IF I HAD TWO LIVES by A.B. Whelan (Out Today!)

Publication Date: 11/14/2019

Rating: 4 / 5

I received a complimentary copy of IF I HAD TWO LIVES by A.B. Whelan from the author for an honest review.

IF I HAD TWO LIVES begins thirty-five years ago with a young woman in a vegetative state in a care home. In a place where the most vulnerable are meant to be cared for, the staff are shocked to learn that she has been sexually assaulted and is pregnant.

In the present day, Vicky Collins is a FBI agent with a new career on the rise, assigned to work in cybercrimes. At home she has a long term relationship with her successful real estate entrepreneur boyfriend in Southern California. All seems to be going her way until a routine background check pulls up some surprising information. In the middle of a new serial killer investigation, Vicky must also begin investigating her own family and the secrets her parents have kept hidden.

This is a book which was inspired by real life and the author warns it isn’t for the faint of heart. There are trigger warnings for child abuse and both sexual and physical violence.

I was drawn in very quickly by the opening sequence and heartbroken that such things can really happen to vulnerable people. I work for a non-profit agency that runs group homes, so I think that made it even more heartbreaking. With the jump forward in time I was kept hooked to the story trying to figure out how that initial story would come into play as the book progressed.

Vicky was in a tough position, learning to work with a new team and investigating horrific crimes and finding out that the people she loves most have been hiding secrets from her. While I had some suspicions of where the story would go from fairly early on in the book, I was only partially right and the intersections of Vicky’s personal and professional lives threw some twists into the story that I didn’t see coming.

Rather unintentionally I have found myself really enjoying books this year which examine how different choices result in different outcomes. This book fit right into that same theme in a lot of ways, though it took a look at that concept in a unique way.

This book wound up being a fun and quick read, perfect for curling up with a book and a blanket on a cool fall evening! IF I HAD TWO LIVES by A.B. Whelan is out today!!