Cover Image: Two Sisters

Two Sisters

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Member Reviews

Megan and Chloe are sisters but they have both lived their lives mostly apart as they had been sent off to different boarding schools for the biggest part of the time. When they are informed that their parents have been killed in a car accident they are wondering about what will happen now when Megan receives a postcard with the letter Z they only message. 10 years before they had a brother Zac who went missing from their holiday home in Whitecliff and he was presumed drowned. The girls go to the holiday home but Megan does not mention the postcard Chloe thinks they are just tying up loose ends in preperation of selling it. It becomes clear that the girls have totally different memories and this has impacted on their present lives but can they manage to come together and find out what the mystery is that everyone seems to be keeping from them. There are quite a few twists and turns in this really enjoyable plot and it kept me guessing right up until the last page.
I have read a few of this authors books before but this was totally different and a book that kept me gripped.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy of the book

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Megan and Chloe return to a holiday home that they have not seen since they were children. The last time they were here their older brother Zack went missing and was never seen again. No body was ever recovered and he was presumed dead, until after their patents funeral when Megan receives a postcard bearing just the letter Z.
Megan and Chloe barely know each other and can barely remember their brother but Megan is determined to finally find out what happened to him.
I loved this book from start to finish. The main charachter Megan has an attitude and an eating disorder. I loved her inner monologue that often answered what her mouth did not - but most of the time her mouth did the talking without any filter.
This book had me suspecting every single person in the village and kept me guessing right up to the very last second.
Easy five out of five!

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I am shocked by how versatile this author is and just how well he can portray feelings as well as showing a great ability to character write

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Because I'm tapping my fingers waiting for the next instalment in the Jessica Daniels series, I thought I would request a pre-publication of this stand alone book by the same author.

Just as a creepy psychological thriller should, you are slowly drawn in. Unravelling an array of characters who all play their part with the twists & turns in this intriguing plot.

I thought this book was really well written. I really enjoyed the different directions the story went in knowing something was not right, but being unsure exactly what it was.

Praise to Mr Wilkinson for only temporary stopping my fingers tapping (hint hint).

Thank you Kerry Wilkinson, Netgalley and Bookouture for allowing me to review this book.

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Well that was fun.....a little unbelievable but so addictive!

This novel drew me in from the first page. Megan and Chloe have come back to the family cottage near Whitecliff three months after their parents were killed in a car accident. It's also the place where 10 years previously their brother Zac disappeared. On the day of their parents funeral Megan received a postcard of Whitecliff with one letter on the back...'Z'.
This book seemed to present little snippets of information throughout. Megan and Chloe are 20 and nearly 17 respectively but Megan seems so much older and Chloe so much younger. They have never been close as they spent their schooling years at different boarding schools. While Chloe is a vegan, it appears that Megan is obsessed with calories and carbs and it was really interesting reading Megan's self talk on this, so I was wondering where it was all leading to. Megan has come to the cottage with Chloe on the pretence of clearing it out to sell but she ultimately wants to know what happened to Zac and we follow her obsessive journey. There was always a menacing undercurrent throughout, I thought I had it figured out 2/3's of the way in but I was quite wrong and the last few chapters were heart in mouth for me. I really enjoyed it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for a copy to read and review.

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Mind shattering book! Enjoyed it all the way to the end!

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Megan and Chloe are no strangers to tragedy. Their brother Zac went missing when they were 10 and 7 respectively and now 10 years later they have lost both of their parents in a car crash. Under the guise of clearing up their parents affairs Megan arranges for them to stay at the holiday cottage in Whitecliff where they were staying when Zac vanished. But she had an ulterior motive. She has received a postcard from Whitecliff, the back signed Z....Z for Zac..Megan is determined to find out the truth about her brother but Whitecliff isn't a town that gives up its secrets easily.

So this is my first Kerry Wilkinson novel (shocking I know). He's been on my radar for awhile but by the time his Jessica Daniel series came to my attention he was about nine books in. Generally now if I'm not in at about book 3 I shy away. I still haven't got over the trauma of reading my first Inspector Banks and realising it was part 16. It's that moment of "Oh God there topples my TBR pile". I do have a point to all this rambling (I promise...well sort of). So seeing this standalone novel I thought it was an ideal starting point. And a part of me was hoping this would be crap because then I wouldn't want to read any of his other books. Well all I can say is damn you Mr Wilkinson, you only went and wrote a darn fine book. Humph.
So what I like about this book most of all is Megan. She's sarcastic and bitchy, grumpy and short tempered but even with her obvious issues I really warmed to her quickly (not sure what this says about me). The fact is this is a slow burner of a book which, in the hands of another writer, might struggle to hold some people's attention. But because our narrators voice is as compelling as it is it holds your attention, it even provides a few laughs at the beginning. But as the book progresses that slow burn turns to a build up of growing tension, so very quickly you find that you just can't put this down. There is a list of supporting characters but the other star of the show is the town itself. We've all been to a town like Whitecliff, a small seaside town that wants your money but not your company. Whitecliff is best described as a particularly unfriendly distant (inbred) cousin of Broadchurch. They've got more secrets than the CIA.

A great place to start your Kerry Wilkinson journey, a dark and moody thriller that will wile away some very enjoyable hours this summer.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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Mysteries begin in the first few pages. On being told her parents have been killed in a car crash Megan doesn't react as you'd expect even allowing that people react differently. The second mystery is where is her brother Zac who disappeared a decade ago. Megan and Chloe return to their inherited parental cottage home in Cornwall - no TV, phone or Wi-Fi signal. Nightmare!!!! Megan is like a dog with a bone trying to solve the mystery of her brother's disappearance and met with an unfriendly, wary response from the villagers. The book has a very modern take on youth in its dialogue, thinking and fashion. I can just picture the author grinning away to himself as he wrote this book. It's packed with humour with some very engaging one-liners and analogies. In contrast it's also tense with the underlying mysteries, cliff hanging chapters and I certainly wasn't prepared for the killer-type ending. Thank you for letting me read it. After publication I shall put a review on Amazon and my blog. I have already commented on Facebook to whet people's appetite to read it.

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2657711
Denise Crawford's review Jun 17, 2017 · edit

Whitecliff, a strange little seaside town where the locals and the summer people antagonize each other during the season. Megan and Chloe Smart return to the family cottage there after the sudden death of their parents. Neither had been back since their older brother, Zac, had disappeared from the place 10 years previously. There were no clues, but the sisters had been told that he had probably drowned. "They lied."

As a fan of the Jessica Daniel novels, I've read 5, I was hoping for the same type of gripping psychological thriller that I've come to expect from this author. This was a standalone, and unfortunately was not as good as I'd thought it would be. I couldn't relate to the main character, older sister Megan with her anorexia, nor to any of the other characters in the book. There was not much suspense or tension and I merely plodded through finally reaching the end -- which seemed anticlimactic after all the intended build up. I just couldn't make myself care too much about the plot. At first I thought this might have been one of his first novels repackaged, but no, it is due out shortly in the US. Anyway, I finished it. All I want to do now is read more of the JD series. Maybe it was the age of the characters that I found so hard to identify with -- this read more like YA or New Adult than I like.

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Thank you Kerry Wilkinson and Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.
This is my first Kerry Wilkinson novel and reading other reviews I feel cheated. I definitely will go and read some more. I enjoyed Two Sister, no fluffing of chapters, no need for me to skip a paragraph or few. The characters were well written and believable. I flew through this novel easily and with an anticipation to discover the mystery surrounding this family. Although I found the ending all tied up nicely and answered all my questions, I didn't fully believe it.
I recommend this as a decent quick read that will keep you interested from start to finish.

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I have been reading quite a few books by Kerry Wilkinson in the last few months and have to say she has become a favourite of mine. Each book is different, even if in the same genre. She reaches outside of her comfort zone for inspiration but seems to hit them all out of the park. This book is no different.

This is the story of Megan and Chloe. The two sisters have had a life filled with heartbreaking loss. Their brother disappeared 10 years before and know one knows what happened to him, followed by the loss of their parents in a car accident. The girls had been sent to separate boarding schools but managed to maintain their closeness.

Megan receives a postcard from the town where the girls brother had disappeared, and they had spent some time in their summers as children, with simply the letter Z which is their missing brother's initial. This leads to the girls relocating there and Megan asking all kinds of questions about her missing brother, which leads to all kinds of problems and dangerous situations.

Megan is not only trying to solve the mystery of the postcard and the disappearance of her brother, but is battling her own inner demon of anorexia. This is a topic, that all though very difficult, was handled masterfully by Ms Wilkinson.

I must admit that I am looking forward to reading many more of this very talented authors novels!

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Having read some of Kerry Wilkinson's Jessica Daniel series, I knew the guy could spin a good yarn. So when I heard that Bookouture were to publish a stand alone novel, Two Sisters I absolutely couldn't pass up on the opportunity to read it. The story opens as Megan Smart is being informed that her parents have been killed in a car crash. No messing, no preamble, much like the officer's relaying of the news we launch straight in. Now Megan and her sister Chloe have not been especially close to their parents, both packed off to boarding school as soon as possible and living largely separate lives, but it still comes as a shock, if only because of the cryptic postcard Megan receives just before the funeral.

It is this that leads Megan to drag her sister to the holiday home in Cornwall that they haven't visited since the fateful summer ten years ago when their brother Zach disappeared. She knows that somewhere in the small village are the answers she longs for. Little does she know the startling chain of events that she is about to unleash by simply asking a few questions. Someone in the village knows something and it seems is willing to do anything to stop the truth from coming out.

Now compared to Kerry Wilkinsons' usual police procedurals, there is a marked slowing of pace in Two Sisters. To be fair, this suits the sleepy and remote village location perfectly, and lends itself to the sense of foreboding and ill feeling that starts from almost the moment that the sisters set foot in Whitecliff. There is a complete lack of trust for outsiders from the locals, often typical of a small village location, and although the girls' parents had a home in the village, very few people seem to have known them. Those that do are mysterious and aloof, and there is an air of dishonesty about each of them.

As this is a suspense rather than an out and out thriller, characterisation is key and the author has done a sterling job of creating the authenticity of the small town community, a village full of people who have known little other than Whitecliff for their entire lives. There is also an honesty about Megan who is battling more than the need for answers. Her fractious relationship with her mother has taken a toll on her personally and the nature of her condition appears well researched and represented. She is suffering from an eating disorder but this is not glorified or glossed over in any way. It is just represented, in Megans's own voice, as they way that it is. She is acutely aware of what she is doing to herself but also that she cannot stop. There is no self denial, just an acceptance of who she is.

Chloe is a completely different character to her sister. Younger, she is shy and uncertain, but there is an honesty about her which is appealing. In fact both sisters are very likeable characters which is good as it is through Megan's eyes that we see the majority of the action unfold. This complements the narrative as the reader is taken in by the same lies as Megan believes, and feels the suspicion that she feels. There is also that eeriness, the sense of menace, which accompanies the movement in the shadows, always just out of Megan's, and our, line of sight. That spine tingling moment of doubt and apprehension as some of stark warnings to the girls first start to appear.

With all the dishonesty and the strange, sometimes violent, goings on you can feel the tension slowly building. It is quite fitting that the traditional Burning Boat celebration within the town should signal the start of the most nerve wracking sequence of the whole book. You know something is going to happen, but you cannot prepare yourself for the moment when everything reaches its shocking conclusion.  There are so many suspects for what happened to Zach all those years ago littered throughout the book, so many people who appear guilty and could be trying to force Megan to leave, that it simply could be anyone. So much duplicity, so many lies. You will think that you know, but you really won't.

If you like an intriguing and suspenseful read, full of duplicitous characters and mistrust, then you should absolutely give this a go. Fans of Kerry Wilkinson will not be disappointed.

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This book. This book kept my attention. I was trying to determine the ending as I read and fortunately for me, very unsuccessful. I was able to be surprised and it was a great read.

Thank you to NetGalley for my copy of this novel.

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Good story dealing with difficult subjects. Very descriptive of small village life and how outsiders can be treated ,with nasty undertones.

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I really liked this book, it had you wondering the whole time. I could have done with out the whole anorexia thing,I dont feel like it really mattered and it was brought up like every 5 min. It didnt really add to the story. Its about 2 girls who parents died and they try to find out what happened to their dead/ missing brother 10 years ago. They end up in alot of trouble and no is who they seem.

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Great book! Looking forward to reading more by this author! Highly recommend!

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Wow neve saw any of it coming. Excellent read keeps you on your toes

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Brilliant read, one of those books that reels you in. I couldn't stop thinking about even while I was washing up!.

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Megan and her sister are alone after the death of their parents. They return to the family holiday cottage to deal with the estate, but also because Megan is convinced someone will know what happened to her older brother when he went missing ten years earlier.
This is a small town, full of secrets, and sometimes secrets have a way of coming out.

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Megan who is ten years old and her shy little sister Chloe, aged six, travel with their parents to join their teenage brother Zac, who has spent his summer holiday at their seaside cottage, high up a steep hill and surrounded by woodland. The small town of Whitecliff with its beach are down below their hilltop eyrie and they spend their summer together playing with each other and enjoying the beach. Then one day their parents tell the girls that Zac has gone missing, never returning home two evenings earlier. The family return home with just four in their car when the search for Zac is called off and he is declared missing, feared drowned.
Ten years later Megan and Chloe are left orphans when their parents are tragically killed in a car crash. Megan receives a mysterious post card that summer, the cliffs and beach of Whitecliff Bay on the front of it and the sender signing off with an enigmatic ‘Z’. Could it possibly be from Zac? The two sisters have been left all of their parents worldly goods, including their holiday cottage, so they agree to drive to Whitecliff with the remit of clearing out the cottage and perhaps even selling it on. Chloe is oblivious of the existence of the post card as Megan has kept the secret of it and the mysterious sender to herself. However she is determined to try to find out what happened to her older brother a decade earlier.
The villagers soon know who Megan and Chloe are and are not very welcoming. They are vague in their recollections of Zac although they admit to remembering his disappearance and the ensuing search. It seems that nobody really mixed with him or could help Megan with answers to her questions. Chloe understands their reluctance to talk about the event. After all their businesses rely heavily upon tourism and they do not want this event to cast a shadow over their lives. But Megan will not let it go and that is when the real trouble starts, placing the sisters in mortal danger.
“Two Sisters” by Kerry Wilkinson is a mystery story of a determined young lady trying to uncover the truth of her brother’s disappearance from her dysfunctional family. Damaged, full of demons and lacking in self esteem she undertakes a heartfelt investigation with nothing but hindrance from the townsfolk. Even her sister Chloe urges her to ‘let it go’, not fully understanding the importance of finding out the truth to feisty Megan. She is driven forward by the knowledge that her brother may be alive and that he wants to be reunited with his siblings. Piece by piece she collects evidence that she cannot understand. Strange things happen and spook her. Has there been a cover-up? Who is involved? Have her parents lied to the two sisters? She literally cannot rest until she has discovered the truth and all of her questions have been answered.
This story is told mainly from Megan’s point of view. I did not like her character very much. She was rude and damaged, verging on the very tip of self destruction. The buried secrets of the past tormented her and will not leave her alone. There are so many secrets being kept in this story, even by her sister. Sometimes people are not who they seem to be and this leads her astray.
I would like to thank NetGalley and publisher Bookouture for my copy of this novel, sent to me in return for an honest review. This was a good read, enveloping me in a feeling of menace throughout every page. Never in a month of Sundays could I have guessed the satisfying, but disturbing outcome.

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