The Better Sister
now the #1 Worldwide Amazon Prime TV series
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4.0 • 151 Ratings
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
NOW A PRIME VIDEO TV SERIES STARRING ELIZABETH BANKS AND JESSICA BIEL
'Highly addictive' KARIN SLAUGHTER
'A major talent' HARLAN COBEN
'Accomplished and absorbing' SUNDAY TIMES
Keep your enemies close and your sister closer. . .
For a while, it seemed like both Taylor sisters had found happiness. Chloe landed a coveted publishing job in New York City. Nicky got married to a promising young attorney named Adam McIntosh and became a mother to a baby boy named Ethan.
But now, fourteen years later, it is Chloe who is married to Adam. When he is murdered at the couple's beach house, she has no choice but to welcome her estranged sister - her teenage stepson's biological mother - back into her life. When the police begin to treat Ethan as a suspect, the sisters are forced to confront the truth behind family secrets they both tried to leave behind in order to protect the boy they love, whatever the cost.
Readers were gripped by The Better Sister:
'Reading an Alafair Burke novel is like a ride on a Harley.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'If writing twists and turns were an Olympic sport, Alafair Burke would be the gold medal champion.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'This is one of the best domestic thrillers I have ever read.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'An excellent read with a twisty, "I did not see that coming!" ending!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'This book kept me on my toes trying to figure out who did it. It was a real page turner.' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
'A must read for crime novel fans.'⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
“I had no idea that four years later, I’d become the second Mrs. Adam Macintosh, or that ten years after that, I’d be the one to find his dead body.” As far as punchy climaxes to opening chapters go, Alafair Burke goes big here. Indeed, The Better Sister is a thriller big on bombastic twists, astonishing family drama and chilling violence. Our lead is Chloe Taylor, the aforementioned second Mrs. Adam Macintosh. The first? Her wayward sister, Nicky. That’d be enough juicy action for some novels, but things quickly escalate as we zoom forward to Adam’s death and his son Ethan’s arrest for his murder. Chloe remains the book’s star attraction: a steely, emotional sharp and complex lead that keeps the outsized twists and turns feeling entirely relatable.
Customer Reviews
Getting better
Author
American. Graduate of Stanford Law and former Deputy DA Attorney in Portlandia, I mean Portland, Oregon. Now a Professor of Law in New York, where she teaches criminal law and procedure, and writes best-selling crime novels with female protagonists. This is fair given that her father James Lee Burke, one of the doyens of contemporary American crime fiction, only writes male protagonists.
Plot
Nicky and Chloe Taylor grew up in modest circumstances under the shadow of domestic violence. Nicky, the older one, reacted by running wild (drugs, booze, smokes, blokes) while young Chloe was the studious one determined to make something of herself in New York. Nicky marries a young lawyer and has a child, then loses custody because she’s ruled an unfit mother. Hubby Adam and his kid Ethan move to NYC, with encouragement from Chloe, who is now a writer, magazine publisher, and leading light of the #MeToo movement with the usual crew of social media haters. One thing leads to another and Ethan’s aunt becomes his step-mom. Adam “sells out” and joins big corporate law firm, which he hates. He also hates that his new wife is still the principal breadwinner. Then he gets dead. The cops like Ethan for it. His birth Mom and his step-Mom reconcile because they have to, and employ a hotshot criminal lawyer—female, of course—for Ethan’s trial. Courtroom drama unfolds. Chloe suspects corporate chicanery. It’s New York, after all. One of the detectives—female, what else—who arrested Ethan lends a hand and gets the FBI involved. Cue twisty ending.
Characters
The women are well drawn, and all flawed for different reasons. The men are bastards, except for Ethan.
Narrative
Third person. Crisp, clean prose. Excellent plot development. Easy to read.
Bottom line
This is the third in an unofficial series about the difficulties facing modern US women of a certain socioeconomic standing following The Wife (2018) and The Ex (2016). As an old white male, I’m probably not qualified to comment, but I think this is the best of them.
The better sister
Loved this read!