Review: Secret Sisters by Jayne Ann Krentz

Secret Sisters

by Jayne Ann Krentz

Publisher: Berkley

Pages: 352

Format: ARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Madeline and Daphne were once as close as sisters—until a secret tore them apart. Now it might take them to their graves.

They knew his name, the man who tried to brutally attack twelve-year-old Madeline in her grandmother's hotel. They thought they knew his fate. He wouldn't be bothering them anymore...ever. Still their lives would never be the same. 

Madeline has returned to Washington after her grandmother's mysterious death. And at the old, abandoned hotel—a place she never wanted to see again—a dying man’s last words convey a warning: the secrets she and Daphne believed buried forever have been discovered.

Now, after almost two decades, Madeline and Daphne will be reunited in friendship and in fear. Unable to trust the local police, Madeline summons Jack Rayner, the hotel chain’s new security expert. Despite the secrets and mysteries that surround him, Jack is the only one she trusts...and wants. 

Jack is no good at relationships but he does possess a specific skill set that includes a profoundly intimate understanding of warped and dangerous minds. With the assistance of Jack's brother, Abe, a high-tech magician, the four of them will form an uneasy alliance against a killer who will stop at nothing to hide the truth....

Kritters Thoughts:  An interesting combination of mystery/thriller and a little romance thrown in for good measure!  Madeline had a horrifying experience as a young girl and her and her grandmother left the area and she has never returned.  Her grandmother recently passed away and she is called back to this hotel to confront the past.  She will take with her a new friend/confidant who also happens to run the security for the company that she inherited from her grandmother.  Together they will go back to an island off Washington state's coast to confront the many ghosts of her past.

The storyline for this book was just great.  I loved the plot and characters.  I loved that she had to return to the scene of the crime that she has avoided for 20 years.  I also loved that she had someone with her that didn't know her from the past, so it was an easy vessel for the story to unfold as he was learning what happened back then.

What I didn't love was I thought that Madeline's character didn't feel full.  I didn't feel the impact that this major event had on her and I didn't feel the fear that I feel like she should have had, she was too tough for me, and maybe I am being too critical, but that is what I felt.  

The pacing also didn't work for me.  There were some moments that just felt very slow and then others where my heart was racing.  I wish it had felt more consistent.

This is my first Jayne Anne Krentz book and I was surprised after looking her up that she had quite an impressive backlist.  After reading this book, I am not sure if I will dive into her backlist, but I may keep an eye out for what comes next.  This is an author that I would have to read the synopsis before I read it, I wouldn't blindly read her next book.  

Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Berkley.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.