Survival Instincts by Jen Waite (Review by Lara Ferguson)

The story begins with an idea, a spontaneous decision to rent a cabin in the woods of New Hampshire. Anne has noticed some perplexing emotional and behavioral changes in her pre-teen daughter, Thea, and she wants some time away from the routine of their life, a place where her daughter will have to un-plug and they can reconnect. She invites her mother and just like that they are all looking forward to a girls’ weekend of hiking, hot chocolate, and togetherness. On a nearly deserted trail, just as they are relaxing into the weekend, they are attacked by a lone man and dragged into an old empty cabin. Who is this man and what does he want? It quickly becomes apparent that his intent is to kill….they will not leave alive. Weaving pieces of each character’s past and present together, Jen Waite builds a fascinating and insightful tale of strong women and mother-daughter relationships that illustrates the lengths to which a mother will go to protect her daughter. Survival Instincts, has a suspenseful, often twisted plot that has the reader turning circles, wondering how the pieces are connected and yet, underneath the elements of action and mystery lies this poignant story of how the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters develop and evolve. Jen Waite does a fantastic job of combining the page-turner thriller that we love with a real story of female relationship and sacrifice that makes us think as we race to the end to see what happens.