Once Two Sisters
A Novel
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
Perfect for fans of Alafair Burke and Megan Collins, Sarah Warburton's debut novel that explores the dangerous bond between sisters.
When her sister goes missing, Zoe assumes it's just another one of her estranged sibling's stunts--but the danger is all too real.
Zoe Hallett and her sister, Ava, are the precocious offspring of two pioneering scientists, but the sisters have been estranged for years. When Zoe reads a news story about Ava's mysterious disappearance, she assumes it's just another of her sister's twisted fictions, designed to blame Zoe and destroy the peaceful life she's created with her husband and beautiful stepdaughter in Houston. But Zoe's email is hacked to send threatening messages to Ava--and a more sinister picture begins to emerge.
Zoe returns to her home state of Virginia to prove her innocence to the authorities, to her parents, and to Glenn, her ex-boyfriend and current brother-in-law. For the first time, Zoe begins to believe Ava is in grave danger, and when Glenn catches her searching for clues in Ava's home, she looks guiltier than ever--but maybe Glenn is not all he seems.
The clues Zoe finds point to a bizarre link between Ava's disappearance and her mother's "research". Is there a secret someone is trying to protect? And would someone be willing to kill to protect it? As her sister's life hangs in the balance, Zoe draws on hidden reserves of strength and hope to save the sister she never thought she loved.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Zoe Hallett, the narrator of Warburton's arresting debut, believes she has been humiliated by her older sister, Ava, an author who has based any number of unflattering characters on her in several bestselling thrillers. Three years earlier, Zoe cut ties with her family, maintaining that her cold, clinical psychotherapist parents wouldn't care if they never saw her again. Now living under an assumed name in Houston, Zoe is happily married and a doting stepmother to a precocious four-year-old girl. When Ava goes missing from her home in Arlington, Va., the story makes national news and Zoe figures her sister is just after publicity. In fact, Ava has been kidnapped, and she wonders whether Zoe is behind her abduction. When it appears that Zoe recently sent Ava threatening emails, Zoe travels to Arlington to look into the disappearance and prove her innocence. A breathless energy imbues the strong plot, which alternates between Zoe's tense family relationships and Ava's claustrophobic captivity. Warburton delves deep into the psychological underpinnings of her believable characters in this highly entertaining domestic thriller. Readers will eagerly anticipate her next.
