Joint Review: The Night Sister by Jennifer McMahon

Author: Jennifer McMahon
Publisher: Doubleday
Date of publication: August 2015

Once the thriving attraction of rural Vermont, the Tower Motel now stands in disrepair, alive only in the memories of Amy, Piper, and Piper's kid sister, Margot. The three played there as girls until the day that their games uncovered something dark and twisted in the motel's past, something that ruined their friendship forever.

Now adult, Piper and Margot have tried to forget what they found that fateful summer, but their lives are upended when Piper receives a panicked midnight call from Margot, with news of a horrific crime for which Amy stands accused. Suddenly, Margot and Piper are forced to relive the time that they found the suitcase that once belonged to Silvie Slater, the aunt that Amy claimed had run away to Hollywood to live out her dream of becoming Hitchcock's next blonde bombshell leading lady. As Margot and Piper investigate, a cleverly woven plot unfolds—revealing the story of Sylvie and Rose, two other sisters who lived at the motel during its 1950s heyday. Each believed the other to be something truly monstrous, but only one carries the secret that would haunt the generations to come.

I really enjoyed The Night Sister. I was pleasantly surprised and liked it a lot more then The Winter People.   It had a lot of twists that kept it exciting right until the end.  It's a hard one to review without giving away any surprises. Let's just say that I was pretty surprised at the end. 

The story is told through flashbacks to the 1950s and 1980s as well as the present.  At first it was a little hard to figure out what is going on, but I ended up liking the format.  It allowed the story to unfold in a logical manner without really giving away any secrets too soon.  The story is a bit creepy but that just adds to the entertainment.  I definitely recommend this one.  

I was rather surprised by this book as well.  I probably shouldn't have been, I've read enough Jennifer McMahon books  to know that she's going to come up with a story line that's completely unusual and hard to guess.  The flashbacks were a little difficult to keep up with in the beginning and initially I didn't care for it, but I found that it was necessary for the story.

I would definitely recommend this book.  It would be especially great for these cool, fall weekends that are coming up soon!