Until You're Mine by Samantha Hayes- A Book Review

You're alone. You're vulnerable. And you have something that someone else wants. At any cost.
Claudia Morgan-Brown finally has it all. Pregnant with a much-wanted first baby of her own, she has a happily established family of two small step-sons and a loving husband with a great career. But she is also committed to her full-time job as a social worker, and her husband travels often. So when Claudia hires Zoe to help her around the house in anticipation of the baby’s arrival, it seems like the answer to her prayers. But despite Zoe's glowing recommendations and instant rapport with the children, there's something about her that Claudia cannot trust.
Moreover, there has been a series of violent attacks on pregnant women in the area, and Claudia becomes acutely aware of her vulnerability. With her husband out of town for work and her family far away, who will be there to protect her? And why does she feel unsettled about Zoe? Realizing appearances can be deceiving even in her seemingly perfect world, Claudia digs deeper into Zoe’s blurry past and begins to wonder – how far would someone go to have a child of her own?
Riveting from its very first pages, Until You’re Mine is a multilayered masterwork of twisted, psychological suspense. Readers of Before I Go to Sleep and Turn of Mind will be enthralled by this multilayered novel, featuring a twisted plot that ends in a breathtaking and shocking finale.
My Review:
Until You're Mine: A Novel by Samantha Hayes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Until You're Mine by Samantha Hayes is a 2014 Broadway Books publication. I was provided a copy of this by the publisher and Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.
I am a huge fan of psychological thrillers because of the unusual twist and turns and and how tense the atmosphere is. This one had me on edge even more than usual due to the emotional subject matter.
Someone is trying to steal babies...before they are actually born- removing them from the womb of the mother, often taking the life of both. So, when the reader meets a young woman with twin step-sons and a baby girl on the way, who is advertising for a nanny.. well, you see where this is going.
For some reason I was just as drawn in by the secondary story involving the investigators on the case- a married couple- Lorraine and Adam. While at work the two never let on they are married, but the reader knows that something is not right in the relationship. It's not rocket science, but the rift between them has repercussions when their teenage daughter begins to act out.
It is very difficult to write reviews on a book that is so loaded with spoiler landmines. No one situation, no one relationship, is as it originally appeared to be. I will confess that as reader of many thrillers I had begun to piece a few things together but some of the inner thoughts of the characters kept me guessing and doubting my conclusions.
The author did a great job of planting well placed red herrings and leading us to conclude one thing while something altogether different was going on. Even if you do think you have some things figured out, there are some big reveals you will probably never see coming. The plot is very carefully and cleverly woven and for the most part it works. A few too many characters which combined with some truly puzzling conversations at times got a little too complicated making it hard for me to remain focused. I had to go back and re-read passages to be sure I had the characters names and positions correct.
In the end the conclusion is as chilling as I thought it would be.
It appears this book is the first novel in a planned series featuring Lorraine. I enjoyed this one enough to give the second book a try. Overall 4 stars
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