Publishers Weekly
07/30/2018
One night in 2008, high school senior Ava, the narrator of this entertaining if flawed thriller from Australian author Snoekstra (Little Secrets), wakes up in her bedroom in a Melbourne suburb to find a man standing over her bed with a baseball bat. The intruder leaves without harming her, but the police fail to apprehend him. The incident fundamentally changes Ava: “Something wrong had happened, and no one even seemed to even expect for it to be put right except me.” In the aftermath, whenever Ava witnesses an injustice, she believes if she doesn’t make things right, no one will. When Ava sees a teacher make a pass at Melissa Moore, one of her classmates, she exposes him. She and Mel become instant friends, or so it seems. But soon Mel and her spiteful group of friends violate Ava’s trust and bully her maliciously. In the years that follow, desperate to feel a sense of peace again, Ava stalks each of them, obsessed with enacting her own form of justice. Some unbelievable moments won’t stop readers from turning the pages. Agent: MacKenzie Fraser-Bub, Fraser-Bub Literary. (Oct.)
From the Publisher
"A smart and compulsive thriller that perfectly evokes the claustrophobia of small-town Australian life. I couldn't put it down!" – Graeme Simsion on LITTLE SECRETS
"LITTLE SECRETS explores the desperation that can live inside us-and what happens when individuals have opposing but equally desperate desires. Readers will grow to care about the fates of ambitious Rose and nurturing Mia, as well as the policemen working the case. In addition, readers will thirst to uncover who's responsible for stirring up the community and heinously stealing the life of a child. Despair makes for shocking choices, and no one makes it to the other side of this mystery unchanged." -Bookpage
"A riveting thriller with a dark mystery that is utterly compelling right through to the last page." -BetterReading.com
"Snoekstra's excellent debut stands out in the crowded psychological suspense field with smart, subtle red herrings and plenty of dark and violent secrets. Recommend to genre aficionados and readers who enjoyed Lisa Lutz's The Passenger." -Library Journal (starred review) on ONLY DAUGHTER
"Unreliable narrator thrillers are practically a subgenre of their own, and there are two unreliable narrators here as well as a wickedly twisted and fast-paced plot that leaves numerous questions unanswered... readers who enjoy a creepy thriller that will keep them guessing will be unable to put this down." -Booklist (starred review) on ONLY DAUGHTER
"In Anna Snoekstra's dark and edgy debut, a young woman slips easily into the life of a girl missing eleven years, only to discover the grisly truth behind the disappearance. Will she be the next victim? Truly distinctive and tautly told, ONLY DAUGHTER welcomes a thrilling new voice in crime fiction." -Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Girl
"ONLY DAUGHTER by Anna Snoekstra is a dark meditation on the secrets we keep about our families and about ourselves. Twisty, slippery, and full of surprises, this web of lies will ensnare you and keep you riveted until you've turned the final page." -Lisa Unger, New York Times bestselling author of Ink and Bone
