Quality time with the family has never seemed as frightening as it does in this satisfying and highly unsettling suspense thriller from the author of The Trophy Wife. Sisters Catherine and Jennifer Pegan are heirs to a communications empire about to introduce its biggest project ever, a satellite system that promises to further inflate their already overstuffed bank accounts. Reticent techno-genius Jennifer is the brains of the operation, while glamorous Catherine uses marketing savvy and low-cut cocktail gowns to lure backers for the project. When handsome actor-cum-playboy Padraig O'Connell falls for Jennifer, the company's manager, Peter Barnes, is suspicious of Padraig's motives and becomes even more suspicious when someone makes attempts on both sisters' lives. Although the sisters are publicly the best of friends, a violent rivalry sizzles between them. The novel is punctuated by the murderous, sociopathic rants of one of the sisters, convinced that the other is trying to kill her and determined to pull the trigger first. Which sister is the psychopath, which the intended victim? Diamond keeps readers guessing until the very end, and her thrilling story is backed up by taut writing and snappy dialogue. Readers looking for a beach book this summer will be delighted by this bone-chilling saga—and may start looking at their own siblings a bit more warily. (Aug.)
