eBook review copy; 288 pages
ISBN-13: 9780778319443
Only Daughter by Anna Snoekstra is a highly recommended psychological thriller.
In 2014 a young woman who is detained for shoplifting in New South Wales, Australia, claims to be Rebecca “Bec” Winter. Eleven years ago, in 2003, sixteen-year-old Bec went missing from the streets of Canberra. She was last seen working her shift at the McDonald's. This Bec, however, is an imposter who saw a TV show and noticed she resembled the missing girl. To avoid giving her real name and to escape the shoplifting charges, she tells the police the lie.
Soon she is being reunited with her "family" and talking to the lead detective on the case, Special Investigator Vincent Andopolis. Fake Bec is claiming to be foggy on the details of what happened to her and says she just wants to be home, with her family. Her family seems to be... odd, and then there are the threatening text messages.
The narrative alternates between the stories of the real Bec in 2003 versus the Fake Bec in 2014. In 2003 Bec seems to be all about teen drama and hijinks at first, but there are also unexplained, dark occurrences. Her family is more focused on how her twin brothers Andrew and Paul are doing than what Bec is up to. The tension begins to rise for Fake Bec too, as she decides to stick around and look for clues to try to find out what really happened to Bec.
This is a well written debut novel that is both a quick and compelling read. The tension and ominous feeling carries through in both time periods. I was glued to the pages even when the action seemed a little far-fetched. It does require some suspension of disbelief (for example, Fake Bec even getting to meet the family, let alone the reaction of the family) and in the surprise ending, but I had no problem with that for Only Daughter. This is a perfect airplane book. You will be glued to the pages and the time will fly.
Disclosure: My advanced reading copy was courtesy of the publisher for review purposes.
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