A Familiar Sight – ARC Book Review

A shocking murder carries echoes of the past for a psychologist in a startling novel of suspense by a Washington Post and Amazon Charts bestselling author.

Psychologist and criminologist Dr. Gretchen White is a specialist in antisocial personality disorders and violent crimes. She’s helped solve enough prominent cases for detective Patrick Shaughnessy that her own history is often overlooked: Gretchen is an admitted sociopath once suspected of killing her aunt. Shaughnessy still thinks Gretchen got away with murder. It’s not going to happen again.

When a high-profile new case lands on Shaughnessy’s desk, it seems open and shut. Remorseless teenager Viola Kent is accused of killing her mother. Amid stories of childhood horrors and Viola’s cruel manipulations, the bad seed has already been found guilty by a rapt public. But Gretchen might be seeing something in Viola no one else does: herself.

If Viola is a scapegoat, then who really did it? And what are they hiding? To find the truth, Gretchen must enter a void that is not only dark and cold-blooded, but also frighteningly familiar.

No. of pages:- 367 pages

Date published:- will be published on August 1st 2021

Publisher:- Thomas and Mercer

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:-

I only have one word for this book….WOW! What did I just read? This book is so intense, gripping that the ending actually left me speechless!

This book is the first book of the Dr. Gretchen White series–Gretchen has identified herself as a sociopath and years later, she almost became a suspect of her aunt’s murder case and still, her colleague, Shaughnessy believes that she was behind her aunt’s murder. So when a high profile murder case lands on her desk with her friend Lena committing suicide, Gretchen along with another Detective Marconi investigates the case. The suspect was a girl named Viola Kent, a thirteen year old with a history of violent tendencies ranging from harming her brothers to hiding dead birds in the garage, was accused of stabbing her mother Claire numerous times. When Lena committed suicide, she has left a note to Gretchen saying Viola was like Gretchen–that she was innocent. Is Viola really innocent and is used as a scapegoat? If so, who is the real murderer.

The plot to me sounded interesting and intriguing to me–the story divides between Now which involves Gretchen and Marconi to the past spanning between the years with Reed Kent sharing his perspectives. The story was fast paced, a plus sign for a good thriller in my opinion with lots of twists and turns that makes you wonder, who really is the murderer. When reaching towards the end, it got more and more intense that I was so hooked into the story and couldn’t wait to see who is the real culprit!!! The ending was–WOW, didn’t expect that type of ending. I had such a roller coaster ride with this book that I actually enjoyed reading this book! The book mainly talks about power, social status as well as abuse which makes it both disturbing and interesting to read at times. In my opinion, the characters to me are a bit complex and intense, and to me, Gretchen seem to be an interesting character. I also like how the friendship and relationship developed between Gretchen and Marconi.

Overall, this is a fast paced thrilled packed with unexpected twists and turns with an ending that will leave you speechless–worth five stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Thomas and Mercer for the ARC–the review is based on my honest opinion only.

Born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Brianna Labuskes graduated from Penn State University with a degree in journalism. For the past eight years, she has worked as an editor at both small-town papers and national media organizations such as Politico and Kaiser Health News, covering politics and policy. Her historical romance novel, One Step Behind, was released by Entangled Publishing. She lives in Washington, DC, and enjoys traveling, hiking, kayaking, and exploring the city’s best brunch options. Visit her at http://www.briannalabuskes.com.