This is a fast paced mystery thriller that kept me engrossed right until the very end. It’s quite a short read but that certainly doesn’t take away from this great book .

This is a unique plot with some interesting characters, and certainly a good read for a long journey. However, I found the build up somewhat drawn out and repetitive, and then the ending just too neatly delivered in one block of narrative which made the denouement seem contrived.

My Sister is Missing is a thrilling, fast paced and suspenseful story where secrets multiply as the story goes on.

Emily returns to her hometown after a pleading request from her sister. Not 24 hours after her arrival, Madeleine disappears which leads Emily into a complicated and eye opening mission to find her sister as well as finding some secrets from her past.

I found the book pretty interesting and the suspenseful plot is quite good. I wasn't expecting that end and every twist that came with it.

There are a few things that I didn't like and those are all related with the way the police lead their work, which I found quite unprofessional and could have been better.

This is an edge of your seat thriller. Hooked from the first page. I could not put this book down, I was so intrigued and just had to keep on reading. So many secrets, twists and turns and as for the ending WHAM !!!!!!! I definitely did not see that coming. I read this book in one sitting, It certainly got my heart racing. Switch off your phone, turn off the tv and snuggle down as you are in for a he'll of a rollercoaster of a read. I am already searching for more books from this author. A very happy reader and so highly recommended.

A fast paced thriller, packed with mystery and multiple suspects.

Emily hasn't been back to her hometown in years. After her sister, Madeline, begs her to come, she makes the trip. She wakes up in her childhood home and finds that her sister is missing.

Days pass, old loves appear, surprising news on neighbors is revealed and a mystery from the past reopens.

Carissa Ann Lynch has created this world where time is of the essence and you, the reader, ARE Emily and you HAVE to find Madeline before it's too late.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was an author that I have never heard of. It was a quick read and had many twists which were surprising. I think I may order this book for the branch library and see if my patrons like it.

This was quite the tale. Overall I did like it. It was interesting and had some twists and concluded well.

That being said, there were some odd things too. There is the 30 year old that has lived on her own for well over a decade that seems to only know how to make box Mac and cheese. She is still pining for her high school boyfriend. She has lost her job recently and the reason she’s no longer working is a bit too coincidental (cheesy).

The investigation into her sister is led by the HS boyfriend of course. He has no problem allowing Emily to accompany him to crime scenes or disclose all the details of the active case. I guess it was a good thing since Emily took all of the steps needed to solve the case. Also is there no medical examiner in this town?

Those are just some examples of things that struck me as odd in an otherwise well plotted and entertaining story. There were some good messages in there too without getting too preachy. It had good flow and moved along quickly. It was a nice way to spend my afternoon and I will check out more by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and RedDoor Publishing for a copy in exchange for a review.

This book may be short in pages but it’s big in content.
I couldn’t put this book down and read it in one day.
This is a fast paced book that will keep you guessing read till the end

Estranged from her father and sister since their parents’ divorce years ago, Emily Ashburn, who did not even come back for her father’s funeral, reluctantly returns to her hometown of Bare Border at her sister Madeline’s request. Madeline says that she has something important to tell Emily, but the next morning she disappears, leaving her two children behind with their aunt, who has literally just met them for the first time. Sure that her sister never would have willingly abandoned her children, Emily desperately begins a search for her.

What has happened to Madeline? What does the mysterious - and seemingly threatening - message on Facebook from her high school friend mean? Does the disappearance of one of Emily’s classmates 20 years earlier and a mysterious injury that Emily suffered around the same time in the woods near their home have any bearing on current day events?

On the whole, this book was well plotted and I didn’t guess the solution to the mystery, although I had a general idea of what might have happened to Madeline using some logic and a process of elimination. I really liked Madeline’s children, Shelley and Ben. However, I found the character of Emily herself to be somewhat problematic. For a woman who is presumably in her 30s and has been on her own for probably half her life (without any support from family or friends, apparently), she seemed to be rather immature and unable to accept any responsibility for things that went wrong in her life, although she may have changed and grown some by the end of the book. Her problems with relationships were the fault of her boyfriend standing her up at her high school prom. She had lost her job because people at her workplace were out to get her - although this may, of course, have been true. But the way she essentially takes over the investigation, rushing in where angels fear to tread, searching a crime scene and removing evidence before calling the police, telling the police how to run the investigation when, given how long she’s been away, it’s hard to argue that she really knows any more than they do about her sister, and certainly less about criminal investigation, annoyed me. I’m also a little sick of the whole trope where the cop in charge of the case turns out to be the protagonist’s ex, with whom she had a bad breakup years ago, but miraculously the spark is still there. The standard “protagonist stupidly walks into a situation where she puts herself in the killer’s power” section also wound up way too quickly and neatly, in my opinion.

Despite what I perceived to be these flaws, however, the book is a quick and enjoyable read.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

My Sister is Missing by Carissa Ann Lynch is a short book but so much happens in the 197 pages. It is a page turner and I read it all in one sitting. I was hooked from the beginning and didn't see the ending coming at all.

Emily is returning to her hometown for the first time in 9 years at the request of her sister Madeline. She meets her niece and nephew for the first time and learns that her sisters marriage is over. She agrees to stay for a little while to help Madi with the kids but the town holds bad memories for her. When she wakes the next morning her sister is gone without a trace. She starts to look for her and begins to uncover secrets from the past - things that she never dreamed could be true.

A fast paced story that will keep you guessing. Thanks to Harper Impulse/Killer Reads for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.

I'm starting to think that 2019 will the the year of the three stars. I've yet to read anything that captures my attention and keeps it without me rolling my eyes or putting it down. The synopsis of this was what drew me in. I was even interested for the first couple of chapters. And then.. it just seemed to fall apart for me.

I live in a small town. The kind where everyone knows everyone else's business, so that part wasn't surprising. What WAS surprising is how certain neighbors seemed to keep their "dirty laundry" hidden for so many years, and how other people can be so oblivious to the obvious. There is no way the huge secret one neighbor harbors would have gone unknown by Emily even though it happened years before (even if she left town, her sister surely would have told her). I also had trouble believing that after years of refusing to come back, Emily would suddenly pack her bags and come return to her childhood home without more information from her sister.

The majority of these characters are one-dimensional, focusing obsessively on the past, acting like they didn't have the brains to run an investigation (I'm looking at you Officer), or otherwise acting in a stereotypical way (the jerk of an ex-husband for example). It felt like instead of building something, the author just went from zero to sixty. The sister is missing, Emily is little worried, and then suddenly every one has a dark secret and no one can be trusted.

I will say the ending did contain some surprise twists that did not see coming, which honestly is what saved this from being a two star read for me.

All in all, this is a well written novel, and I do think it will appeal to those who enjoy these sort of thriller novels. I would read more from this author.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

I recently read My Sister is Missing by Carissa Ann Lynch. I adored the descriptive style Lynch used to write this story and describe the scenery. This imagery will have me seeking more from Lynch in the future. My Sister is Missing begins with a younger sister, Emily, visiting her elder sister, Madi, in their hometown. Emily has not visited home in almost a decade and the two have not been as close. Shortly after Emily’s arrival, her elder sister goes missing, and the plot encompasses the search for Madi.

This was a quick read for me. There were a few questionable characters that left me guessing, but for the most part I knew how the story would end. I appreciated how Lynch portrayed the small town dynamics. That said, I felt the pacing jumped a bit. When Madi’s sister went missing there was a lack of concern and the panic escalated a bit too slowly. Additionally, I’m not certain the climax of the story did justice to the build up on this one, but I enjoyed it just the same. Thank you to NetGalley and Killer Reads for a digital advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

A well written mystery, full of secrets and lies. A good moral to the story too. Will look for more books by this author.

This book started out so strong but by 50% I was doing the ~ do I DNF or do I not dance. I managed to see it through to the end so I guess that says something.

Emily has been estranged from her sister, Madeline, for nearly a decade. The last time they saw each other was at Madeline's wedding. We know that something terrible happened to Emily in her past which caused her to leave Bare Borders to begin with but when her sister beckons her back explaining that she has to tell her something Emily doesn't hesitate to jump in her car and make the journey.

Madeline has two young children, Ben & Shelley, which Emily has never even met. On arrival she is instantly smitten with her young nephew and niece even though she has little experience with children. Madeline explains that her husband, John, has left her for his secretary and that they have moved in together. She asks Emily if she wouldn't mind staying to help out with the kids until she gets back on her feet. Emily, believing that this is the big news she had to share, is stunned when Madeline tells her she has more to reveal in the morning. Come morning, though, Madeline has disappeared leaving Emily with her children. No note. No explanation. Emily is now forced to find out what happened to her sister and what it was she was hiding?

I've got to be honest and say that I had some issues with this book. I won't nitpick everything that bugged me because I know that writing a book is a lot of work which is why I would never attempt such an endeavor but I will tell you what annoyed me the most:

Our MC Emily returns homes, sister goes missing, she contacts the police and guess who shows up?

Her high school ex-boyfriend that stood her up for prom and broke her heart. The guy that she has NEVER gotten over. The one she is still so bitter against EVEN THOUGH IT HAPPENED OVER A FUCKING DECADE AGO!!!! Are you kidding me? This is a big pet peeve of mine. I have a hard time rallying for a woman that is so damn needy. Not only that, throughout the entire investigation, she barks orders at this dude (You need to investigate so and so, you need to drain the lake, you need to follow up with this person etc. etc,) and he just jumps and does whatever she asks all while saying "Hey, I didn't think of that." Uh, I thought he was in charge of the investigation. If he's the detective in charge then I hope never to be murdered in this town, haha.

The ending was partly predictable and partly ridiculous. Read at your own risk. 2 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley, Harper Impulse & Killer Reads for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. Great page turner which kept me guessing until the very end. Atmospheric and tense in places.

My Sister is Missing by Carissa Ann Lynch
Publisher: Killer Reads
Publish Date: Feb 8, 2019

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher Killer Reads for the ebook ARC of My Sister is Missing by Carissa Ann Lynch in exchange for an honest review.

A twenty-year old local mystery that has never been solved.
A bone-chilling VHS tape depicting a horrific crime.
Neighbours with something to hide.
And a sister who is missing.
Emily has to find out the truth. But is her sister Madeline the victim… or the one to blame?

I give this book a rating of 5 stars and I highly recommend reading it!
Emily returns to the small town of Bare Border to see her niece and nephew and sister, Madi who has something important to tell her.
The next day Madi disappears and Emily is determined to find out what happened.
This book was very intriguing and it kept my attention. It was a very intense book, and Carissa Ann Lynch did a great job at bringing all the characters to life. This book had many unpredictable twists and turns!

Unfortunately, I found this to be a poorly written book full of inaccuracies and improbabilities. The author has tried to tell a tale of mystery but I found the the writing style is basic and the imagery cliched. The editor needs to check the following:
- In Indiana, the age of consent is 16 years - would someone really be found to be a paedophile if the other person was 17 years old and a prostitute?
- There is no way someone could identify a body (dead for 15 years or more), in a lake of water from 6000 feet above. This is nearly 2 kilometres! How can one identify anything at the bottom of a lake from even 20 feet above?
- How would a lake 6000 feet below a cliff in Indiana be cold enough to perfectly preserve a body for over 15 years?
- We are told that one of the main characters has a child called Chelsi and at the end of the book, the author refers to this character's 'children'.
- A three-year old would not speak as Shelley does.
- Would a dog understand 'show me where your food bowl is' from someone it had never seen and had been ferociously snarling at?
- Would a case go to court within a matter of weeks from time of arrest?

My list could go on. The story had potential but didn't convince.

Electrifying!!! 4.5 stars!

Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win. -Stephen King

My Sister Is Missing, what a thrill ride! I stayed up until 3:30 in the morning so I could finish and let me tell you, it was worth the lack of sleep. There were several times my heart was racing, I should check my Fitbit! I really enjoyed how short this book was, the story was well developed with nothing lacking. The writing was superb, I felt the words as though I was actually experiencing it myself not just watching it unfold in my mind. I can’t wait to read more from Carissa Ann Lynch, she has a new fan in this gal!

****Great big thank you NetGalley and Harper Impulse/Killer Reads for my advanced copy of My Sister Is Missing.

Will post to Amazon and B&N on release date.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book for an honest review.

The premise of this book was good however I thought the serious nature of the book was not well written and some very serious issues were treated too lightly. However it was a mystery with some twists and turns.

Very intense book with a crazy can't believe it type ending. I felt on the edge of my seat the whole time reading it trying to figure out the secrets of the characters. Very thrilling book I'll be recommending everywhere.