Sunday has always been the favourite child of her parents but this holiday she has a disagreement with her family and leaves. Her sister Annie is convinced that something sinister has happened: she saw Sunday arguing with someone on top of a cliff, her parents and siblings are acting strangely but no one is interested in trying to find her…
The Favorite Child is a psychological thriller set in America (hence the spelling of favourite in the title!) I will just say that I was not keen on Sunday as a first name and found it jarring throughout the book but this is my personal opinion.
I was instantly hooked on this book. The favoritism and family dynamics are fascinating. The dad is a famous family guru but he treated one of his own children as a favourite and did nothing to combat the sibling rivalry. Annie does not remember any of the terrible things her older siblings did to Sunday when they were children and starts to doubt herself in the face of her family’s united opinion.
Tension and suspense build from the very beginning. The whole family’s attitude to Annie and her pregnancy is hideously claustophobic and beyond uncomfortable. I wanted to scream and shout at Annie to leave the house and get away from her family as soon as possible. She should have followed her instincts but I did fear for her unborn child and felt that her family had a point in being concerned.
The majority of the book is written from Annie’s first person perspective but there are a few chapters set in the past which show the siblings as children. This shows how their lives and relationships have been shaped by their parents’ attitude to family life. In turn, this informs how the characters behave in response to Sunday’s disappearance but with increasingly dangerous overtones.
The Favorite Child was an intriguing thriller that maintained the suspense until the end.
Annie’s sister has gone missing. Why doesn’t anyone care?
Annie feels like she’s at a good place in her life. Happily married, expecting her first child, enjoying a vacation with her extended family at their beautiful coastal home.
But then her sister, Sunday, suddenly goes missing.
Annie is immediately concerned, but the rest of the family assure her that everything’s fine, this is the kind of thing Sunday does, she’ll be back…
But Annie knows in her heart that something is very wrong. And she won’t rest until she sees her sister safe and well.
As Annie digs for the truth, she realizes that some of her family are not what they seem. And as she draws closer to uncovering their horrifying secret, Annie finally understands that she and her unborn child are in terrible danger…
Author Bio
Cathryn Grant writes psychological thrillers, psychological suspense, and ghost stories. She’s the author of twenty-three novels. She’s loved crime fiction all her life and is endlessly fascinated by the twists and turns, and the dark corners of the human mind.
When she’s not writing, Cathryn reads fiction, eavesdrops, and tries to play golf without hitting her ball into the sand or the water. She lives on the Central California coast with her husband and two cats.
Pingback: The Secret She Kept, by Cathryn Grant - loopyloulaura