Amazon Prime: When She Returned by Lucinda Berry

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Pages: 293

Published: 10/15/2019

Genre: Domestic Thrillers

Amazon

Kate Bennett vanished from a parking lot eleven years ago, leaving behind her husband and young daughter. When she shows up at a Montana gas station, clutching an infant and screaming for help, investigators believe she may have been abducted by a cult.

Kate’s return flips her family’s world upside down—her husband is remarried, and her daughter barely remembers her. Kate herself doesn’t look or act like she did before.

While the family tries to help Kate reintegrate into society, they discover truths they’ve been hiding from each other about their own relationships. But they aren’t the only ones with secrets. As the family unravels what happened to Kate, a series of shocking revelations shows that Kate’s return is more sinister than any of them could have imagined.

This is one of those books that has been sitting on my kindle, and I needed to read it to free up some room for another prime book I am looking at. As I finished the book and enjoyed it, I wanted to see if there were any other books by her. Behold, I have read another book by her and liked it. This author just as a way of writing those stories that just have you going what did I just read, and I need more. 

Now for people who don't like to read about cults, this has a cult in it, FYI. Kate is a mother who loves her family; when she gets a story to tell about a program that has helped many people, she jumps on it. At first, you can tell she is skeptical of the person in charge of this program. But, as she starts to dive deeper and deeper into it, you can tell she starts to lose herself and then vanishes. Her husband Scott and their daughter Abbi took it hard, and many, many years later, Scott ends up remarrying a woman named Meredith. Then the tide turns. Kate reappears with a baby, and you can't help but feel bad for her. What did she see, what happened, who took her? As our story changes from different pov's and timelines from then and now, we get insight into what happened, and you have to wonder if Scott and Abbi can face the truth of what their mother did. At the 94% mark in the story, I will say I was left with my mouth opened because I could not believe it!

As far as characters went, I have to say I liked them; I felt they were portrayed as how possible it would be if something like this happened in real life. I have to sit back and think myself what I would do if I were in this situation. How could I react if I was the 2nd wife only to have the 1st wife come back from what would be considered the dead? How can you handle or process that? I felt with Kate coming back into their lives in a way, Meredith's insecurities were justified. 

Now, who in the heck is Gloria from social media? I felt the author never addressed this; even though it plays a small part in the storyline, I am just nosey. 

I felt the ending ended in a way that could leave us to maybe having a sequel down the road, something to do with maybe Abbi trying to get her mother free from the cult leaders reins? Who knows. I am just speculating, but I could see it happening.

Dr. Lucinda Berry is a former clinical psychologist and leading researcher in childhood trauma. Now, she spends her days writing full-time where she uses her clinical experience to blur the line between fiction and nonfiction. She enjoys taking her readers on a journey through the dark recesses of the human psyche. Her work has been optioned for film and translated into multiple languages.

If Berry isn’t chasing after her son, you can find her running through Los Angeles, prepping for her next marathon.

To hear about her upcoming release The Secrets of Us, visit her on Facebook or sign up for her newsletter at https://www.lucindaberry.com/.