On A Quiet Street
Carla Kovach
359 pages
Bookouture
published January 15, 2024
About the book
Every family has its secrets. Some are more deadly than others…
I live on a quiet tree-lined street with my perfect husband Cain. But when 18-year-old Charlotte knocks on the front door, what she says has me questioning just how well I really know my husband.
‘I was adopted as a baby and I’m looking for my biological parents. I was told they live here.’
My heart races as I fear Cain has been keeping a huge secret from me. Does he have a child he never told me about? And has he been lying all these years?
I can’t trust anything Cain says. Desperate for answers, I agree to meet Charlotte in secret. But it’s Charlotte who is full of questions: about our lives, our relationship. It’s only when she lets slip the name of the road I used to live on, that I realise how much she knows about me, too…
Cold fear floods through my body. My husband may not have told the truth, but his lies are nothing compared to mine. If Charlotte knows my darkest secret, my whole life could fall apart. How far will I have to go to keep the truth hidden?
My Review
While I am a fan of the author’s Gina Harte Series, this is a stand alone and a good way to jump into reading something by her.
There were lies, secrets, misdirections and omissions galore. I didn’t connect or like the characters, but was interested in finding out what was up. Was Charlotte Leah’s daughter? What was up with Leah’s husband and the couple he was trying to woo? And her Mom? And her friend? There was so very much going on. I did for a minute get a little confused with the characters in the middle, but I think that is intentional in keeping me guessing who was in on which part of the story. There was hinting or foreshadowing of where some of the characters belonged.
The complex plot is staged in a unique way. First I read the story from Leah’s POV, we then also from Charlotte’s POV. It really filled in some of the details of their complicated relationship and history that second time around and wasn’t repetitive. I did have moment where I wanted to yell at both of them in their poor decisions, but I find I do that a lot in my reading lately.
And that last twist I had no inkling whatsoever. Kudos!
If you’re a fan of domestic thrillers full of family secrets and twists, you should pick this one up.
Author Bio
Carla started writing more seriously ten years ago after having flirted with musical theatre and occasional writing in her youth.
Since then she has written & produced several stage plays, has four self-published books, has acted in several independent films and is currently in the final stages of production of her feature horror film, Penny for the Guy.
She now writes full time as well as co-owning a film, photography & video production company located in the heart of Redditch town centre.
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