Six Weeks to Live
A Novel
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4.0 • 82 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
In this internationally bestselling “suspenseful story that will keep you reading past your bedtime” (Kaira Rouda, USA TODAY bestselling author), a woman diagnosed with cancer sets out to discover if someone poisoned her before her time is up.
Jennifer Barnes never expected the shocking news she received at a routine doctor’s appointment: she has a terminal brain tumor—and only six weeks left to live.
Stunned by the diagnosis, the forty-eight-year-old mother decides to spend what little time she has left with her family close by her side. But when she realizes she was possibly poisoned a year earlier, she’s 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. Meanwhile, her daughters are each processing the news differently. Calm medical student Emily is there for whatever Jennifer needs. Moody scientist Aline, who keeps her mother at arm’s length, nonetheless agrees to help with the investigation. Even imprudent Miranda, who recently had to move back home, is being unusually solicitous.
But with her daughters doubting her campaign against their father, Jennifer can’t help but wonder if the poisoning is all in her head—or if there’s someone else who wanted her dead. “Part whodunnit, part family drama, this textured and utterly spellbinding story unravels in surprising ways you won’t see coming” (Christina McDonald, USA TODAY bestselling author).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
After a doctor tells Jennifer Barnes, the 48-year-old protagonist of this lackluster novel of suspense from McKenzie (You Can't Catch Me), she has brain cancer and about six weeks to live, she decides she wants to be surrounded by her 25-year-old triplet daughters and receive emotional support from her estranged husband, Jake Gagnon. But her daughters are oddly remote and almost unconcerned, believing their mother is just being her usual dramatic self. And Jake, a successful lawyer, only wants to push for a divorce. The sisters are used to Jennifer's theatrics—she pushed them as children, billed as the Gagnon Triplets, to participate in talent shows and media events across Canada. Their suspicions heighten when Jennifer insists she developed brain cancer as a result of Jake poisoning her. Though she's dying, Jennifer elicits little sympathy, and her relationship with her daughters continues to fray as old grudges and memories surface. A clever twist comes too late as the plot stalls early with little tension and uninspired characters. McKenzie has done better.
Customer Reviews
Wild Ride of a Psychological Thriller
What a wild ride this book was! This was a psychological thriller and domestic suspense perfectly wrapped up in one story.
Jennifer, the mother of triplet girls - two identical twins, with another fraternal sister, has just found out she has terminal brain cancer and only has 6 weeks to live. When she sees a lab result from a year ago showing acute lead poisoning she knows for a fact that someone did this too her. But how? And why?
Jake, her ex, seems the reasonable choice. But as Jennifer’s own secrets start to unravel it becomes clear that there could be a lot more people with reason from revenge.
I loved that this was told from different perspectives on a linear timeline. We had Jennifer, Aline (identical twin 1), Miranda (identical twin 2) and Emily (the last and fraternal triplet). Since the story was centered around the four of them and their relationships with each other I knew the answers to the story lied there. I thought McKenzie did a wonderful job of unraveling the secrets that each kept.
There were two hints that I caught as to who the real culprit was, but I wasn’t 100% sure and found myself needing to read the rest of the story to get through it as fast as possible.
I liked who the poisoner turned out to be - it felt right. However, the ending left me unsatisfied. Even though we got the whole story, not everyone else in the book did. There was definitely justice in the injustice, but I just wanted the whole truth to come out to everyone.
Not my favorite
I really didn’t care for this book at all. Not my type of reading material. I love drama, mystery even crime, but I want to see the criminal punished in the end. Emily was truly criminal and walked away free from the punishment she deserved.
Six Weeks to Live
Couldn’t put it down. Excellent read!