Item: Saint X
Rating: 4.00
Author: mollydawn0616

by Alexis Schaitkin

"Hypnotic, delivering acute social commentary on everything from class and race to familial bonds and community . . . I devoured Saint X in a day." - New York Times, Oyinkan Braithwaite (author of My Sister, The Serial Killer)

Claire is only seven years old when her college-age sister Alison vanishes from the luxury resort on the Caribbean island of Saint X on the last night of her family's vacation. Several days later Alison's body is found in a remote spot on a nearby cay, and two local men, employees at the resort, are arrested. But the evidence is slim, the timeline against it, and the men are soon released. It's national tabloid news, a lurid mystery that will go unsolved, but for Claire's family there is only the sad return home to broken lives.

Years later, riding in a New York City taxicab, Claire recognizes the name on the cabbie's licence, Clive Richardson - her driver is one of the men originally suspected of murdering her sister. The fateful encounter sets her on an obsessive pursuit of the truth, not only what happened on the night of Alison's death, but the no less elusive question of exactly who was this sister she was barely old enough to know: a beautiful, changeable, provocative girl of eighteen at a turbulent moment of identity formation. As Claire doggedly shadows Clive, hoping to gain his trust, waiting for the slip that will uncover the truth, an unlikely intimacy develops between them, two people whose lives were forever marked by a tragedy.

Alexis Schaitkin's Saint X is a flawlessly drawn and deeply moving story that hurtles to a devastating end.

Holy wow! I love an amazing, gripping, don’t-know-what-to-expect psychological thriller. Alexis Schaitkin’s debut novel Saint X is all of that and so much more! Her writing style is unique and I loved every second of this novel!

What would you do if you went on a seemingly harmless family vacation to an island, only to wake up one day and one of your family members is gone, and the people suspected of their disappearance are found innocent? That’s the premise behind this novel and each character is perfect for their roles, perfectly chiseled with flaws. The plot line is well developed and totally had me reading late into the night.

If you are looking for a novel that will twist you up as you follow the story, one that will leave you guessing at every turn, making you want more of fantastic stories like it, then look no further. It’s an author that I will be adding to my must reads list, and a debut book that I will be recommending to others with 4 stars and two thumbs! Well done!

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Publisher and was under no obligation to post a review, positive or negative.*

Saint X

by Alexis Schaitkin

Reviewed by Molly J(Cover To Cover Cafe) on Nov 16, 2019

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