Mother Daughter Sister Stranger, Hank Phillippi Ryan (Review by Melissa Frye)

Mother, Daughter, Sister Stranger by Hank Phillippi Ryan is a psychological thriller that focuses on two sisters who survived the plane crash that killed their parents when they were children. Years later, on the anniversary of the crash, one of the sisters, Bea, mysteriously disappears, seemingly forgetting to pick up her daughter from her sister Eliza’s house. This is unfathomable behavior and catapults the story as Eliza tries to uncover the truth.

It’s been a rather long time since I devoured a book in 2 days. I was immediately hooked and couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. At times, I thought the pages were going to be on fire as fast as I turned them! It contained all the standard thriller ingredients – hidden family secrets, trauma bonding, major plot twist. With each new detail, the author demanded a reassessment but the whole time you feel strongly you know what the case is not, which kept me even more engrossed on the possibilities.

From a character perspective, I was able to relate to the main protagonist Eliza and her niece Piper having a niece of my own of a similar age. I enjoyed watching their bond deepen and grow as they searched for answers as a mini team. For me, this increased my engagement as I wanted them so badly to find what they were looking for and incredibly empathetic to the emotional waves they were wading through. The illumination of their relationship amid the intensity of the plot details was a complete win for me.

This book exceeded my expectations and satiated my hunger for a perfect thriller. This is the first book I have read by this author which is somewhat shocking as she’s written more than 50 books. Give this one a shot – I highly recommend it!