Is blood thicker than water? (Blood Ties - Sam Hayes)

Member Name: dippykitty

Product:	Blood Ties - Sam Hayes
Date:	13/02/09 (50 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Riveting read that I couldn't put down

Disadvantages: None

I don't normally read much other than chick-lit, but this book was given to me for my birthday last year. I'm not familiar with Sam Hayes, but after reading this book, I have resolved to see if she has written anything else.

The story follows Erin and Robert, along with their daughter Ruby. Robert is a successful solicitor and is very proud when Ruby is given a scholarship to a top school. Erin is far less pleased, and is determined to stop Ruby from taking the place. Robert is understandably puzzled as to why she would want to hold Ruby back, and begins to wonder whether there is more to Erin's behaviour than he originally thought.

The story also follows Cheryl, whose baby was snatched during a routine visit to the supermarket. For years, she has slowly gone out of her mind as she struggles to accept that her baby (Natasha) is not coming back.

At the same time, an unidentified woman narrates her story (pregnancy and abandoning a baby) in dribs and drabs, feeding us red herrings that constantly throw you off the scent of which (if either) of the women she might be.

The three stories are almost seamlessly blended together, despite being so different from one another. Obviously you sense from the fact that they are all contained in the same book that they must be connected together in some way, but the book is written in a way that makes this impossible to figure out until the very end. I thought that I had worked things out by the last few chapters but the twists at the end of the book completely threw me.

If you enjoy books that leave you guessing throughout, I would thoroughly recommend this. All the way through, I was constantly trying to be two steps ahead of the plot, but I was wrong in my suspicions! It is an engaging read that really draws you into the plights of the characters. I really felt for all of the characters in various ways, particularly when all was revealed.

Summary: Gripping page-turner that leaves you guessing until the end