Wow, this was a book that had me gripped right from the start. We meet Claire who is married with children and she and her husband live with her mum in her childhood home. Many years ago her dad left home with her younger sister Alice and last known had gone to Australia. Both Claire and her mum have been searching for Alice pretty much ever since she left but to no avail. Then one day, out of the blue, Claire's mum receives a letter from Alice saying that her dad had died and she had finally been given her old address and always wanted to make contact. This letter is the start of a whole heap of trouble for Claire as, when Alice arrives, it soon becomes obvious that she has an agenda. Will Claire be able to get anyone to believe her before things go too far, or have they already gone...
This book had me guessing, second guessing and third guessing. It had me screaming at characters, I admit I got a little emotionally involved at times. Which I love by the way cos I do like to feel part of the story and making connections - emotional or otherwise - is a great way to be involved. All the characters were well described and, on the whole (within the context of the story) believable. I especially warmed to Luke, Claire's husband, as he really was stuck in the middle of everything and everybody and really did try and do his best to remain both loyal and supportive to his wife whilst at the same time trying to keep the peace as he was obviously mindful that they were living in his mother-in-law's house.
Pacing was excellent too. It does move on at a fair lick at times but we do also have some quieter moments which I love as a bit of respite! It really does ramp up nicely towards the end and then we get a rather thrilling conclusion which, with hindsight, was very well crafted and which left me completely satisfied; and a little short of breath, but then I did read it start to finish in only a couple of sittings!
All in all, an excellent psychological thriller that will definitely keep you on your toes. I'm a bit gobsmacked that, prior to this book, I had never heard of this author let alone read anything by her. I see she has a pretty impressive back catalogue that I am quite looking forward to diving into.

My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

I enjoyed this psychological thriller thoroughly and read it fast, it has an addictive pace and an interesting theme - long lost sister returns home and ends up completely mucking up the family dynamic. Are there more nefarious plans afoot? Finding out makes for a fun read.

I did have a few bugbears - first Clare, in my opinion, over reacted to small things way too early, it was almost LOOK LOOK SOMETHING IS GOING ON before anything really WAS going on. It felt a little unlikely especially given how her character is set up - a bit of a plot device maybe to ensure nobody listened to her later? Also I did find it very predictable in its twists, there were no surprises at all I had it pegged from very early.

But you know, those things are things that come when you read widely in one genre and Sue Fortin has a lovely touch to her writing that keeps the story addictive anyway - of course there was always the possibility that I was wrong you never know with these sneaky author types so on I went, it was still compelling and intriguing and the resolution was solid.

Overall a good example of its kind. Readers who love these twisty tales with unreliable narrators and sudden what the heck moments will love this. The Sisters have it this year it seems.

We are delighted to continue working in collaboration with Harper Collins, HarperImpulse through Net Gallery.  

Thank you to Harper Collins, Harper Impulse, Sue Fortin and Netgallery for the advanced copy of Sister Sister in exchange for an open and honest review.


Our Review. 

Claire has a sister Alice, who she hasn't seen since her father left the UK and took her with him. They move to America, whilst Claire grows up living with her mother.

Claire graduated from Oxford and became a Lawyer. Married, had two daughters, all of whom live at her mother's home. Although Claire continued with her life, she never forgot about her sister Alice. She remembers vividly the day her father left with Alice. Over the years, Claire and her mother used private investigators to try to get in touch with Alice, but all attempts failed.

Then out of the blue, Claire's mother receives a letter from Alice. Her father had died and she wanted to get in touch with her family. It's not long before they arrange for her to come to the UK.

Claire finds it difficult to warm to Alice and a series of events occur.

Claire, thinks Alice is a manipulative liar who is trying to take over her life.

Alice thinks Claire is jealous of her sister and her return to her long lost family.

Claire's family are concerned she has been working long hours and is having a break down.

What makes this book different?

Without a doubt, you cannot put this book down. If, and when you do, it's hard to stop thinking about the content.

I read this book in just over 24 hours, finishing it at 3am(!) but it was well worth the sleep depravation. It is definitely one of those books where you say "just one more chapter" and then three hours later....

The book has you hooked from the moment Alice arrives in the U.K. If you read this book, it's worth from making sure you don't have anything else to do!

The story is an easy read, although there are some things I guessed, for the majority of the time it kept me guessing throughout. It's gripping... and I kept thinking is she.... isn't she... (no spoilers!)

Book well suited to the psychological drama classification. It is skillfully written, characters you soon become to understand and twists you don't expect.


This is the first of Sue Fortin's books I have read and will be looking to read her other titles. My type of book, no murders, no gory details but keeps you guessing until the last.

We are continuing to work with both Harper Collins and Penguin UK and look forward to sharing more book reviews. We publish the reviews on our blog around one week prior to publication.

This will be posted on our blog, twitter and Net Gallery on 5th Jan

Such a good book, couldn't put it down and just wanted to devour it and read it all! - really good plot, likeable characters, could really picture everything...totally in suspense! All the ingredients for a fab book!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this advance copy.

We meet Claire. She lives with her husband, her two daughters and her mum. Many years ago when Claire was a child, her dad took her sister, Alice, on holiday and they never came back. Claire is now a successful solicitor and over the years they have been using private investigators to look for Alice, but with no joy. One day though, Claire’s mum receives a letter from Alice. Her father has died and she has found their contact details. She wants to come from America to meet them all.

Alice comes home but Claire finds it difficult to connect with her. It’s not like she imagined. She begins to feel that Alice is pushing her out of her home and her family. No one else feels like this, everyone is pleased that Alice is home. But there is something troubling Claire, but she doesn’t know what!

This was a great book. I finished this in just over a day as I couldn’t put it down. It starts off quite a normal story, but then as it goes on when Alice returns home it begins to turn into a really dark story. You can see what’s going on and you’re just willing everyone else to see what Claire is seeing but no one does, everyone loves Alice! There were times when I felt so sorry for Claire, obviously having to put up with everything, but then there were times when you begin to wonder if Claire is wrong, and perhaps she’s the one who is lying!

I genuinely didn’t know which way the story was going to turn. Was Claire right, or was she on the verge of a breakdown? What really happened all those years ago when Claire’s dad took Alice away, and why? Who else is involved in this? The story keeps you guessing right to the very end, twisting and turning its way through the story. There are lots of secrets and lots of revelations! A very clever story! I would definitely recommend this if you love psychological thrillers. Fantastic book by a fantastic author!!

Having an interesting relationship my sister myself I always enjoys books about siblings. This is the type of book that made me want to keep reading even when I was tired or supposed to be doing other things which is always a good sign. I enjoyed the different characters and think i suspected everyone at different points. Sad that her sister wasn't alive at the end but closure was received atleast!

I'm sitting here gobsmacked at what occurred in Sister Sister. It starts as a rather nice story, about a family who have always been splintered, and developed into a far more sinister storyline, complete with betrayal and secrets.

Claire and Alice had been separated as young children, when their father took Alice on a long holiday to America and never came back, splitting the family. As Claire grew up and became a solicitor she was able to afford to high private detectives, but they never found Alice. Suddenly this year though, Alice makes contact with her mum, and shortly afterwards she is back in the family house, and everyone is making up for lost time trying to reconnect.

However Claire can't really feel much for Alice, and despite being happy her sister is home, also suspects something is fishy, but the way everything is presented, the rest of her family think she is going mad.

The question I had to ask was whether I was reading a story with an unreliable narrator, or was everything that I was seeing true fact, and that Alice was the one making things up. There were points during the story where both of these possibilities seemed equally true, all the while I was gripped by what has occurring and had to keep reading to find out, just how the events in the first chapter really came about.

At points during the book I genuinely did feel that Claire may be on the brink of a breakdown, but at the same time everything she was saying seemed quite believable. Other times, I was curious to know more about the sister that had returned. I also quite liked Claire's husband Luke and his reactions to the circumstance seemed initially logical but then he seemed quite keen to believe his wife was not quite coping, while seemingly getting closer to the other sister.

The whole story developed until it was caught up in a thrilling finale, where I really couldn't have predicted the final outcome. maybe I am just too trusting of facts at face value! There is a lot of action in this book, and I think the story definitely got under my skin a bit. It definitely had me thinking how I would feel if a sister returned after such a long absence.

There are many revelations in the book, and most of them seemed quite unexpected when I first read them, but thinking back afterwards they are the sorts that make a lot of sense, what you think them through, and I was wondering why I hadn't thought like that myself.

Sister Sister, is a another top quality story from Sue Fortin, an author who is becoming reliable for producing books with lots of drama, suspense, relatable to characters and a romantic element to them too.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Harper Impulse for this copy of the book which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

After reading The Girl Who Lied I was looking forward to the arrival of Sister Sister and I wasn’t disappointed.
When Clare was seven her parents divorced and her father Patrick took her younger sister Alice to America to live. Although over the years Marion Kennedy has received infrequent calls from her ex-husband, she has no idea where he’s living or how Alice is. Marion has never been able to come to terms with the loss of her youngest child. After all these years she is still buying and storing Christmas and birthday gifts for a daughter she hopes one day will return. Clare too, has spent time and money in an unsuccessful search for her father and sister.
Clare is now a partner in a law firm. She is married to artist Luke Tennison and has two young daughters, Hannah and Chloe. They all live with Marion in the old family home. Luke paints and acts as house husband and the day-to-day family dynamics work well – it’s a happy home. Then out of the blue Marion receives a letter from Alice. Patrick has recently died and her stepmother Roma has given her their address. She asks if she can come to stay and bring her friend Martha with her. However, in the end Martha can’t make it and Alice arrives alone.
From the moment she arrives, Marion dotes on her, eager to make up for the years she lost. For Clare it is a happy ending after years of searching. So why is she finding it so hard to like Alice?
I was glued to this book. OK some of the things I saw coming, but others I certainly didn’t. Right from the beginning I liked Clare. She seemed unfazed by everything, keen to take on challenges at work as she successfully juggles her career and home life. After Alice arrives things slowly begin to unravel. She’s not happy with her sister’s behaviour - the close way she interacts with Marion, her over familiarity with Luke and her keenness to play happy families with the girls while she’s at work. There are times when she feels Alice is trying to slip into her skin; to replace her. She berates herself for having these jealous feelings but the unease around Alice keeps resurfacing. Luke is a laid back, easy going character who obviously loves his wife and kids. He has infinite patience but even that becomes tested to the limits in the face of Clare’s behaviour.
It was interesting to watch quite innocent things become monumental problems as Clare struggles to convince herself she’s not losing her mind. But everyone seems to be on Alice’s side and everything that happens seems to have a logical explanation. However when things go badly wrong at work and she finds herself suspended, she knows if she’s to save her marriage and her job, she needs to take drastic action.
Sister Sister has everything - conflict, family secrets and betrayal, all of which go to make it thoroughly deserving of the five stars I’ve given it.
My thanks to NetGalley for a pre-publication copy of this book.

Claire and Alice are sisters, living happily with their parents in their family home. Alice was four-years old when that all changed. She idolised her older sister, but one day her father took her away on holiday and as she sat in the car waving goodbye to her sister she did not realise that she may never see her again. Her father had actually left his wife and firstborn daughter to start a new life in America. He would marry again and this time Alice would have a brother as well as a caring step-mother. This new family her father considered his true forever family.
Claire and her mother lived on together in the family home through the trauma of separation. Claire grew up to become a solicitor but she never forgot her beautiful blue-eyed little sister; indeed she tried her level best to track down her departed family. She even hired a private investigator, but her father did not want to be traced and changed his identity and that of little Alice as well. Claire always wondered why he had chosen Alice instead of her, or even why he hadn’t taken them both with him, and she and her mother were always very sad when anniversaries came and went by.
Twenty years later Claire’s mother, who lived with Claire’s family - a husband and two daughters - in their original family home, received a letter from Alice. She was euphoric as she handed it over for Claire to read. Alice’s father had passed away and her step-mother had given Alice her birth mother’s address. Alice, Claire and her mother wrote an emotional letter back and soon it was arranged for Alice to fly over from Florida for a reunion and a holiday with her family. And what a reunion it promised to be. Just the very anticipation of meeting Alice again set their pulses alight.
Arriving in the UK Alice was welcomed warmly into her family, but soon Claire began to tire of Alice flirting with her husband and lavishing love on her mother and her own children. Claire was jealous, but more than jealous she was secretly suspicious of her sister. Strange things had started to happen and soon Claire was under suspicion of having committed a crime. Everyone, including her husband thought she was behaving badly and needed help: in short that she had mental health problems. That didn’t go down well at all. She left home, bent on proving she was still in her right mind Or was she? Had the trauma of re-visiting her past finally been the straw that broke the camel’s back?
‘Sister, Sister’ by Sue Fortin is a truly absorbing psychological thriller. It is full of action, tension and shocking twists and turns, right up to the very last chapter. The storytelling is wonderfully involving and the characters within the story are skilfully developed, but with secrets and issues of their own which greatly impact on the story. It’s a thrilling, detailed cleverly plotted and carefully executed story, giving hugely exciting and unexpected cliff-hangers. I really loved it. I would like to thank NetGalley and publisher Harper Impulse for my copy of this novel, sent to me in return for an honest review. I have no hesitation in recommending this as a very good read within this genre. It’s a 9/10 from me.

what a brilliant story so enjoyed sue will become one of my fav authors what a story and what a twist grips you from page 1 my review will go on amazon and good reads a top notch read

This is a great book and the first I've read by this author, and probably won't be the last! Full of twists and turns, it's a real page turner!