Day: December 12, 2022

Sometimes a psych thriller has so much going on that it takes a couple of re-reads of a section to understand what is happening. That is the case with Her First Child by Sheryl Browne.

That’s not to say that it is complicated. It is actually pretty straightforward. But there are some parts where it took me a second to recenter myself and figure out what I just read.

As with many a psych thriller, the story starts with a prologue. It seems fairly normal…right up until the final sentence of the section.

In fact, there are a few times that occurs throughout the book – blink, and you’ll miss it mentions that would be easy to skip over if you aren’t reading carefully.

The plot is interesting because, in some ways, it really doesn’t go anywhere. Eve’s mom shows up essentially unannounced, which freaks Eve out for…reasons. But Eve hasn’t explained anything about her past to her partner, Dom, so he doesn’t understand what the issue is.

For the reader, it stays that vague, even as there are flashbacks to Eve’s past. The reader does find out the basis for Eve’s fears long before Dom does. But even so, there is still a lot that isn’t clear.

Eve’s best friend Chloe is present in both the past and present threads. I never got a good beat on her. Was she jealous? Protective? Angry? All of the above? Who knows. And a plot line with her husband Steve seemed gratuitous.

The author kept me guessing right up until the very end, which I appreciate. However, as I mentioned at the beginning, there were several times I had to re-read a section to make sure I knew what had actually happened.

This occurred more in the second half of the book. Everyone starts pointing fingers at everyone else and lies pile on each other. There is just too much going on. I was being tossed around like a pinball machine.

There were also throw-away sections that led nowhere. And I’m still not sure about the resolution of a couple of things. It just seems as if the author had two books going, and they melded together.

Her First Child took a lot to get through – it’s a solid story that took a lot of effort to understand. Others may have a different experience. I still recommend the book.

And I remain a fan of Sheryl Browne. I’ll look forward to her next psych thriller.