The Perfect Fraud by Ellen Lacorte

Disturbing yet...I could not put this down! I flew through this book and I must say it certainly stirred up a wide array of emotions in me.

Rena spends most of her days desperately searching for ways to help her chronically ill daughter Stephanie. It doesn't matter how many specialists or how many tests she has run she just can't  seem to get answers. Her desperation is apparent as she takes to social media, blogging, searching for answers. A mother just wanting to "fix" her daughter and have her live a normal life.

Wow this book managed to evoke some pretty powerful emotions in me. I found myself getting down right angry with Rena. As a nurse I found myself offended as Rena belittled the doctors and nurses trying to help her daughter. She thought of herself as a medical professional as she had learned a great deal from google, chat boards and her stint in nursing school (which she did not graduate from). Then I had to laugh as I realized how good the author was at getting me drawn into this book. So much so I was literally furious with a character! That is exactly what an author should be able to do. I was so wrapped up in Rena's life and I didn't even realize it.


Enter Claire and Cal the young couple making a life together. Claire comes from a long line of psychics and she has chosen to carry on with the tradition. Except Claire has a secret that only Cal knows. A secret she has hidden for so many years. After the death of her father, Claire begins experiencing some extreme thoughts that makes her question her secret.  Perhaps she was wrong all these years? I was not sure how the two stories were going to intersect but they did in fact wrap up together nicely.

I admit some parts were a bit predictable and yet that did not matter in the least bit to me. It was not an edge of your seat thriller, it was however a  disturbing work of fiction that had me turning the pages as fast as I could. I was very intrigued with the book especially the story of Rena and Stephanie. A fantastic debut by Ellen Lacorte whom I would definitely like to see more from.

Thank you so much to Harper Collins for sending me this gorgeous finished book!