10/05/2020
Sise (We Were Mothers) weaves together the stories of two crimes in Waverly, N.Y., in this crafty novel. Things open with the discovery of a bracelet belonging to student Emma McCullough, who disappeared 10 years earlier from the University of Yarrow in Waverly. The police reopen the case, which triggers the grief held by Emma’s younger sister, Haley, now a med student at Yarrow, as well as the pain carried by Priya, a former professor of Emma’s, whose husband, Brad Aarons, had an affair with Emma and is now Haley’s biology professor. Meanwhile, Haley and her fiancé are house hunting, and Josie and Noah Carmichael, their real estate agents, were close friends with Emma. At an open house arranged by Josie, Haley is surprised to see Brad and Priya, and shocked to find Josie bloodied and unconscious on the kitchen floor. As Haley learns about Emma’s involvement with Brad and Priya, she wonders if the attack on Josie was connected with her sister’s disappearance. The narrative alternates in present-day chapters from Haley’s and Priya’s perspectives alongside a parallel narrative in Emma’s voice from the year she vanished. All the characters have secrets, and while the prose is fairly flat, Sise’s talent is her ability to keep readers guessing about which character might be covering for whom, and she keeps the surprises coming. This will appeal to fans of Big Little Lies. Agent: Dan Mandel, Sanford J. Greenburger Assoc. (Dec.)
Amazon Charts Most Read
“Narrator Rebecca Mozo builds taut suspense from the start of this audiobook thriller about the unsolved disappearance of an art student named Emma. Voicing Emma's sister, Haley, 10 years after the disappearance, Mozo imparts an undercurrent of dread upon learning the police have found new evidence. Narrator Lori Prince, portraying Emma in the past, adds an exciting and quirky dimension to the novel's backstory.” —AudioFile Magazine
“A chilling thriller, Open House tracks a missing art student who vanished 10 years prior and how her disappearance connects with a recent attack during an open house in a small university town. It also showcases the unending loyalty of close girlfriends and sisterhood in life or death.” —Good Morning America
“Part murder mystery, part interpersonal drama, a serviceable who-done-it (or did anyone?) with a host of compelling characters…this novel has just enough twists to keep its readers along for the ride. Sleuths will delight in piecing together clues and untangling lies alongside the protagonists.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Sise (We Were Mothers) weaves together the stories of two crimes in Waverly, N.Y., in this crafty novel…Sise’s talent is her ability to keep readers guessing about which character might be covering for whom, and she keeps the surprises coming. This will appeal to fans of Big Little Lies.” —Publishers Weekly
“Sise captures the insular nature of small towns in this domestic drama, and a series of unpredictable twists makes everyone the culprit for at least a little while. The resolution is satisfying, and an epilogue, set five years after the mystery is solved, shows that justice has been served. Readers who enjoy suspense fiction with a strong focus on relationships, like that of Liane Moriarty or Jessica Knoll, will be drawn into the McCulloughs’ story.” —Booklist
“This twisty tale is full of secrets and thrills sure to keep you interested in what is going on through the very end.” —Book Riot
Narrator Rebecca Mozo builds taut suspense from the start of this audiobook thriller about the unsolved disappearance of an art student named Emma. Voicing Emma’s sister, Haley, 10 years after the disappearance, Mozo imparts an undercurrent of dread upon learning the police have found new evidence. Narrator Lori Prince, portraying Emma in the past, adds an exciting and quirky dimension to the novel’s backstory. Mozo’s narration carries an authentic imprint of grief while voicing Haley and her emotionally damaged parents. She is equally effective as Emma’s best friend, two lovers, and one of their wives, who uncovered the infidelity. When Haley and this group of potentially implicated characters wind up together at the scene of a new crime, listeners won’t want to press stop. J.T. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
2020-09-02
Part murder mystery, part interpersonal drama, a serviceable whodunit (or did anyone?) with a host of compelling characters.
Waverly, New York, seems idyllic—but secrets, half-truths, and distrust run right beneath the surface of this pastoral college town. Ten years ago, art student Emma McCullough disappeared from a party and was never seen again, alive or dead. Her disappearance is widely believed to be the result of suicide; nevertheless, her family, and in particular her sister—medical student Haley—clings to the idea that there was foul play involved. When Emma’s bracelet is discovered in the cliffs behind campus, and later when Haley’s realtor—and Emma’s college bff—Josie Carmichael is attacked at an open house, the thin bandages covering a multitude of lies start to peel away. The narration cycles among the perspectives of Haley, who takes on her trauma with a mix of logic and compulsive rituals; Emma’s former art professor Priya, who deals with her troubled marriage with medication prescribed by her husband; and, most grippingly, the Emma of 10 years earlier, who navigates depression, sex, and uncomfortable relationships. All the while we are sent down paths of red herrings and false evidence as we bounce from one prospective adversary to the next. The plot is often driven by characters making decisions that dip into the less-than-believable (do people really send incriminating emails from accounts with their full names?), and Sise’s attempts at broaching her characters’ interiority can be awkwardly clichéd (“Haven’t you ever been with a bunch of people, and you still feel really lonely?”). But while it may lack the psychological intrigue of others of its genre, this novel has just enough twists to keep its readers along for the ride.
Sleuths will delight in piecing together clues and untangling lies alongside the protagonists.
