The Liar's Daughter by Claire Allan
Genre: Psychological thriller
Read: 3rd April 2020
Purchase: Amazon
(publication date: 23rd January 2020)
★★★★★ 5 stars
Wow! THE LIAR'S DAUGHTER is my second book by Claire Allan and what a page-turner it is! The premise was intriguing, the story even better and the ending was brilliant. It was such a dark, disturbing and twisted story filled with an atmosphere that left the reader questioning the sanity of the narrative.
Joe McKee is dying of lung cancer and has been taken home for his final months. The doctors have given him three to six months at most, but Joe doubts he will be around by Spring. When his time does come, grief is the last thing his daughter Ciara and step daughter Heidi feel. You see, they know what Joe was really like. He was not a good man as everyone seems to believe. He was rotten to the very core.
Twenty years ago, Joe left his wife Marie and their daughter Ciara for another woman - Natalie and her daughter Heidi. Whilst Marie has always loved her husband, Ciara has never forgiven him for leaving them. Then when Natalie becomes ill and dies of cancer, Ciara is horrified that Joe chooses to remain and raise Heidi rather than return to her and her mother. She had always been a daddy's girl but now he has chosen someone else's daughter over his own. Her anger and bitterness grow over the years and is reflected in her cruel behaviour towards Heidi, who was still grieving over the loss of her mother. As for her father, she hated him.
Heidi Lewis is now twenty eight years old, married to Alex and has 5 month old baby daughter, Lily. The house in which she had been happy with her mother before Joe had moved in is still occupied by her stepfather today. It is no longer a happy house. For while she has happy memories with her mother there, there are also those that came after that still haunt her and make her blood run cold.
Now, she has brought Joe home to live out his remaining days. And although she has nothing but hate for the man, she feels it is her duty to look after him until his dying breath. But she cannot do it alone. She must call Ciara and hope that she may share the load with her. The problem is, she and Ciara have never gotten along and despite her many efforts to do so, Ciara has never forgiven her for Joe leaving them for her mother and her.
Joe's death is expected so when it does come no one is surprised. In fact, everyone appears to be relieved. So when the family begin to prepare the house for the tradition Irish wake, the phone call they least expect is one of the police. It seems there are some "questions" surrounding Joe's death. Bruising on his chest, marks on his body and the telltale petechiae of suffocation. Suddenly, everyone is looking at the other wondering which of them is a murderer.
The tensions in that house with Ciara, Heidi and Joe's sister Kathleen are palpable. It doesn't take a genius to figure out the cause of all the tension and hate. But how far does it go back? It leaves the reader wondering what would we do given that situation? Could I care for a man that had failed to protect me? Or would I walk away and leave him to die a lonely death? It really has us questioning the very core of the moral ethics that we have been raised to respect.
I really felt for Heidi. I think because I identified a little with her, having been bullied as a child and teenager, and her quiet almost shy disposition. She understood and respected duty even though she was loathe to undertake it. She didn't want to have to care for Joe but knew she had to. And then to receive insult after insult from Ciara, who seriously was old enough to know better, just emphasised her fragility. Which then, of course, was enough for Ciara and Kathleen to call on her past behaviour as proof of her vulnerability and instability. Even I had to admit, Heidi sounded paranoid, though I know she wasn't.
And Joe. Upstanding pillar of the Derry community. He was especially unlikable. He was crafy, devious and manipulative...and only Heidi and Ciara knew the "real" him. As readers, we caught a glimpse of him before his demise...and that only served to make me hate him even more.
A dual narrative that switches between the dark past and Joe's imminent death in the present, the story weaves Heidi's and Ciara's perspectives in the "then" and "now" uncovering the dark secret at the core. The girls are so different in personality with the depth of their pain etched in their behaviour. Heidi turns her pain in on herself and into something she can control whereas Ciara's is reflected in her anger and hate. It's not until Ciara's partner, Stella, poses a question to her that Ciara begins to see things differently.
A compelling and uputdownable thriller, THE LIAR'S DAUGHTER is woven with malice, deviousness and deep-rooted secrecy and is, at times, not an easy story to read. The theme of child abuse, rape and paedophilia shines a light on how the lives and relationships of those involved are affected. It is dark and disturbing but is handled with sensitivity and is incredibly well written.
THE LIAR'S DAUGHTER is a dark an psychological read filled with secrets, hate, anger, paranoia and loaded with suspense. The tension in the penultimate chapters leading to its climatic end built to an almost unbearable level but has you turning the pages at the speed of knots.
Claire Allan delivers us a story that is expertly and cleverly written making her an author to watch out for. As uncomfortable as the subject matter is, the writing is addictive, the chapters are short and snappy (my favourite kind) and the story completely compelling. THE LIAR'S DAUGHTER is emotive, powerful and extremely evocative. But above all, it is brilliant!
My second by Claire Allan and definitely NOT my last, I highly recommend THE LIAR'S DAUGHTER to all psychological thriller fans who are not afraid of a dark and disturbing storyline.
I would like to thank #ClaireAllan, #NetGalley and #AvonBooksUK for an ARC of #TheLiarsDaughter in exchange for an honest review.
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