BLOG TOUR: Bad Sister by Sam Carrington

The gripping psychological thriller everyone is talking about, from the author of Saving Sophie.

Sisters. Allies. Liars.

Stephanie is scared for her life. Her psychologist, Connie Summers, wants to help her face her fears, but Connie will never really understand her. Stephanie’s past has been wiped away for her own protection. Stephanie isn’t even her real name. But then, Dr Summers isn’t Connie’s real name either.

And that’s not all the women have in common. As Stephanie opens up about her troubled relationship with her brother, Connie is forced to confront her own dark family secrets.

When a mutilated body is dumped in plain sight, it will have devastating consequences for both women.

Who is the victim?

Who is to blame?

Who is next?

Gripping, tense and impossible to put down, Bad Sister will have fans of Sue Fortin, B A Paris and Linda Green hooked till the final page.

Excerpt

She fired up her computer and hung her suit jacket over the back of her chair. Steph should be arriving soon, she wanted to run through all the information she held on her first, find out if any of yesterday’s story checked out – the family history, the names. It didn’t. Very strange. She leant back and stared at the screen, then retrieved the paper file from her desk drawer. She frowned. Both said the same: mother in a home, father’s whereabouts unknown – not dead in a fire, as Steph had described – and no siblings. No brother. No one named Brett. How could it be so wrong? It was likely that Steph had lied. But why? What could she gain from making it up? Attention? Continued input from the services she was so afraid would abandon her? It made some sense. In Steph’s mind, if she came up with a story in which she or her child were in danger, then Miles would offer further protection and Connie would offer more sessions. Could that really be what Steph was trying to do here?

The intercom buzzed. Hopefully, she was about to unravel whatever was going on.

‘Morning, Steph.’ Connie opened her door to let Steph in. ‘No Dylan this morning?’

‘I took him to pre-school, I had to. Needed to see you on my own.’ She looked drawn, a deep line ran from one side of her forehead to the other, her lips were tightly closed and her nostrils flared. ‘He’s out.’ She brushed past Connie and sat heavily in the chair.

‘Brett?’

‘Yes, Brett!’

‘How do you know?’

‘Got this.’ Steph held her hand out, in it a piece of folded paper. ‘Another one. This morning.’

Before Connie got into this, she needed to retrace a step, or twelve. She hadn’t found out what the first letter had contained yet.

‘Okay. Try and keep your breathing steady.’ Connie flinched as Steph shot her an angry glare.

‘Are you for real?’

‘I just want to understand what’s going on, Steph. And for that to happen, I think being calm would be best.’

Steph snorted. ‘Fine.’ She took a deep, exaggerated breath in, and slowly out.

‘Can you tell me about the first letter?’

Steph sighed, slumping her shoulders. ‘I wasn’t gonna read it, but somethin’ made me. I had this feelin’ that it was gonna be bad. Bad for me and Dylan.

‘It started off the usual – Dear sis. I need to see you. Why didn’t you write or come see me?’ Steph shook her head gently. ‘But then it changed. His letters usually blamed me for some stuff, like abandoning him when he needed me, being a bad sister, that kind of bull. But this one was different. Seemed even more angry than usual.’

‘Angry in what way?’

‘Like in that he threatened me and Dylan. Said he’d finish what he started.’

‘Oh. He said those exact words? Have you brought the letter?’

‘Oh, right, so you’re questioning me, don’t believe what I’m tellin’ you?’

‘No, it’s not that, Steph. I thought reading it would help me to interpret his words.’

‘What’s to interpret? He’ll finish what he started, Connie. He started the fire, he killed his dad, Mum’s as good as dead, and his big sister is the one that got away. It’s pretty simple, eh? He’s wanting to kill me and Dylan now. Finish whatever weird, psycho fantasy he’s got going.’

Claire's Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book is told through the eyes of two different characters, psychologist Connie and DC Lindsay Wade. Connie has a patient called Stephanie who is currently under witness protection but is scared she has been found and when a body is discovered Connie and Stephanie have more in common than they thought.

I really enjoyed this book, it was well executed and the characters well developed, the then and now parts of the story kept me hooked wanting to know exactly what had happened to these women and how they were connected. Lots of twists and turns and a very gripping read.

I will definitely be looking for more books by Sam Carrington in the future as I really enjoyed this read.