Bennett, a rich lawyer, and his wife, Carrie live an idyllic life in their fancy neighborhood. Everything is perfect until one day Bennett's son from a previous relationship shows up at their front door, essentially throwing their perfect life upside down. Why? Because the same night TJ shows up a girl is found murdered in the neighborhood, the start of many. When Carrie finds out an important clue to get the heat off her new stepson she almost ends up being killed herself. With a shocking ending what you think closes out the case doesn't necessarily stay that way!

Oh boy this book was fast paced and easy to read from the start! I couldn't put it down. It read so well like someone was just telling me a story and I loved it! I couldn't really figure out who the killer was or what the ending would look like and just when you think it's over, well a twist comes I didn't expect! Would highly recommend if you like domestic thrillers! 4.5 stars!

Thanks to NetGalley, D.L. Fisher and Joffee Books for allowing me to review this ARC!

A new author for me and one I will look out for in the future. A slow start but it picked up pace with lots of twists, right up to the end - which blew my mind. Well recommended.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Gripping story with lots of twists. An unexpected twist and the end, and then the epilogue was on another level .
Many thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read this ARC in return for an honest review. I loved it !!!!!

A solid thriller. I feel like the title was a little misleading because the actual stepson wasn’t in half the book. I wouldn’t say the ending was very shocking but the epilogue was a Freida McFadden level epilogue! 3.25/5

𝑨𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌:
When an eighteen-year-old claiming to be her husband’s son shows up at her front door out of the blue, Carrie Winter is floored. It's completely unexpected. Then, you can't expect someone you didn't know existed. She’s shocked to find out that her husband has been hiding this major secret from her. Carrie thought she knew the man she married but now, she’s not so sure…

TJ seems pleasant enough. However, strange things start to happen upon his arrival. A teenage girl is found murdered and another has gone missing.

The more Carrie investigates the deaths and missing girls, the more secrets she finds out about her seemingly perfect development. What does she really know about the neighborhood she lives in and the people she lives with? And, is letting TJ into her home the biggest mistake she’ll ever make?

𝑴𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔:
This is the type of book where you’re yelling at the main character to not go in that door.. or don’t follow that person. I’m a sucker for these types of books and I loved this one! This was a fast paced novel that keeps the reader engaged to see what’s coming next.

Did I think I had this figured out.. yes. Did I actually… no. This was such a fun quick read. With twists up until the very end.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc. This was a quick read thriller. I enjoyed the plot and the characters!

TJ shows up on their 1st anniversary. TJ is the stepson she never knew she had from the relationship Carrie never knew her husband was in. Then girls in their small community start to go missing and the police target TJ.

Carrie is a very relatable character. She lives in glass paradise. Everyone knows everyone’s business as soon as it happens. I liked Carrie’s tone as she prepared for her neighbor to visit or call her about something that just happened at her door. The twist in the book will turn you upside down!

This is a fun, fast read which will suit people looking for escapism. I found. It a bit hard to believe the son cs,e out of the blue like that and that the situation was then so readily accepted between the couple. It’s a decent story but not terribly complicated, which will suit readers who like to dive in and read quickly.

This book was really good. I liked how the story was told in a storytelling format and it was very entertaining. The plot twist at the end definitely got me.

The Stepson by D.L. Fisher is the first book I have read from this author and I am so glad I found a new author to stalk! "only joking" So I will be reading more books by her. I just love the way she writes and this book was so addictive, from the very first few pages I was hooked and I enjoyed it.. The Stepson, was full of twist and turns throughout and I ended up binge reading it in one day as I could not put my kindle down, Plus it was a perfect day sitting in my garden in the shade reading it.

I highly recommend this book. I loved it.

Big Thank you to NetGalley and t0 Joffe Books, for my copy of this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. This was my first D.L Fisher book and I loved it! The twist, the turns, the shock! I’ll definitely be reading more from this author.

Thank you to Joffe Books for my copy of this book. Unfortunately it just wasn’t for me.

I probably should have dnfed, but I assumed it would be a quick read and truly never thought it would be a one star read for me.

But here’s the thing: the writing here is really, really bad. I promise I’m not trying to be unnecessarily mean, but it genuinely sounds like a middle schooler wrote this book. The expressions and phrases used…yikes. This was definitely my number one issue with the books, but also…

‼️Spoilers below‼️

I guessed every single plot twist. 🤷🏻‍♀️ It honestly was incredibly predictable, especially because the title itself gives things away! It’s supposed to be this last minute crazy revelation in the epilogue, but I kept waiting for THE STEPSON to somehow be important to the plot.

Also, this was a huge issue for me in another VERY popular thriller that I won’t name for spoilers’ sake, but along with the overly insane juvenile writing style, you also have poor plot writing by forcing your FMC to not reveal who she saw for a lot of this book, even though it’s written from her perspective, and we the readers are with her when she makes her grand realization. It’s holding something above the readers so you can have a plot twist later. The problem is, that’s NOT how people think! It boils down to lazy and poor writing.

I’ll stop there. I’m not trying to crucify the author or people who liked the book; CLEARLY this one just wasn’t for me.

But as always, I am very grateful for the gifted copy.

A Good Thriller
This book was a bit unsettling at some instances and will definitely grip the attention of many readers. Loved how the plot twist is revealed and the ending was quite satisfying. Readers who are trying to pick up thrillers for first time will love this book!

A wealthy community is thrown into a nightmare when a teenage girl is found floating in the pool.

Everyone is looking at each other wondering if this person or that person is the murderer.

The police think they have their man in a 19 year old who shows up at is long lost father’s house the day of the murder.

A lot going on in this story and it’s nothing that you think.
Even at the end you will be thrown for a loop by what you read.

A great story and a must read.

This was a hell of a twisty thriller!!! It's also really fast paced so it's easy to tear through it in one sitting.

That said, the plot transitions to the portrayals of the characters felt kind of... unnatural? I don't know how to explain it. I also felt it was kind of weird how they suspected TJ right away. I think it would definitely be beneficial to the story to have more fleshing out in each of the plot developments.

If you can turn your brain off, it's a fast and easy thriller with lots of juicy reveals and rapid developments! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC

everything is fine. perfect even. we have a woman with the perfect life. perfect clothes. perfect wealth. perfect husband. all good. until its not. and the not knocks on the door claiming to be a stepson. a stepson she never new existed. and then the perfect neighbourhood starts seeing cracked or being cracked open. and where does the blame lie...well in the newcomer of course. but is this a convenient blame? and who will be in danger next. and more to the point why?
it turns out this perfect community has been keeping alot more in its gates than out.

brilliant. this is a brilliant read. its quick and sharp and clever but somehow fun! i really enjoyed this one. D. I. Fisher is a new author to me and wow, where have i been. i will now being googling and goodreading to find more from them to add in to my TBR pile.

An unsettling and gripping drama. with plenty of suspense and twist, this page turner will keep you up at night turning the pages. A highly redabale thriller.

This book seemed kind of familiar until I realised that it was a re release under another name and things clicked. I had read the book previously. I still enjoyed reading it this time though and the twist at the end is still written really well. I do think that the blurb gives too much away though because I kept thinking back to the blurb and the twist at the end does fall flat because of the blurb, not the writing, but you are kind of expecting that to happen.

A quick, easy and twisty read that kept me guessing and not knowing what to believe. I really enjoyed it and I look forward to reading more by the author

This gripping psychological drama lives up to the weight of its title—and then some. With elements of suspense, domestic conflict, and emotional betrayal, the novel the stepson is an unsettling yet compulsively readable tale about secrets, trust, and the fragility of personal safety within the place we expect to feel most secure: home.
What makes this novel especially effective is the slow-burning dread. This is absolutely a must read book