I loved this mystery/thriller by Dionne. If you enjoyed the Upper Peninsula setting of her first novel, The Marsh King's Daughter, you'll like seeing some more elements of life in Michigan's U.P. in this one. The premise was really original, and had just the right number of twists and surprises. I loved the fairy tale theme woven throughout the book as well. This is a great pick for a summer suspense read, particularly for fans of The Marsh King's Daughter, Zoje Stage's Baby Teeth, and those who like the setting of Paul Doiron's Mike Bowditch series.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great psychological thriller told in dual timelines, the characters are sometimes infuriating in the actions they take but overall I thought it was a good story- I enjoyed it.

Karen Dionne has followed her award winning The Marsh King's Daughter with an equally gripping novel of psychological suspense. This dark, atmospheric tale is also set in the wilderness of Michigan's upper peninsula -- the perfect location for exploring the heart of darkness.

Rachel Cunningham has been in an asylum since she was a child, found alone and catatonic on the side of the road in a freezing UP winter. This is where she belongs, she knows, for causing the deaths of her parents.

When she makes the fateful decision to return to her family's compound, and reconnect with her older sister, she wants to fill the gaps in her memory and reconstruct the events of that awful day. She is about to discover that home may be where the heart is, but it can also be a place of incredible danger.

Weaving through the past and the present, Dionne explores the relationships of two generations of sisters, as memories surface and truths are revealed. She is at the top of her game, and The Wicked Sister is destined for the bestseller lists. Highly recommended.

"Hope. Such a meager consolation for people who have no way out."

A few years ago, Karen Dionne's novel The Marsh King's Daughter flew onto the scene and demanded to be read and loved. It had the perfect combination of thriller elements and strong characters, all brought together by a narrative that mirrored a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale. I was completely enamored with the book and shared my love for it with just about anyone who would listen to me. Needless to say, I was anxiously awaiting the release of whatever Dionne came up with next. I waited and waited until earlier this year, her publisher finally reached out with an ARC of her latest novel, The Wicked Sister. I jumped at the chance to read it, and I'm pleased to say that it does not disappoint!

When we first meet Rachel, she is speaking to a spider in her room. It sounds crazy, but she's always been able to speak to animals. Well, maybe it actually is crazy. You see, she has spent the last 15 years as a patient in a mental institution, not for talking to animals, but for something much darker. The facts surrounding the events that landed her there are not exactly clear. Both of Rachel's parents were shot dead in the secluded cabin in the woods that the family called home. Whether she simply witnessed the killings or was the one who pulled the trigger is unclear. Even murkier are the days that followed. Rachel ran from the scene and was swallowed by the rugged wilderness only to emerge with no recollection of how she survived in the harsh weather and unforgiving environment. Therapy and medication have done little to open her memory. She is 26 years old and shows no signs of ever being able to leave the institution. All signs point to a lifetime of isolation in the clinic until a young reporter and brother of a fellow patient presents her with information that could change everything.

Chapters of Rachel's present day situation alternate with those of the past. Jenny is a young mother facing a difficult reality. A small neighbor boy tragically drowned in their pool, and Jenny's daughter Dianna seems to have witnessed the event. At least that's what Dianna says happened. Jenny fears something much worse. She found her daughter in soaked clothes and had to change her into a dry outfit before the authorities arrived. Determined to leave the past behind, Jenny and her husband decide to quit their jobs and take up residence at his family's cabin. Isolated from the rest of the world, Jenny hopes to provide Dianna with an upbringing that is safe and enriching. She hopes this different approach to parenting will give her daughter a chance at being normal. But as time progresses and Dianna acts out in new and often horrific ways, Jenny must face the truth. She is raising a psychopath.

In The Wicked Sister Karen Dionne writes another twisted thriller that shocks and terrifies. She does a fantastic job weaving the two seemingly separate narrative threads into a unified whole, building suspense as each perspective reveals more and more that impacts the other. The Wicked Sister is often dark and uncomfortable to read, but a story about a psychopath should be uncomfortable. Dionne relishes in the passages that make you squirm, terrified to read on but unable to look away. She balances these with strong and engaging characters that help propel the reader through even the most harrowing sections. Like her previous novel, The Wicked Sister sees Dionne use the setting of the rugged cabin and surrounding wilderness to great effect. It almost becomes another character in and of itself, a vast and foreboding spirit that permeates each page. As I started this book, I wasn't sure what I was getting into, and nothing could have prepared me for the intense journey I was beginning. The Wicked Sister cements Karen Dionne as on of my must-read authors and will no doubt be one of my favorite thrillers of the year.

What if your child was a psychopath? How do you protect their siblings? Rachel suffers for years in a mental institution thinking she murdered her parents, but did she? Nature in the Upper Peninsula is a supporting character,in this story full of twists and turns.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! After reading the synopsis I was intrigued to see where the story went and how it was written. I figured from the title and the synopsis that it was easy to know the ending, and just get to have a good story to read while the known ending unfolds, but there was still some surprise to it and a twist I didn't see coming until the end when the pieces fell into place. Rachel is such a great character to see grow and mature and come into her own being. Her sister even more wicked as the book goes on until the end. Her mother Jenny such a strong character and even though she died along with Rachel's father the mystery behind it is a good one! This is a suspenseful, enthralling, and exciting read! Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read it and find a new author to follow!

Rachel has locked herself away for years in a mental hospital because although she couldn’t remember, she thought she killed her parents. Until evidence shows up and she starts to wonder what really did happen, then stops at nothing until she gets answers. A solid suspense book.

Another well written book by this author.

It’s a somewhat typical domestic thriller of recent fad: an unreliable female narrator who discovers (or rediscovers) things about her family and friends, potentially to her detriment.

Our narrator spent her entire childhood in a mental health facility after she believes she killed her mother. We learn fairly early on that things aren’t quite what she remembers them to be.

This author does a great job of creating ambience and tension in the wilderness. Both this and her previous book took place in areas with lower populations and more nature, and she handles it brilliantly.

The ending was a sufficiently exciting blow out and gives new meaning to the book title. Definitely a recommendable book!

The suspense is low-grade, but constant and this works well for this novel. The unique character of a child psychopath is unique and is eerily too real. Once Rachel sets off to the lodge, however, the plot is just loaded with one improbability after another. Ironically, her ability to understand animals is rather believable. Unfortunately, there are logistical improbabilities such as two women moving a 500+ pound dead bear a good distance. Those investigating the murder/suicide must have been really lousy detectives. As for Rachel herself, considering she was a child when sequestered away from society, she is way too comfortable and efficient just a day out of the hospital.

There is a lot of foreshadowing, but it is not subtle. There is not so much a twist at the end, but an unexpected change in one character's makeup. Finally, the very very end is almost sweet which just isn't necessary. Rachel is one person who should be messed up and in therapy for decades to come.

All that said, if you can gloss over the improbabilities, it's a good escapist read with an interesting premise set in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

I love that The Wicked Sister is set in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, I’m a Northern (lower) Michigan girl, born and raised and reading about one of my favorite places in the world was a joy! Some of the places that the author writes about are places that I’ve frequented often and she does an amazing job of describing the beauty of the flora and fauna of Northern Michigan, all while weaving a solid psychological suspense story.

Rachel is a fantastic main character, she has locked herself away in a state facility, believing that she shot her parents as a child. Now, as an investigative journalist reopens the case, Rachel is exposed to evidence that makes her question everything she thought she knew to be true. The plot is tightly woven, quickly paced and beautifully descriptive. While the twists were somewhat predictable, the whys were not and this is where my enjoyment of this suspenseful thriller really kicked in. There’s a bit of the mystical interspersed through the story and this is an element I felt worked really well with the nature of the story. Being an animal & nature lover myself, I appreciated the time that the author took in describing the work that Rachel's family did on their land. All in all, a very enjoyable read and I look forward to reading more from Ms. Dionne in the future.

A big thank you to Penguin Group - Putnam, Karen Dionne, and NetGalley for providing me with a DRC in exchange for my honest review.

Rachel has been in a psychiatric hospital, by her own choice, for over a decade. She was convinced that she had a hand in her parents deaths. However, after new information develops, Rachel wants answers.. and she'll stop at nothing to get them.

I love stories where a character is trying to figure something out. There were so many intricacies to the plot, that I appreciated. Rachel was a very interesting character, as well. Her arc was fascinating.

I sped through this book and couldn't put it down! Highly recommended for psychological thriller fans!

Rachel believed she was the reason her parents were dead, that’s why she committed herself to a psychiatric facility. But now, fifteen years on, she’s returned home, looking for answers to fill the gaps in her memory. In her family’s remote log cabin, Rachel will uncover the truth about what really happened, just as her mother did years before