Sometimes, it’s easier to live a lie.

While her husband is halfway around the world filming a documentary, Audrey Thomas is left alone with their two sons, a crumbling household, and a twelve-year-old boy whose behavior is becoming impossible to explain. Michael is angry. Secretive. Cruel in ways Audrey doesn’t want to name.

When Audrey catches him doing something horrifying, she can no longer pretend Michael is simply acting out. She has to find help before Michael crosses a line they can never come back from.

But before Audrey can stop the crisis unfolding inside her home, the past comes for her, too.

An email arrives from Ryan Phillips—the man who assaulted her in college. He’s out of prison and has something important to tell her, but he’ll only say it in person.

Audrey wants nothing from Ryan. Not an explanation. Not an apology. Not the truth.

But as Michael spirals and long-buried memories force their way back to the surface, Audrey begins to realize the past may not be finished with her—and the secrets she’s tried to bury may be the very thing tearing her family apart.

A propulsive psychological thriller about motherhood, trauma, and family secrets, Between These Twisted Roots is perfect for readers of Lisa Jewell, Sarah Pinborough, and Jessica Knoll.