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A review by jessicamap
The Marsh King's Daughter by Karen Dionne
5.0
Awhile ago I was approved for the sample of THE MARSH KING'S DAUGHTER by Karen Dionne, and I needed more! So I was very excited to be sent a copy from Putnam. The synopsis was enough to get my attention, but I was hooked after reading the first chapter (from the sample). 'I was born two years into my mother's captivity. She was three weeks shy of seventeen. If I had known then what I do now, things would have been a lot different. I wouldn't have adored my father.'
The story begins with a news bulletin - notorious child abductor, known as the Marsh King, has escaped from maximum security prison and was last seen disappearing into the marshlands of Michigan's upper peninsula.
Helena seems like your average mother and wife in her small town. Little does everyone know, she was in fact born in captivity, had zero contact with the outside world until she was the ripe age of 12, and that she grew up in the marshes and taught how to kill. No one in her life, not even her husband, knows that she's the Marsh King's daughter. Now that he's escaped, Helena knows that she and her children are his next targets. She knows all too well that the Marsh King can survive and hunt in the wilderness better than anyone else - but can he outlast his daughter?
Reading the intro, about how Helena's mother was taken by Jacob Holbrook (aka Marsh King) at the age of 14 out into the wilderness, and then only two short years later she gave birth to Helena, was crazy. When they finally escape, their story becomes an International sensation and Helena did everything she could to keep her real identity a secret so she could lead a normal life.
This was a fantastic domestic/abduction thriller. I binged on this one when I finally was able to get to it. I loved Karen Dionne's writing style and her character development and story telling were amazing. We go back and forth from present to past. As Helena uses her childhood learned skills to track her father we get some flashbacks. Overall, the suspense was great, characters were complex, and the story telling was phenomenal. I'd highly recommend this to anyone that loves a fast paced, abduction thriller!
I give this 5/5 stars!
Big thanks to Putnam for the copy in exchange for my honest review!
The story begins with a news bulletin - notorious child abductor, known as the Marsh King, has escaped from maximum security prison and was last seen disappearing into the marshlands of Michigan's upper peninsula.
Helena seems like your average mother and wife in her small town. Little does everyone know, she was in fact born in captivity, had zero contact with the outside world until she was the ripe age of 12, and that she grew up in the marshes and taught how to kill. No one in her life, not even her husband, knows that she's the Marsh King's daughter. Now that he's escaped, Helena knows that she and her children are his next targets. She knows all too well that the Marsh King can survive and hunt in the wilderness better than anyone else - but can he outlast his daughter?
Reading the intro, about how Helena's mother was taken by Jacob Holbrook (aka Marsh King) at the age of 14 out into the wilderness, and then only two short years later she gave birth to Helena, was crazy. When they finally escape, their story becomes an International sensation and Helena did everything she could to keep her real identity a secret so she could lead a normal life.
This was a fantastic domestic/abduction thriller. I binged on this one when I finally was able to get to it. I loved Karen Dionne's writing style and her character development and story telling were amazing. We go back and forth from present to past. As Helena uses her childhood learned skills to track her father we get some flashbacks. Overall, the suspense was great, characters were complex, and the story telling was phenomenal. I'd highly recommend this to anyone that loves a fast paced, abduction thriller!
I give this 5/5 stars!
Big thanks to Putnam for the copy in exchange for my honest review!