Title: The Last Broken Girl
Author: Cynthia Rice
Genre: Psychological suspense/thriller
Book Blurb:
The Last Broken Girl explores the potential dark side of small-town living, which can offer its victims no escape. Erin Moore, kidnapped as a teenager and held for months, leads a rigidly structured life with her husband and two young daughters and now has a successful psychology practice in the same small Wisconsin town. When her abductor is paroled early and goes missing, leaving behind a large pool of blood, Erin and her husband become suspects. As she watches her life unravel, including her marriage, career and possibly her sanity, she knows the only way out is to bring her tormentor to justice, even if it’s twenty years late.
My Review:
A suspenseful thriller about a psychologist struggling to live a normal life while one of her kidnappers is paroled early and the other remains at large.
Erin Moore was kidnapped in her teens and held for months in horrible conditions. After the police were tipped off to her location, she was rescued, and her abductor Stanley Duggan was sentenced to twenty-five years in jail. But Veronica, the accomplice Erin swore helped Duggan, was never found and the police believed her to be a figment of Erin’s imagination. Twenty years later, Erin is married, has two daughters, and is a practising psychologist.
The characters are interesting, and they battle their own internal conflicts while forced to deal with the external conflict raging around them, adding a layer of richness to the story. Erin struggles to keep her marriage together and hold onto her practice while her husband Cody struggles with unemployment and addiction.
Meanwhile, the external conflict builds, ratcheting the level of suspense. Duggan is paroled and soon disappears, leaving behind a pool of blood. Erin continues to receive threatening notes and she’s stuck wondering if Duggan is alive with his accomplice bidding his time and plotting to come after her and/or her family.
All in all, a delightfully tense and mysterious read for fans of thrillers, kidnapping, and psychological crime fiction.
My Rating: 5+ stars
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Author Biography:
Mystery and suspense author Cynthia Rice presents The Last Broken Girl, set in rural Wisconsin, where she has strong family ties. The novel won the 2023 Claymore Award in the category of suspense. She is a physician living in the Milwaukee area and a proud member of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. When she’s not working on her next novel, she keeps busy ready, traveling and playing mediocre tennis and golf. She lives with her two cats, Porkchop and Clarice.
Social Media Links:
Website: https://cynthiaarice.com
Reviewed by: Michelle