Customer Reviews

Sisterwife

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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Kelsey Waite is a single mother doing the best she can and trying desperately to put the abuse she suffered at the hands of her parents and others behind her. She has promised herself as well as her young daughter Tia that she will be a better Mom than her Mom was to her. Thanks to Mrs. Rampton who watches her daughter after school and her Aunt who left her the beachside cottage in her will, as well as to her own inner strength, Kelsey is making it happen each and every day. That is until her daughter, in every parent's nightmare, is taken from school.

Kelsey awakens three days later to find herself in the middle of a living nightmare. The police are stumped, Mrs. Rampton has been brutally murdered and Tia is long gone. The woman who took her claimed to be Kelsey's sister. Much like not having a childhood, Kelsey never had a biological sister. But, she begins to wonder if it could be a "sister" in the form of address towards another woman as used in the Mormon church of her youth. Detective Quinn Anderson is assigned the case and there is something that leads Kelsey to trust him.

She confides her horrifically abusive past to him involving her parents and a fanatical cult offshoot of the Mormon Church. Pushed by his questions, Kelsey attempts to contact her estranged parents only to find out they have been banished from the Mormon Church and have left, in all likelihood joining the fanatical cult. With a cult bent on fulfilling what it sees as biblical prophecy involving the end of the world, Kelsey and Quinn unite in a mission to end the cycle of abuse by bringing Tia back home where she belongs.

Intense and riveting, this is a very suspenseful novel. Different aspects of the Mormon Church and other sub groups within the church are brought forward and explained to the average reader. This is done with style and even handed balance in regards to the Mormon Church and never in a lecturing or condescending tone.

At the same time, the characters are multifaceted and while the culprits are identified early, the complex motivations and the scope of the possible ramifications are not. The reader is left with an intense, entertaining and sometimes very disturbing story featuring characters pushed literally to the edge of madness and physical ability to survive as well as numerous questions regarding religious faith taken to the extreme. If recent real life examples are not enough, this intense fictional tale again explains the horrors of religion when pushed to fanatical extremes by cultists with a self appointed prophet in their midst.

Kelsey Waite (nee Sorenson) has been through a lot in her life. Years after running away from an abusive, fundamentalist father who sold her in marriage when she was only 16, Kelsey comes home one day to find that her daughter has been kidnapped and her neighbor murdered. To find her child, Kelsey must return to the place of her nightmares and confront a madman who believes he is God's prophet.
SisterWife (a term that refers to the way multiple wives in polygamous marriages refer to one another) catches your attention right away by starting off inside Kelsey's daughter Tia's mind. Collins switches easily between multiple points of view throughout the story, giving each character their own unique voice and a different perspective on the action.
Although the writing style sometimes threatens to slip into genre romance, Collins has done a beautiful job of portraying the relationship between Kelsey and Quinn. Never forced, the romance is sexy, yet believable and the characters' reactions honest.
In addition, Collins has created one of the most frightening madmen in fiction today, David Stone. The calculating, ruthless nature of his actions paint a portrait of a true sociopath that makes you shiver with the knowledge that he could be out there somewhere.
All in all, SisterWife is a book I would gladly recommend to my friends along with a mug of hot cocoa and several uninterrupted hours!

Kelsey Waite had run from her shameful life in Utah many years ago. Knowing that she would never outlive her past, she attempted to make a new life for herself in California. She soon had a daughter and was living the existence of a single mother. Just when she thought she might be able to succeed in giving Tia the childhood she never had, tragedy struck. Kelsey came home from work one day to find her neighbor murdered and her seven-year old daughter missing.

With the help of the handsome detective Quinn Anderson, Kelsey discovers that her Mormon parents were probably behind her child's kidnapping. Due to unacceptable behavior, they had been forced to leave their church and had joined a polygamous cult where her abusive father had become an important man. With the pain of what he had done to her for so many years weighing heavily upon her mind, Kelsey feared greatly for Tia's safety and well-being.....especially since she knew it wasn't her daughter they wanted.

Kelsey was the center of a prophecy, one that would bring Armageddon, and the cult leader wanted her back in Utah where she could fulfill her part. Quinn and Kelsey were going up against a group of doomsday fanatics who were fully prepared for a bloody showdown they claimed would be done in the name of God.

Natalie Collins seems to have an amazing grasp of the Mormon culture and through that breathes believable life into this suspenseful story. Frequent trips back in time flip-flop with present-day activities, but are italicized to prevent confusion. Sensitive readers will want to note that there is some colorful language sprinkled throughout the book. All in all, Sisterwife is definitely a page-turner, and with the aid of short chapters, it can be read practically in one sitting.

Look for Natalie Collins' other books "The Murdered Man" and "Outer Darkness

Throw everything you know about Christian values out the door, for a lunatic has twisted the good word, rewritten the book to pray on the innocent and fulfill false prophesey. Lindsey Waite has run from everything she knows and hates, and now she has to go back, at the cost of losing herself.

Collins has written a provocative story that grabs you from page one. This compelling read makes you re-evalute your own capacity to face desperate situations. The question is "Do you have the strength of Lindsey Waite?"

This is one of those rare books that you can't put down. Ms. Collins has delved into controversial territory and taken the reader along for an entertaining ride through the dark world of religious extremists. Her characters are as rich as the story itself. Kelsey Waite is a woman worth rooting for. Sisterwife is a must read for those who love a good "edge of your seat" thriller.

The moment I picked up "Sisterwife" I was hooked. I could smell the sagebrush in Utah and feel the fear of a cult member on the run. You'll be taken away by this book - a must buy!

Sisterwife tells the shocking story of how one fundamentalist Mormon cult terrorizes it own. Fast paced, lots of action, and great details woven through the plot. Collins has written a true expose that chills to the bone, and stays with the reader long after the book is read.

Awesome piece of writing.Well developed characters.Great plot.I found it very hard to put this book down.Natalie pulled me into the story completely.Having studied LDS culture and some of the fundamentalist groups it has spawned for the past decade,I would say she pretty much hit the nail on the head.If I have one criticism though,it would have to be that I could have done without the graphic sex scene.I don't think it added anything to the story.Be that as it may,the thrilling climax was not a letdown.This would make an excellent TV movie.Kudos to Ms.Collins

Wow. Chilling, thrilling and spine-tingling, Sisterwife grabs you by the lapels on page one and doesn't let go until the end. This is fast-paced in-your-face writing at its best. I couldn't put it down, not even to eat. Natalie R. Collins knows what she's doing and she does it with subtle artistry -- Kelsey Waite's plight is fascinating. More importantly, Kelsey is a living, breathing character who gets our sympathy and keeps it through some fairly grueling business.Highly recommended!!

Natalie Collins' book kept me captivated to the end with bizarre subplots and twists and turns at every corner.

I lived in Utah a couple of years, so was familiar with the topic of polygamy and folks going against the doctrine of the Mormon Church. That's why I read this book. Then when I got into it I couldn't believe how it kept my attention. I didn't want to put it down. The characters were all true-to-life and the action was fast from the start. Even a steamy romance mixed in.

If you like a good mystery and some good old-fashioned suspense, this is the book, folks. Very descriptive and believable.