her parents.

Megan and her younger sister Chloe return to Whitecliff one summer for the first time since their brother’s disappearance. Megan says it’s to get her parents’ affairs in order. There are boxes to pack, junk to clear, a rundown cottage to sell. But that’s not the real reason.

Megan has come to confront her family’s past after receiving a postcard on the day of her parents’ funeral. It had a photograph of Whitecliff on the front and a single letter on the back.

‘Z’ is all it read.

Z for Zac.

A totally gripping psychological thriller that will have fans of Louise Jensen, Sue Fortin and The Silent Child absolutely hooked.

I can not believe it took me so long to read a book by Kerry Wilkinson! It’s probably because the author writes mostly fantasy and YA and I hardly read those genres, however I’m pleasantly surprised with how much I liked this book. The cover is brilliant and the blurb is fantastic so I was really excited to get my hands on this book. What I feared is the slower pace, as lately I’ve been reading a lot of thrillers that were slow burners which kind of drained me. Well, while this isn’t the most suspenseful and fastest book I’ve ever read, it sure kept me interested and turning the pages.

Two Sisters tells the story of Megan and Chloe Smart, who’ve just lost their parents in a car accident and are back at their summer cottage in Whitecliff to take care of the estate. The sisters have really had a crap childhood and had gone through the trauma of losing their brother, Zac a decade ago. Seems no one in the small village ever got to know what exactly happened to him, however many assumed he drowned. Once Zac is gone, the cold relationship in the family turns to the girls being sent to boarding schools and the sisters hardly seeing each other. They whatsapp and e-mail occasionally, however their relationship feels stiff and unnatural most of the times. It’s like they’ve never learned from their parents about what real love and affection is and that is reflecting in all parts of their lives. Megan has an eating disorder, anorexia and Chloe is an insecure teenager who loves art but isn’t confident enough to do anything about it. At the day of their parents’ funeral, Megan, now in her twenties, receives a postcard with Whitecliff on the picture and one letter written on the back. Z… Z for Zac, right? Very creepy, right? Now this creepy factor you can feel all throughout the book which makes it a good psychological thriller.

Soon the sisters get on a search for their brother. He must be alive, right? Who else would send them a postcard? Whitecliff seems like a nice, friendly place next to the beach…but it proves to be everything but that! You can actually feel the eery atmosphere of that place and will suspect everyone in the village, both villagers and the tourists. I think the author did an amazing job in creating such a dark atmosphere, turning a small village into this creepy place you’d want to get the hell out of.

While the book has in its background the story of the missing kid, this book is actually more about the sisters, especially Megan. We really get into her brain and see the motives for her bitchy behavior. Yes, Megan is not the most likable character. Actually except for the sympathy I felt because of her condition, she really pissed me off most of the times. But then I’d remember she’s in her twenties, never felt that unconditional love by either of her parents… and it kind of made sense she’s like that. I didn’t like Rachel from ‘The Girl on The Train’ either but think she made one hell of a protagonist! Same case here… Megan is not someone you’ll easily connect to, but she drives the book and you’ll definitely be interested in her search.

What I also found fascinating is the ease and the sensitivity with which the author handles issues as anorexia, dysfunctional families, siblings’ relationships. The sensitive hints were a nice touch and made the characters more believable and the atmosphere more sinister. There are so many layers to this book and I am totally impressed of the author’s skills to ‘speak’ on behalf of a twenty year old girl. I do think it took a lot of effort to get into a ‘girl’s head’, but as a reader I didn’t feel any struggle on Kerry’s part. Which only proves his writing talent and skills.

I also really liked the twists and turns and couldn’t predict some of them, however I have to say that I can’t help but feel this thriller is for the younger audience. I swear, even if I didn’t know Kerry writes YA, I could easily ‘feel’ that as he’s got great interest and skill in getting inside a young mind. So, what I’m saying now is totally subjective and doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. Maybe you enjoy YA so you won’t have an issue with this.

To sum it up, this was a really interesting psychological thriller and I’m so glad I finally read something by Kerry Wilkinson. He’s got so many books and while I’m not sure I’m ready for the YA books I’ll definitely be checking out his other thrillers in the future.

About Kerry Wilkinson

Kerry Wilkinson is from the English county of Somerset but has spent far too long living in the north. It’s there that he’s picked up possibly made-up regional words like ‘barm’ and ‘ginnel’. He pretends to know what they mean.

He’s also been busy since turning thirty: his Jessica Daniel crime series has sold more than a million copies in the UK; he has written a fantasy-adventure trilogy for young adults; a second crime series featuring private investigator Andrew Hunter and the standalone thriller, Down Among The Dead Men.