I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Cross Her Heart by Sarah Pinborough Also by this author: Behind Her Eyes
Published by HarperCollins on September 4, 2018
Genres: Fiction, General, Mystery & Detective, Psychological, Suspense, Thrillers
Pages: 352
Format: Hardcover
Source: the publisher
For many years, Lisa's whole life has revolved around her daughter, Ava. Other than her daughter, and her best friend Marilyn, she's kept everyone else at a distance. Yet when a new client seems to show interest in her, Lisa wonders if it's time to trust once again. A horrific secret from her youth puts up a barrier between her and any other relationship.
Everything changes when Ava rescues a drowning boy. Her picture, now all over the news, brings the secret bubbling up from the past. She can no longer hide from the truth, and now must determine who she can trust, now that her entire world is threatened. She broke a secret she make long ago and now she's forced to face the consequences.
I’ve been a fan of Sarah Pinborough for some time now. She’s known for her shocking thrillers and terrifying horror titles. Her previous title, Behind Her Eyes, gave readers a glimpse of her terrifying potential.
This title is definitely one of her more tamer novels. While there are twists and turns, it wasn’t nearly as shocking as her previous titles. I think this opens up to a whole realm of new readers, those that aren’t quite prepared for jaw-dropping fiction.
As with her previous works, Pinborough has crafted well developed and genuine characters. She excels at capturing the Ava’s youth, her teen drama and angst, while simultaneously building Julia’s character of a mother out to protect her daughter. Julia’s character is developed more slowly; her past revealed slowly carefully. She likely did this as to not destroy the “caring, loving mother” vibe once we found out more about her past.
As I mentioned previously, Pinborough’s characteristic twists and turns are there, but toned down. She still managed to surprise me on numerous occasions, a sure indication of writing brilliance. After reading an author for so long, usually I’m able to predict where they are going. In this case, the journey took an unplanned detour that did leave me breathless.
All in all, I do highly recommend this novel to fans of suspense thrillers! If you haven’t read Pinborough before, let this serve as your leaping off point!
Thank you to TLC Book Tours for providing me the opportunity to review this title!
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