The Stranger in the Mirror reads like it was written
by two different people. Oh, wait, it was…Liv Constantine, the pseudonym for a
sister writing team. The first half of the book had one steady tone throughout
but when the story picked up in the middle, the tone was completely different.
I admit being a bit lost with the timelines, and I hope it was just because I was
reading an uncorrected proof.
Amnesia produces an unreliable narrator, and this has been
done before. Then there is the diabolic doctor, also done before. Usually Liv
Constantine has fresh, dynamic plots and characters, but this volume does not
seem to measure up to their previous work.
The amnesiac Addison is engaged to be married but she
has no idea who she is or what her story is. Her about-to-be mother-in-law is
skeptical of Addison and plots to put off the marriage. Addison has been lucky
enough to be “adopted” by a caring truck driver and his nurse wife, who try to
nurture her for two years. Coincidentally, a wife and mother named Cassandra
has been missing from her home for two years. Clearly Addison is Cassandra but unwinding
the whole, messy plot will take some time.
The Last Mrs. Parrish and The Wife Stalker were both
deliciously wicked and clever, while their latest thriller is just lackluster.
Sorry, sisters.
Liv Constantine is the pseudonym of sisters Lynne and Valerie Constantine.
Some of their books are in development for both TV and film.
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