My Sister Is Missing

I bought a digital copy of this book awhile ago and finally got around to reading it in my attempt to reduce my TBR in November. This short suspense story is about a missing woman and the secrets she's hidden from her younger, estranged sister who has recently returned home.

I fully expected to love this book and while it has a strong premise, that's where my interest stopped. The story never got going for me with its characters, story arc or tension. The reader's only POV is Emily, the estranged sister who is trying to piece together where her older sister went after their brief reunion the night before. But Emily isn't a strong or likable character and many of her actions irritated me, leaving me to wonder if she was just naïve or stupid. I'm leaning towards both. 

There are plot holes, amateur dialogue, and absurd bits of the plot where readers are required to suspend disbelief - too far for my liking (a body found underwater after 20 years is in pristine condition?? Um no. Believing her sister is still food shopping in their tiny rural town six hours later? Also, no). I should have DNF'd it, but it was a short read and I had hoped things would fall into place. They never did.

I'm an avid thriller reader and this was a huge miss for me with its disjointed, farfetched story, weak characters, and lack of tension. It had the potential to be a good read, but the pieces of the story weren't developed well or tied together into an engaging story.

Note: I realized that I've read and enjoyed one of this author's earlier books - Without A Trace, so I'm hoping My Sister Is Missing is just an unfortunate blip in her writing repertoire.

My Rating: 2 stars

Author: Carissa Ann Lynch

Genre: Suspense

Type and Source: eBook, Kindle Deal, personal copy

Publisher: Killer Reads

First Published: February 8, 2019

Opening Line: The old saying, you can never go home again, 

tickled the edges of my memory and floated on the 

back of my tongue as I accelerated through the 

Bare Border welcome sign in my rented Honda Civic.

Book Description from GoodReads: A twenty-year-old local mystery that has never been sold.

A bone-chilling VHS tape depicting a horrific crime.

Neighbors with something to hide.

And a sister who is missing.

Emily has to find out the truth. But is her sister Madeline the victim…or the one to blame?