Charged with shoplifting, a young woman chooses to say her
name is Rebecca (Bec) Winter. So starts Anna Snoekstra's
debut psychological thriller, ONLY DAUGHTER. She didn't
want to use her real name for fear of consequences to
something she'd done. So, she picks the name of a 16-year-
old girl who was kidnapped 11 years before. Someone had
told her once she looked like Bec when the TV news covered
the story. Good at lying and spinning tales, she also
manages to rig the DNA test.
She installs herself in Bec's life, hugging her parents,
playing with her brothers and hanging out with her best
friend. All the time, she's trying to dodge the questions
of the police investigator who worked on Bec's case years
ago.
Interspersed with fake Bec's story, Snoekstra introduces us
to real Bec in the weeks before her disappearance. Real Bec
worked at McDonald's, crushed on an older boy and
shoplifted with her best friend. It's an interesting
juxtaposition which helps increase the suspense.
I think some readers will have trouble suspending disbelief
at the whole concept, but I enjoyed it. Fake Bec has
suspicions of something with real Bec's friends and family
and comes to the conclusion that what happened to Bec could
just as easily happen to her. Good suspense keeps the pages
turning. The only problem is that Snoekstra leaves some
instances and people's behavior unanswered.
I enjoy good writing as much as the next person, but I'm
equally captivated by a good plot. If a storyteller can
keep my interest enough to keep me from my work, then he or
she has done a good job. Snoekstra doesn't explain
everything, but I enjoyed her debut nonetheless and won't
hesitate to pick up another of her books.
In this chilling psychological thriller, one woman's dark past becomes another's deadly futureIn 2003, sixteen-year-old Rebecca Winter disappeared. She'd been enjoying her summer break: working at a fast-food restaurant, crushing on an older boy and shoplifting with her best friend. Mysteriously ominous things began to happen—a presence in her room at night, periods of blackouts, a feeling of being watched—though Bec remained oblivious of what was to come. Eleven years later she is replaced. A young woman, desperate after being arrested, claims to be the decade-missing Bec. Soon the impostor is living Bec's life. Sleeping in her bed. Hugging her mother and father. Learning her best friends' names. Playing with her little brothers. But Bec's welcoming family and enthusiastic friends are not quite as they seem. As the impostor dodges the detective investigating her case, she begins to delve into the life of the real Bec Winter—and soon realizes that whoever took Bec is still at large, and that she is in imminent danger.
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