Twisted River

January 25, 2016
In the arresting opening of Irish author MacDonald’s uneven first novel, New York City dentist Oscar Harvey closes the trunk of his rental car in Limerick, Ireland, on a woman’s corpse. A moment later, he’s joined by his nine-year-old son and his 12-year-old daughter, who asks, “Where’s Mom?” A couple of months earlier, the Harvey family entered into a home exchange program with Limerick college professor Kate O’Brien and her husband, Mannix. Kate and Mannix think a change of scene will be good for their bullied autistic son and their long-suffering daughter. Oscar’s teacher wife, Hazel, selected Limerick for the family trip because she grew up and there. Unfortunately, once the Harveys move into the O’Briens’ house, they attract the attention of Mannix’s money-obsessed brother, Spike, and his criminal associates. MacDonald struggles with the multiple points of view, occasionally omitting information unfairly to maintain suspense, but her solid prose suggests she can do better. Agent: Isobel Dixon, Blake Friedmann Literary Agency.

December 15, 2015
Two families trade homes for the vacation of a lifetime, but there's grim baggage to unpack in this tricky debut thriller. Kate and Mannix O'Brien jump at the chance to visit New York. Money woes have worn them thin, and their bullied autistic son is obsessed with King Kong, so the Empire State offers the antidote to daily life in Limerick. Even daughter Izzy should enjoy a bit of freedom from babysitting and being her brother's chief defender. Hazel, Oscar, and their kids swap their New York apartment for the fog and peat of Hazel's birthplace, but something's off between the couple; his temper is fearsome, and makeup isn't hiding her bruises. MacDonald toys with the reader, leading right then feinting left with plot twists that genuinely surprise. Infidelity, deception, revenge, and murder all come into play, but the big thrill here is the constant undermining of assumptions. Irish and American economic woes are the silent characters adding stress to already tense lives. Mannix's constant texting on the trip and Oscar's flaring anger only hint at the explosive turn things ultimately take. If the story is less character study and more driven by sleight of hand, it still packs quite a wallop. A vacation studded with dark revelations that readers will relish.

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Starred review from February 1, 2016

In MacDonald's debut thriller, two families in need of a vacation undertake a house swap. The O'Briens, who live in Limerick, Ireland, agree to exchange residences with the Harvey family, who inhabit a beautiful apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side. But what appears on the surface to be a simple holiday becomes something much darker and more damaging as each family's secrets are slowly revealed. Mannix O'Brien is hiding things from his wife, Kate, and their son is being bullied at school. Meanwhile, in the Harvey household, Hazel has mysterious injuries and her husband, Oscar, is having issues at his dental practice. The vacations--to Hazel's hometown in Ireland for the Harveys, and to New York for the O'Brien clan--are intended to give the families distance from their domestic problems. But when someone ends up dead, and long-buried truths are uncovered, both families face troubles beyond what they ever expected. MacDonald writes with the confidence of an experienced author and throws in enough twists and turns to keep readers guessing right up until the finale. VERDICT This thrilling tale about secrets that lie beneath a seemingly tranquil marriage will be a strong choice for readers who enjoyed Paula Hawkins's The Girl on the Train and authors such as Liane Moriarty (Big Little Lies).--Amy Hoseth, Colorado State Univ. Lib., Fort Collins

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2016
Two families with dreadful secrets, on opposite sides of the Atlantic, hope for beneficial effects from a vacation house swap. But the result, as shown in the opening pages, is deadly. Money problems pale for Kate O'Brien of Limerick, Ireland, next to concerns about Fergus, her eight-year-old son, who is being bullied because of his developmental disabilities. So she jumps at the chance for a swap of living quarters with the Harvey family in their Manhattan apartment, particularly since Fergus is enamored of King Kong and the Empire State Building. Meanwhile, Hazel Harvey, who's suffering increasing physical abuse from her husband, yearns for a change and a healing return to the land of her birth. Instead, a woman is murdered just days into the Harvey family stay at the O'Brien's house. MacDonald gradually reveals the secrets of the two families, each with a preteen daughter and younger son, as the identity of the killerseemingly so obviousis brought into question, and suspense builds toward a potentially lethal climax. A skillfully wrought thriller that exposes the dangers of secrecy.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)