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Published Sep 2013
256 pages
Genre: Thrillers
Publication Information
Lisa Kallisto, overwhelmed working mother, is the not-so-perfect model of the modern woman. She holds down a busy job running an animal shelter, she cares for three demanding children, and she worries that her marriage isn't getting enough attention. During an impossibly hectic week, Lisa takes her eye off the ball for a moment and her world descends into a living nightmare. Not only is her best friend's thirteen-year-old daughter missing, but it's Lisa's fault. To make matters worse, Lucinda is the second teenage girl to disappear within the past two weeks. The first one turned up stripped bare and abandoned on the main street after a horrible ordeal. Wracked with guilt over her mistake, and after having been publicly blamed by Lucinda's family, Lisa sets out to right the wrong. As she begins digging under the surface, Lisa learns that everything is not quite what it first appears to be.
In Paula Daly's heart-stopping debut novel, motherhood, marriage, and friendship are tested when a string of abductions tear through a small-town community. Gripping and fast-paced, Just What Kind of Mother Are You? introduces an outstanding new thriller writer with a terrifying imagination for the horrors that lurk in everyday lives.
"Starred Review. A distinctive voice, masterful plotting, and pitch-perfect characterizations...In the end, the novel is not just an intriguing puzzle but also a nuanced exploration of friendship, motherhood, fallibility, and the mystery of human relationships." - Publishers Weekly
"The characters and motivations lack balance, but the storytelling and Daly's voice are top-drawer." - Kirkus
"Starred Review. This intriguing blend of suspense tale and domestic drama, which has a number of delicious plot twists, will keep readers riveted... there is also much insight here into the power games that rule both female friendships and the relationships between husbands and wives. First-rate fiction from an outstanding new thriller writer." - Booklist
"Paula Daly's strong debut...is fiendishly addictive as well as perceptive about guilt and social class." - Guardian (UK)
"Riveting! Daly plunges straight into the heart of every parent's worst nightmare with page turning results. You know this family. You may even be one of these moms. And you will fly through this novel, as their pain, bewilderment, and ultimately determination becomes your own."- Lisa Gardner, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Touch & Go and Catch Me
"One of the most hypnotically gripping books I've read in a long, long time. Masterfully written and utterly unputdownable, this thriller will surprise and astound you with every ingenious twist and turn." - Tess Gerritsen, New York Times bestselling author of Last to Die
"A crackling good read, Just What Kind of Mother Are You? is a remarkable domestic thriller debut. Fueled by every parent's worst nightmare, Paula Daly takes you for an intense, gritty and heartbreaking roller-coaster ride. A writer to watch." - Julia Spencer-Fleming, New York Times bestselling author of One Was A Soldier
"Just What Kind of Mother Are You? is an intricate, absolutely absorbing account of a series of chilling events that once unleashed will keep the reader riveted to the pages. A grave reminder of the heavy responsibility of being a mother, a wife, a friend. Hypnotic and harrowing right up to the pulse-pounding end. Unforgettable." - Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of The Weight of Silence and These Things Hidden
This information about Just What Kind of Mother Are You? was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Paula Daly lives in Cumbria County in North West England with her husband, three children, and whippet Skippy. She is a freelance physiotherapist. Just What Kind of Mother Are You? is her debut novel.
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