A true domestic suspense thriller, in every sense of the phrase, The Wrong Family takes place almost entirely inside the house where Nigel, Winnie, Sam, and Juno live. In fact, the reader may almost get the sense of a stage play unfolding, with such a small cast of characters and almost every event taking place under one roof.
Fisher unfolds the story at a slow, steady pace that builds to an explosive crescendo, but along the way there are plenty of moments to get your heart racing. Told in alternating viewpoints between two characters who almost never interact, the reader ultimately knows more than any of the characters do as they watch the events of the story play out.
The characters, however, are not especially likeable people, and if the reader needs likeable characters to really get into a story, they may have difficulty connecting with The Wrong Family. They aren’t villains, and they aren’t horrible people, but they are definitely messed up, both individually and in their interactions with each other. Dysfunctional family relationships are on full display throughout and for the most part, these characters are all very hard to love.
Fisher’s style of writing, however, makes it hard to put her books down, whether you actually like the characters or not. In The Wrong Family, much like in her previous novel The Wives, the reader may think “I am going to read just one more chapter and then set my book down…” but you won’t. Fisher is an excellent storyteller that can keep the reader engaged through both action and exposition.
While a small number of reviewers have commented that they found the ending predictable, I genuinely would never have foreseen the exciting climax that Fisher leads up to. The elements are there throughout the story, but they are ultimately used in original, creative ways which give a conclusion worth every single page of build-up.
Based on both The Wrong Family and The Wives, Tarryn Fisher is certainly an author to pay attention to. Her ability to illustrate just how twisted and messed-up some family dynamics really are is top-notch, and never stops being fascinating.
The Wrong Family is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of December 29th 2020.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
From the author of the instant New York Times bestseller The Wives comes another twisted psychological thriller guaranteed to turn your world upside down.
Have you ever been wrong about someone?
Juno was wrong about Winnie Crouch.
Before moving in with the Crouch family, Juno thought Winnie and her husband, Nigel, had the perfect marriage, the perfect son—the perfect life. Only now that she’s living in their beautiful house, she sees the cracks in the crumbling facade are too deep to ignore.
Still, she isn’t one to judge. After her grim diagnosis, the retired therapist simply wants a place to live out the rest of her days in peace. But that peace is shattered the day Juno overhears a chilling conversation between Winnie and Nigel…
She shouldn’t get involved.
She really shouldn’t.
But this could be her chance to make a few things right.
Because if you thought Juno didn’t have a secret of her own, then you were wrong about her, too.
From the wickedly dark mind of bestselling author Tarryn Fisher, The Wrong Family is a taut new thriller that’s riddled with twists in all the right places.
