The Undercurrent by Sarah Sawyer ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

  

An overwhelmed new mother becomes obsessed with the unsolved disappearance of a young girl from her small Texas hometown―and unearths her own family’s dark secret.

Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

October 2024; Zibby Books; 978-1958506448
audio, ebook, print (288 pages); mystery

The Undercurrent is a mystery novel that slowly untraveled the clues.  It was one of those books that I thought I had figured out until a few pages later when I realized how wrong I was.  I was very surprised at the ending.   The main theme of the book is mothering and how far mothers will go to protect their children.  It's told from two timelines and various points of view.

1987 in Austin Texas.  Twins Gus and Bree live with their mother who feels trapped in her life and doesn't really take care of her teenage twins.  Gus and Bree hang out with Gus's best friend Leo.  As time goes on, they push Bree out and the two boys spend a lot of time together.  Gus's mother Mary is a professor and unlike her neighbor, she worries about her son constantly.  When a young girl goes missing from an area where Gus and Leo hang out, it at first looks like one or both of the boys is responsible.  

2011 in Portland Maine.  Bree is a new mother and dealing with all of the emotions that come with having a new baby.  When Leo calls and asks to meet with her, she agrees hoping that he'll have news about her twin Gus who she hasn't heard from in years.  She also had a big crush on Leo when they were younger and even though she has a baby and a wonderful husband, she just has to see Leo again.  After seeing him, Bree decides that she has to solve the crime of the missing girl and goes back to Texas to try to solve the mystery.

This book was a real page-turner and I read it all at once because I just had to find out about the missing girl and who was responsible.  Even though it was a very intense mystery, the overall theme is about women and motherhood and protecting your own children even if you think they have done something wrong.

The Undercurrent is a debut novel by Sarah Sawyer.  I think she has a real future ahead writing mystery novels and I look forward to her next book.

Buy The Undercurrent at Amazon

Susan Roberts grew up in Michigan but loves the laid-back life at her home in the Piedmont area of North Carolina where she is three hours from the beach to the east and the mountains in the west.  She reads almost anything but her favorite genres are Southern Fiction and Historical Fiction.   

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