Sunday 8 November 2015

Book ~ "Never Knowing" (2011) Chevy Stevens

From GoodreadsAt thirty-three Sara Gallagher is finally happy. Her antique furniture restoration business is taking off and she’s engaged to a wonderful man. But there’s one big question that still haunts her - who are her birth parents? Sara is finally ready to find out. 

Sara’s birth mother rejects her - again. Then she discovers her biological father is an infamous killer who’s been hunting women every summer for almost forty years. Sara tries to come to terms with her horrifying parentage - and her fears that she’s inherited more than his looks.  But soon Sara realizes the only thing worse than finding out your father is a killer is him inding out about you. 

 Some questions are better left unanswered. "Never knowing" is a complex and compelling portrayal of one woman’s quest to understand where she comes from. That is, if she can survive … 

Sara is 33 and about to get married to Evan.  She is the oldest of three girls and has always known she was adopted.  Growing up, her mother was great but her father didn't treat her as well as her treated his "real" daughters.  She always fantasized about finding her birth parents and everything would be okay.  She hires a detective to find her birth parents and he does.  Her birth mother wants nothing to do with her.  When she finds out that her birth father is a serial killer, she obviously wants nothing to do with him ... but he has other ideas and finds her and wants to be a dad.

Working with the police, she tries to draw her father in so he can be captured.  But in doing this, she puts her life and that of her family in danger.

This is the fourth book I've read by this author and I liked it.  It's written in first person perspective from Sara's point of view ... each chapter is a session she is having with her psychiatrist (interesting concept).  As a head's up, there is swearing and violence.

I liked Sara.  She has a lot going on with her business, planning a wedding and dealing with being adopted ... and then has to decide whether to help the police catch her serial killer father.  She knows that if she doesn't, he will kill again.  I don't usually like kids in books and wasn't a fan of Sara's six-year-old daughter, Ally.  When she didn't get her way, she would throw a huge fit and even got abusive with the dog at one point.  Sara's adoptive dad was a A-hole who was rude to everyone but his wife and Evan ... but no one ever stood up to him.  Maybe I missed it but I still don't know why he treated Sara so badly when she was growing up.  Evan was caring and supportive but his job took him out of town a lot so he wasn't physically there so support Sara so she came to depend on one of the police officers, Billy.

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