Fantastic storyline! Quick and easy read with interesting characters.. Can't wait to read more by Brianna Labuskes

Super good book!

Confession time: I have a weakness for books about assassins, or sociopaths or serial killers. Wow that sounds twisted..

This book was really interesting because it told the story from the point of view of a police consultant/psychologist who is also a sociopath. I was fascinated by her thought processes. And it was so well written, that I sympathized with her! She could kill someone without guilt, and yet I really liked her - thats good writing..
There were multiple stories in one - who was the real killer - was it the child? There was the story about the sociopathy of the main character and then finally the story of the BFF and what happened to her.

I kept the pages turning all night!

Thank you to the author, the publisher and #netgalley for the ARC which did not impact my review.

I had a really hard time getting through this book it just wasn’t enough suspense for me and just seemed boring.

Gretchen works as a police consultant, she's an expert in crime and she's also a sociopath that her fellow police believe killed her aunt years ago which they couldn't prove. Now another young girl is believed to be a psychopath and has been accused of killing her mother and Gretchen feels a personal pull to the case.

I was so happy that I had a chance to review this book for Netgalley, over the last few months I've discovered this author and read all of her books and she is definitely up the top of my favourite authors now. I love the characters that she writes, there's always a grey side to them and Gretchen is no exception. She makes no bones about the fact that shes a sociopath and this book is a fascinating insight into how a nonviolent sociopath might interact with the world. Besides the great characters there's always a brilliant story that keeps you hooked, I definitely didn't see how this book was going to end up and I liked the way that she did the flashbacks, rather than starting from the past and moving up to the present, she started from more recent times and going back farther and farther which gave a different view of how the story presented. All in all an absolutely brilliant book and I'm really hoping that Gretchen features in a sequel!

I enjoyed this book, I had not heard of this author before. This was an extremely well put together story, from the first page I was hooked and I didn't want it to end!
Such great writing. The setting was fabulous.
Almost impossible to put down and told from two distinctive voices and timelines, Gretchen's and Reed's,
Some of it was a bit predictable but didn't keep from the story!

A Familiar Sight is the kind of thriller that’s impossible to put down. I needed to know what had truly happened after spending the entire book certain I had it figured out, even though I was changing my mind every couple chapters.

While the narrative switches between past and present, as well as POV’s, the main focus is Gretchen White. Gretchen is a sociopath which makes for a fascinating and refreshingly different narrator.

She now consults for the police after being accused of murder when she was a child. When a new case involves both her best friend (or as close as you can get for a sociopath) and a young teenage girl, Viola Kent, who is a sociopath accused of murdering her mom, of course Gretchen is getting involved.

The world and character building in A Familiar Sight is unbelievably good. I was completely enthralled in all the time jumps as they built a story so deep and compelling it felt like I was part of trying to unravel all the threads to figure out what had happened.

It was also impressive how fleshed out all the characters involved were. When there are multiple people heavily involved in the story some of them can slip through the cracks but that wasn’t the case at all. I genuinely wanted to know more about all of their lives that had led up to this boiling point.

The accounts of what it was like for the Kent family raising a sociopath daughter was chilling. Every account of what went on in that house was devastating and you can feel the desperation with every reveal.

Having a main POV from a sociopath created such an interesting take on a murder investigation. It felt different from so many mysteries in a very intriguing way. Gretchen was a character I desperately want more of.

I highly recommend this book for any mystery/thriller lover! Brianna Labuskes has quickly become a must-read author.

There are only a few things I can and might share. It`s about the character Dr. Gretchen White a
psychologist that considers herself a sociopath. That`s why it is easy for her to get into the
minds of the criminals. She knows how and what they see. Like she is one of them but a calm
one. one that can control her madness. One who knows her weakness and strengths.
Especially on how to use them in different situations. She uses her ability to help Viola, a child
that mistakenly took the fall of being a murderer. Is she really innocent or she is full of lies. As
far as I want to share the whole story I also don`t want you to get spoiled. You go read the
synopsis but that just it. Read this with a blank mind. Nothing to think or not looking into
something that you have read about it. Go on the journey aimlessly and face how good the story
was. Face the dilemma and the reality this book has.
I don`t have much to say about this book. I just wish that a lot of readers will also love it as
much as I do. A book that had taken me into the minds of fictional characters. A book that is
definitely worth reading.

Very well developed characters and an extremely engaging story. Well thought out and very suspenseful story line that keeps the reader guessing until the final twist! This is the book to read this year! Highly recommended!

A Familiar Sight is the best thriller I've read in quite some time.

The plot of this book is what got me interested. It's a unique perspective where the main character is a doctor who specializes in antisocial behavior, but also is a sociopath. When I started this book, I didn't particularly like Gretchen, but as the story went on, I grew quite fond of her character.

This book kept me guessing and was a page turner. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who loves the crime and psychological thriller genre.

This book had a great plot and a phenomenal ending. When i tell you, I DID NOT SEE IT COMING, i didn’t see it coming. The writing was good, but sometimes the flash backs threw me off. There were times when it went back 6 months and then 2 years. All of the flashbacks had NEEDED information so that part was fine, I just had a hard time following the time line at times. The ending was worth the read.

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Well, if you don't need to sleep, or work, or really get anything else done in the foreseeable future, this is the book for you! A FAMILIAR SIGHT is completely enthralling. Gretchen, an admitted sociopath, is trying to solve the mystery surrounding her friend, Lena's death when she gets pulled into the murder investigation of socialite Claire Kent. Claire's 13-year-old daughter, a suspected psychopath stands accused of murdering her mother. Her plight interests Gretchen, who, as a child was accused of murdering her aunt. Gretchen is teams with Detective Marconi, a savvy, and very patient police officer. A FAMILAR SIGHT is a truly twisted tale that really kept me on the edge of my seat - I just had to know what happened next! Excellent read and my favorite of Labuskes' novels so far.

I really enjoyed this book, I had not heard of this author before. This was an extremely well put together story, from the first page I was hooked. A lot of research must have been under taken to handle this subject so well. I loved all the charachters, especially Gretchen and Marconi's relationship.. I found myself a little anxious as the book neared the end, there were many ways the storyline could have gone. For me it wrapped up in a very satisfying way. I have just purchased another book from this author and I want to thank her and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book..

A Familiar Sight might feature the most unusual main character ever. We meet Dr. Gretchen White at the home of her friend Lena, the now very dead Lena. While nothing suggests foul play, Detective Patrick Shaughnessy is not surprised to see Gretchen there. Her reason, she is the one who found the body. His thoughts, she winds up around a lot of dead bodies. She is a police consultant and a sociopath. Yep, Patrick relies on a sociopath to help him catch criminals with antisocial personality disorders.
The ties that bind Patrick and Gretchen together are shall we say complicated. Patrick has had his suspicions about Gretchen's involvement in her aunt's death, but he could never prove her guilt. Of course, that happened when she was only a child, and his belief that she was guilty has left her with the need to be near him, the need to push him, to prove him wrong. Hard to say how reliable of a narrator Gretchen is early in the story, but we will learn much more about what makes her tick as time goes by.
What really has Patrick's attention though, is the fact that Lena was Violet Kent's lawyer. Thirteen-year-old Violet has been charged with the murder of her mother, and it surprises.......no one. Violet has shown violent tendencies to everyone around her, and the most common comment from those who knew her was not if, but when. When would she cross the line from inflicting pain and suffering to those around her, to murder?
Gretchen could never figure out why Lena took Violet's case. Lena didn't represent losers, and the evidence clearly points to Violet. She starts digging into the life of the Kent's and discovers that this wealthy family had more than one skeleton in the closet.
So Gretchen seems.....nice if you consider the fact that she has gone to great lengths to avoid killing anyone. Any little thing can set her off, and let me tell you, it was not always sunshine and roses being in her head. Thank goodness Gretchen knows how to stay on the right side of the law, after all, not all sociopaths are killers.
The murder mystery is well-plotted, Violet Kent is a piece of work, and there is more to grieving widower and father Reed Kent and his dead wife Claire than meets the eye. Almost impossible to put down and told from two distinctive voices and timelines, Gretchen's and Reed's, I guessed some of the twists but definitely not all of them. I don't know if the author has plans for Gretchen White, but I for one would love to see her again.
I finished this book several days ago and I am still not sure if I feel sorry for Gretchen, or afraid of her. I loved this book.

It's been a while since I liked a book so much!!!!

A Familiar Sight has such a captivating story and such freaking interesting characters that I was hooked right from the start.

Gretchen by herself could have me interested, but what really clinched it for me was her interactions with Marconi and Shaughnessy.
When I finished the book I was both happy and sad about it, the last part mostly because I'd already long for to read more about these characters.

The mystery part of the book was equally enthralling.
I liked how the author switched between present and past in the two different point of views.
Reading this story felt like building a quite complicated puzzle and most often than not I ended second guessing my theories.

I can't probably express just how much I liked this book...believe me, it's very very much.
I can't recommend it enough but I sure will try!

At last, I'd like to thank the author Brianna Labuskes for the chance to read hes book for free through NetGalley and I hope she appreciates my review as I sure appreciated her book.

As a true crime blogger and podcaster, I LOVED this book! I'm a sucker for a murder trial, as well as other twists and turns. I couldn't put it down, and that's when you know it's a good book!

I also loved the dynamic between the main characters, it was almost flirty, unprofessional, but they were also very suspicious of each other. I think I would be suspicious too if someone showed up every time there was a dead body!

Honestly it was so good, and I would love to read more books by this author!

This book ended completely different than how I thought it would go. I first thought the story was all over the place, but each page brought every storyline closer together. And of course I was totally off! I enjoyed the fact that the author slowly brought about the truth, rather than a quick twist at the end. Is Viola really a predator? Or is she a victim. And what we think we know is only based on what people allow us to see. I really hope we get to see Gretchen White in other books...her backstory is dying to be told!

OMG....Now this was a awesome book!! Such a page turner, you just had to keep reading one more chapter. I can't think of anything negative to say. I highly recommend. 📖📚

I was given an ARC of this book for an honest review and I want to thank Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to have a chance to read this in advance. This is my first book by this author and I will be looking for other books she has written and future books ! I will give it 5 ⭐️. I loved it and couldn’t turn the pages fast enough! What a great plot I didn’t figure out who the culprit was I kept changing my mind and I was wrong in the end. This is a psychological thriller at its best ! Wow 🤩 I was so drawn in to all the characters they just felt like they were real . My heart ached for the children involved. Great job on this book. I’m a fan !

Ms. Labukes has written a book that has everything a reader might be looking for in a mystery book. Interesting characters, suspense, twists in the plot, a number of suspects etc. Dr. Gretchen White is a psychological consultant for the police and has work with detective Shaugnessy in the past. Along with new detective Lauren Marconi the three try and discover the cause/reason for the death of lawyer and friend of Gretchen's Lena.
Lena has been working on the case of 10 year old "Psychopath" Violet who seems to be the only suspect in the murder of her own mother Claire Kent.
Gretchen's character is fascinating as she considers herself a "Non-violent Sociopath". Violet seems to be similar to Gretchen in that they were both found with a knife and a relative's body when they were young girls. Many characters and mystery keeps the pace of the book moving very quickly as layers of subtle clues are unmasked.
Who really killed Claire? Was Lena's death just a suicide and if so why did she kill herself? Is VIolet's dad Reed also a suspect even though he has a perfect alibi? What actually goes on in the family of the Kent's as their seems to be a lot of accidents for Reed and the two sons Sebastian and Milo? I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to be surprised while reading an interesting mystery

I loved this book! The main character is Dr. Gretchen White, a self-acknowledged sociopath. The more accepted name of her condition is antisocial personality disorder, but for ease of explanation and brevity, sociopath is how she refers to herself. She specializes in crimes committed by others like herself - she can easily relate to them and determine why and how they act as they do. It naturally makes her a pro at solving these types of cases. She often consults with Detective Patrick Shaughnessy who she met as a child when he believed her to be the murderer of her aunt. Theirs is a long and complicated relationship that means more to both of them than they prefer to acknowledge.

When Gretchen's friend (yes, she has a friend!) Lena takes her own life after leaving her a mysterious voicemail, Gretchen is drawn into a murder case involving a similarly sociopathic young girl named Violet. Why would such an accomplished attorney like Lena defend someone who has so much evidence against her and who doesn't even deny her guilt? And why would Lena want Gretchen involved? It appears to be an open and shut case, but as Gretchen is fond of saying, not everything and everyone are as black and white as they seem.

As she investigates, she's accompanied by a detective she's never worked with, Lauren Marconi, who may just be the perfect person to keep Gretchen on her toes. Not only do they look more closely into Violet's offense, but also a possibly related cold case of a missing teenager from decades back. Will they discover if and how it's related to Lena and the current murder case before it's too late?

The author did an amazing job of portraying an unlikeable character in such a way that you do actually grow fond of her. You may not agree with many of her opinions or behavior, but it doesn't matter because the story is enjoyable and all the more realistic because of her. Real people aren't like typical book characters with charming and perfectly endearing personalities - it's their flaws that make them human and Gretchen is the perfect example of this. She knows her flaws as well as her strengths and cleverly uses both to her benefit. I really hope these characters feature in future stories because this book has left me wanting more!