The Suspect

~ I received no compensation and opinions are 100% my own or my family. ~

Synopsis (from Amazon):  Another razor-sharp thriller, THE SUSPECT reaffirms Barton’s reputation as an author who combines propulsive narrative with subtle, insightful commentary on the universal stories of family, identity, and loss—a writer who belongs on the shelf with Tana French, Louise Penny, Megan Abbott, and Paula Hawkins. 

After two girls go missing in Thailand during their gap year, Kate receives a call from her police contact Bob Sparkes, who wants the media to help sound the alarm. Kate can’t help but think of her son Jake, who ran off to Thailand after a rough patch in school and has barely been heard from since.

When the story of the missing girls turns to tragedy, Kate flies to Thailand to investigate the potentially grisly crime. But upon her arrival, her professional and personal worlds collide in a shocking manner. While Barton’s previous books have posed moral dilemmas about how far Kate would go to get the story, now, Kate must face the question:  what happens when the reporter becomes the reported?

Barton is an award-winning journalist in the UK who has worked for the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph, among other publications. She drew on her thirty-five year career to craft Kate Waters into the dogged, resourceful reporter that readers have come to love in the previous two books. Barton says writing Kate feels “like coming home.”

One (or more) Sentence Summary: What an amazing book! A parent's worst nightmare.  Your child and her friend go away to a different country and communication stops. Another child drops out of college and takes off, only to find out the many secrets he kept from his parents, including his whereabouts.  Kate, a journalist, becomes a trusted liaison to the parents.  She uses her connections to help track down the girls.  An incredible surprise happens when they arrive in Thailand and all their worlds collide.

The story bounces back and forth between the parents, the girls (friends), the boy and Kate.  Unbelievably, they all end up being connected in a bizarre twist of faith. 

Would I Read Other Books by the Author:  I would like to read The Child and The Widow by the author, Fiona Barton?

Fiona Barton is the New York Times bestselling author of The Widow and The Child. She has trained and worked with journalists all over the world. Previously, she was a senior writer at the Daily Mail, news editor at the Daily Telegraph, and chief reporter at the Mail on Sunday, where she won Reporter of the Year at the British Press Awards. Born in Cambridge, England, she currently lives in southwest France and England.

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