Who dunnit? Or did anyone do it? What a horrible thing to have to worry and think about right after you find out that you have brain cancer and have six weeks to live—that someone might have poisoned you. Why?

The reader goes on a roller coaster of emotions with Jennifer as her life diminishes week by week, and as she begins to doubt everyone she knows. Or is the tumor affecting her thinking and really, everyone loves her and it's all in her imagination?

Six Weeks to Live grabbed my heart from the very first page and I found myself totally immersed in Jennifer's remaining six weeks, as the truths of her loved ones are revealed. I have loved all of Catherine's stories and each one is my new best favorite. This is one that I highly recommend and one you don't want to miss!

Uhhhh what was that ending...

Jennifer has a brain tumor. She has 6 weeks to live. How could this happen? There is no history in her family so why now? When the doctor hands her her lab work from her doctor’s appointment last year, she sees that the lead in her blood is off the charts. Did someone try to poison her?

As Jennifer tries to root through her past and find out if someone poisoned her, other nightmares come back to haunt her. Her daughters Aline, Emily, and Miranda are starting to ask questions and her ex husband Jake is pushing for a divorce now more than ever. Could the test have just been wrong? Could it be all in her head or is someone in her family a murderer?

I read the majority of this book in a day. I just had to keep reading. The secrets that were uncovered are ugly and almost unimaginable. It’s definitely a weird book, I’ve never read anything like it.

This book was a slow burn through the first half and became fast paced as the story unfolded. This was a clever read - the plot centering around someone and their family trying to uncover their own murder is unique. The psychological twists and turns were unexpected and seemed far fetched at times but kept me interested. I had a hard time staying engaged in the first portion but about halfway through the story I was hooked and flew through it. The POV changes between four people making it a tad tiresome during the slower parts of the story but builds the unfolding story of family drama. If you're a fan of fast-paced, psychological thrillers doused with family drama, I recommend checking it out.

This book came into the library a few days early so I was able to read it before this approval. This was a good page turner with a lot of twists. The author did a great job making interesting but not always likable characters. The storyline kept me engaged throughout and I think it will be a great summer hit. Since I already posted my review on Goodreads, I won’t post again. #SixWeeksToLive #CatherineMcKenzie

***SPOILER ALERT***

I loved this book! It started off rather slow and took a few chapters to really draw me in. I assumed it would be about proving that her ex-husband poisoned her.

Boy was I wrong. I assumed ole Jakey-poo was behind it. He did seem overly concerned with everything Jennifer did (creepy, right?) But alas, Jake didn't do it. Then I assumed I knew who did it...but nope, not her. And then I assumed Jennifer did it to herself but...wait....NOPE, not her either.

When I got to the ending and realized who actually did it....brilliant work Emily. Like mother, like daughter, right?

Whew. What a roller coaster ride and I enjoyed every minute of it.

I thought this book was so clever! Someone trying to figure out their own murder is such a unique plot. I found it to be intriguing until the very end. I loved the sibling rivalries and the different points of view. The only thing I didn’t enjoy was the use of a mental illness as a plot twist but that’s a personal preference, I don’t like that in any book. I sometimes feel like “whodunnit” books can be boring but this one was definitely not boring! It’s a great take on domestic suspense featuring lots of family drama. I recommend checking this one out.

Thank you to the publisher and @netgalley for providing a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve read a few of the author’s books and while they are always listed as mystery/thriller, they usually pack so much more of a punch and this one is no exception.

Jennifer is diagnosed with a brain tumor with 6 weeks to live. While the mystery surrounds whether she was poisoned last year, the meat of the book is Jennifer and her three grown triplet daughters coming to terms with the inevitable.

While I usually hate books that focus on illness and the end of life, this book really made me think about what secrets I’ve kept since everyone in the book had a secret or two. I also liked the idea of figuring out if Jennifer had been poisoned and if she had, how and why.

I think this book’s appeal is to those wanting more than just a twisty thriller. And while it just be my trigger for death, I’d have some tissues ready as you read this one.

What will you do if you’re given six more weeks to live on a diagnosis you never thought you could ever have? And before you answer, live your life to the fullest, our main character Jennifer has something else in mind. She is convinced she was poisoned and will do everything in her power to unravel the truth, all while trying to fix things between her and her family. This book has an interesting concept, and the characters are well-developed and likable. A lot of emotions and mysteries are involved. A captivating read!

Thank you so much, @atria, for my gifted copy!

3.5 ⭐️‘s
When Jennifer finds out she has terminal brain cancer with only six weeks to live, she is immediately suspicious that someone poisoned her a year ago, leading to her diagnosis. She immediately suspects her husband as he has been fighting her for a divorce that she won’t grant, but is he really that cold. As her triplet daughters ban together to care for her (each in her own way), family secrets are brought to light and things aren’t exactly what Jennifer has pictured and the ending might just surprise you!

Unfortunately Six Weeks to Live just didn't do it for me. It is the only one of Catherine McKenzie's books that I didn't care for.

I couldn't get into any of the characters at all. They were all selfish, rude to each other, and not people I would want in my life in any way. If you can get past that you may enjoy this book.

I found the story to be slow and repetitive. Jennifer, the main character, was so unlikable and vindictive that even though he cheated on her, I began to feel sorry for her husband that she refused to divorce.

People who like mysteries may enjoy this one. Please don't let my opinion stop you from giving it a shot. Not every book is for every reader and this just wasn't for me.

Thanks go to Netgalley, the author, and publisher for granting my request for an ARC. My thoughts are my own.

This was quite the dysfunctional family drama. The characters all had their own flaws and imperfections that made them not very likable but that worked incredibly well here in this story. Made me wonder who the bad guy really was. Six Weeks to Live was full of mystery and a different type ,of “who done it” that kept me guessing and wondering who might have been responsible for poisoning Jennifer, a poisoning that ultimately caused her brain tumor. But....was she really poisoned or was Jennifer imagining it? You have to read it to find out. I was captivated from the very start and finished the book in two days. Catherine McKenzie has written another thoroughly enjoyable page-turner.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

I am not sure how I feel about this story. It had a very dark side to it. The storyline was interesting but I just could not get past how selfish and unfeeling some of the characters were. The children were pretty much ruthless towards their mother who is dying and is trying to explain to them why she had done the things she had done to them in the past.. All in all I did find the content interesting but the book just left me feeling kind of “blah”. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book definitely keeps you interested enough in the story to keep reading but it has a slow boring build up...... I was really tired of reading about how identical the twins Miranda and Aline were too. It basically tried to romanticize mauchausen disease. Which is wrong on any level. I agree if a person has this disease they need to seek Physiological help but it's not something to be romanticized by no means. I wouldn't categorize this book as a thrill but more of a mystery. I did enjoy this book and I hope my review helps others but doesn't discourage anyone from reading it or changes their views of it.

A mother finds out she is dying and also finds out she was poisoned. Was it the ex-husband, one of her three triplets, her mother, or maybe her best friend?? This book kept me on my toes from start to finish! I had a hard time putting it down! When I wasn’t reading it I was thinking about who did it! I love that I had no idea how it was going to end!

Jennifer goes to the doctor and finds out she has brain cancer and only has 6-8 weeks left to live. She is determined to spend her remaining time with her triplet adult daughters and her twin grandsons. Jennifer also finds out she was poisoned a year ago! Could her husband have done this? They are in the middle of a very nasty divorce. Or does someone else want her dead? This book has lots of twists and turns and the ending was great! I loved the family dysfunction and all the drama! I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

Jennifer just got the awful news that she is dying. And her prognosis is only 6 weeks to live. She is then reminded of a time a year prior when she was very ill and starts to believe she was poisoned. It becomes her mission to discover who could have done this to her. She pulls in her triplet daughters to aid in this journey and is convinced her husband that she has been separated from is responsible.

This one didn’t work for me. The story just didn’t feel plausible. Jennifer was whiny and vindictive. The daughters were somewhat believable in their different personalities, but with just 6 weeks to live, I can’t imagine anyone spending that time investigating a possible poisoning. Maybe, but I don’t buy it. Wish I liked it better. Had a lot of potential. Certainly didn’t see the ending coming though.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Reading a good thriller is like an interrogation in your imagination. Was it this person? Did they do that? And was it because of this?
Six Weeks To Live was all that and more.
Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for my eARC for review!
Jennifer Gagnon is dying of a brain tumour and has been given six weeks to live. Lab results from a year prior note an acutely high level of lead in her blood, of unexplained etiology.
Are these findings related, and how did the lead get in her system?
This is such an interesting concept for a thriller, backed by a unique family dynamic. The Gagnon family is made up of adult triplet daughters and an estranged cheating husband - lots of personalities to get to know, and secrets hidden from the past.
This is my second book by Canadian author Catherine McKenzie and she certainly knows how to spin the suspense - the tension literally starts on the first page and doesn't let up.
Do check this one out! Recommended!
Released on April 20.

Six weeks to live and you realize you may have been poisoned? What do you do? This was an amazing book that I just couldn’t put down. The family dynamics among the mother, the triplets, the father and his new girlfriend—so many people and so little time. I really enjoyed this whodunit, or even did someone do it? The characters were great and all of their side stories really added to the plot as a whole. A great read by a new to me author— I look forward to reading her other books.

When forty-eight-year-old Jennifer Barnes is diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, she decides to spend the remaining six weeks of her life with her adult daughters Emily, Aline, and Miranda, and her grandchildren.

‘[W]hen she realizes she was possibly poisoned a year earlier, [Jennifer] is determined to discover who might have tried to get rid of her before she’s gone for good. Separated from her husband and with a contentious divorce in progress, Jennifer focuses her suspicions on her soon-to-be-ex.’

I honestly thought I knew how this psychological thriller would play out; though I was right in one aspect, I am pleased to say I was wrong another. Books with endings that I am unable to predict are my favorites. More, please!

Recommend!

Thank you, NetGalley and Atria Books (Simon & Schuster, Inc.), for loaning me an eGalley of SIX WEEKS TO LIVE in the request for an honest review.

Scheduled To Release – May 4, 2021 (Subject To Change)

In her eleventh novel, Six Weeks to Live, bestselling author Catherine McKenzie seamlessly welds suspense and family drama into a fast-paced tale of secrets, betrayals, grudges, and revenge.

Jennifer has had a rough couple of years. It turned out that her husband, Jake, a successful attorney, wasn't really working late. And when he seemed glued to his phone, he wasn't responding to clients. He was actually having an affair with the daughter of the senior partner at his law firm, sneaking out of the office for trysts with her in her law school dorm room. When he confessed what he had been doing and announced that he was moving out of the family home, Jennifer thought, as she relates in her first-person narrative, "one of us was having an aneurism. But it was happening, it wasn't a product of my imagination or some sort of psychosis." Jake claimed he loved Kim "more than anything," rewriting the history of his relationship with Jennifer. In his version of events, he married Jennifer when she was a medical student after she became pregnant because "it was the honorable thing to do. He stayed with me because he loved the girls and couldn't imagine not being there for every moment of their growing up." But with the triplets grown, he wanted to get on with his life and being "great friends" with Jennifer would be enough. He built a new house into which he moved with Kim, started working out, had his teeth whitened, and took his rightful place in "the club of cliched men everywhere."

Jennifer's world tilted on its axis, but she got through the lonely, tearful nights with the love and support of her best friend, Suzie, as well as her long-time therapist, Paul. And a lot of wine. Eventually, she began a relationship with Andrew, an eccentric artist who couldn't be more different from Jake.

But as the book opens, Jennifer finds herself facing the greatest -- and final -- challenge of her life when her doctor informs her that her unrelenting headaches have been caused by an inoperable glioblastoma, a grade 4 cancer, and she has only six to eight weeks to live. The physician warns her that because the tumor is in her temporal lobe, which regulates speech, memory, behavior, vision, hearing, and emotions, she can expect to experience increasing headaches and cognitive difficulties. After leaving the doctor's office, she reviews the paperwork she was given, including the results of a full blood panel performed a year ago. Because Jennifer was in her third year of medical school when she became pregnant with the triplets, she takes comfort in the fact that medical terminology remains "locked into my long-term memory." Reviewing the lab results, she realizing that the blood test showed not only an usually high level of lead in her system, but enough lead to have devastating consequences. Like a terminal brain tumor.

Jennifer becomes fixated on Jake, with whom her relationship has been contentious because she has refused to agree to a quiet, amicable divorce. She convinces herself that Jake, who still has access to the family home in which she resides, poisoned her in order to get her out of the way so he can marry Kim. For Jennifer, refusing the divorce was "taking my power back in the only way I could." Each of her three daughters -- Emily, the fraternal twin, and identical twins Miranda and Aline -- has her own uniquely fractious relationship with Jake, but none of them believe him capable of murder. To placate Jennifer, however, Aline agrees to test a sample of water taken from the residence in the lab where she is employed.

The girls react differently to Jennifer's diagnosis. Every family has alliances. And Emily has always been aligned with Jennifer, probably because they are so much alike. A medical student herself, Emily is raising twin boys with her husband, Chris, and struggling to remain supportive and resilient while managing her stressors, mindful of her history of postpartum depression. Aline has been angry with Jennifer for many years, and questions why she should resolve her differences with her mother just because she's dying. She's never fully understood why she and her mother have been at odds. But she does want to help Jennifer find peace about her circumstances before she dies, if nothing else. Miranda returned home after a short, disastrous stint with the Peace Corps in Namibia on a flight paid for by Jake. She convinced Jennifer to let her move back into the family home, but does not have an established career, instead spending her days hitting balls at the tennis club. Her father has told her that he is cutting off her membership at the end of the summer.

In light of Jennifer's obsession with learning who may have tried to kill her, the girls compare their memories about growing up, finding that their recollections differ dramatically. But one thing is clear: they were sent to spend six months with Jennifer's mother, Bea, while Jennifer underwent treatment for cancer. And when she returned home, she was not the same. As they evaluate the facts, shocking revelations come to light, including a disturbing pact one of the girls made with Jake. When they confront their mother with their theory, Jennifer admits that significant truths were deliberately withheld from the girls, in part because Jennifer believed if damaging information came to light it would threaten the family. The three daughters' relationships with each other are tested as they come to grips with their actual family history and Jennifer's quickly deteriorating condition.

Once again, McKenzie has crafted a cleverly-plotted, compelling story populated with fascinating characters. Jennifer loves her daughters dearly, despite her flaws. She recognized her shortcomings and did her best to overcome them, never envisioning, of course, the far-reaching impact they would have on her daughters so many years later. As McKenzie reveals clues to what really happened, she also explores her characters' emotional reactions in a credible, compassionate manner. Particularly touching is the friendship Jennifer shares with Suzie, her unwaveringly loyal supporter and confidante, who promises to take action after Jennifer's death, if necessary.

Six Weeks to Live is a twisty, twisted tale of deception and duplicity -- an absorbing, entertaining and, ultimately, heartbreaking exploration of a family in crisis. Readers will find themselves frantically turning the pages to see how the mystery resolves, only to be met with a gut-punch ending with which McKenzie illustrates the myriad ways in which our past influences our future.