Strangers We Know

By: Elle Marr

Narrated by: Janet Song, Alexander Cendese, Lauren Ezzo

Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

The search for a serial killer leads a woman into the twisted tangle of her own family tree in a chilling novel by the #1 Amazon Charts bestselling author of The Missing Sister and Lies We Bury.

Adopted when she was only days old, Ivy Hon knows little about her lineage. But when she’s stricken with a mystery illness, the results of a genetic test to identify the cause attract the FBI. According to Ivy’s DNA, she’s related to the Full Moon Killer, who has terrorized the Pacific Northwest for decades. Ivy is the FBI’s hope to stop the enigmatic predator from killing again.

When an online search connects Ivy with her younger cousin, she heads to rural Rock Island, Washington, to meet the woman. Motivated by a secret desire to unmask a murderous relative, Ivy reaches out to what’s left of a family of strangers.

Discovering her mother’s tragic fate and her father’s disappearance is just the beginning. As Ivy ventures into a serial killer’s home territory, she realizes that she may be the next victim of poisonous blood ties.

©2022 Elle Marr. (P)2022 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Listeners hear Ivy's perspective of her experiences and that of her white mother's life back in the 1980s.… Listeners will get wrapped up by the narrators as the many layers of secrets within the family are revealed.”—Library Journal

“…the increasingly tense plot takes turns the reader won’t see coming. Marr is a writer to watch.”—Publishers Weekly

“Elle Marr is an author to know. Just when you think you understand the motives behind her characters and the way their story lines are being presented—bam!—Elle will hit you with twists you won’t see coming. Told from multiple points of view, Strangers We Know is about more than Ivy learning of her past and, shockingly, the serial killer within her family; it’s also about knowing who to trust and how to discern who’s telling the complete story. Because if everyone has secrets, are they truly family or only strangers? Read Strangers We Know to find out.”—Georgina Cross, bestselling author of The Stepdaughter

But why?

I understand her autonomy made the story but author gives no reason that Ivy avoids or seems to never even think to notify any authorities. That makes her seem stupid. Who does that? The story was diminished for me when I’m asking ‘why doesn’t she tell someone’ over and over again.

Brilliantly Wriiten!

Love it when a writer keeps you guessing until the very end. Such a great read! Couldn't stop listening. Finished it in two days.

gripping

keeps you wanting more, at times I couldn't stop listening it is really good

An interesting storyline but missing something

This book was average. Unfortunately I truly didn't like the narrator's voice or something for the main character, Ivy, so my enjoyment of the overall may be skewed. It was a unique story but it never sucked me in. Some aspects were predictable even where there were "twists" they were not a shocking surprise. You understood early on which characters had a role in the climax, even if you didn't exactly know the role until it was revealed. It was fine if you need something for a long ride but there are better.

Wait till the end

Well organized and written stories. I had a hard time to put it down and wanted to keep reading till to the end.

Couldn’t do it

The male narrator was unlistenable. I was drawn in during chapter 1 but couldn’t get past chapter 2.

Oh man, the twists!!!

Foster care that includes molestation, recipe for a sociopathic serial killer…I had a feeling about the killer but wasn’t expecting the twist! OH THE TWIST!! I knew there was something untoward about one of Ivy’s male relatives, but he did have a slightly redeeming quality at the very end. Looking back at the 70s, those are some crazy times and I’m glad I was an 80s baby…this crazy story reaffirms that!

All the ingredients to succeed

Strangers We Know by Elle Marr

This is my first approach to Marr’s writing and I do not care to admit that I found it magical. Wow! I do really love the way Marr writes!

The story narrates the life of a lonely young Asian American woman in search for her biological family after discovering she is sick.

This path will lead her to her mother’s hometown and her birth family, unraveling a series of events that will include a serial killer, unsolved murderers and a powerful sect.

Marr wraps everything up wonderfully and conveys infinite scenes full of love where there used to be a hole in the heart and void.

Marvelous! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Suspenseful but kind of slapstick at end

I really enjoyed this book, listening on Audible while cooking and doing chores. This is just the third book. I have listened to using Audible in the last month. I really enjoyed the narrators and the set up of the characters as they related to the story.
I was surprised at the end, though spoiler, alert !!!!….. alert!!!!



……………,,,,,,,,,,:::::::……………………….

It seemed a little hokey that her parents were together at the end. I wasn’t expecting it, but it just seemed a little too slapstick and hokey for my taste. Kind of like a proverbial “happy ending” that is really most unlikely these days.
And not at all realistic. But I suppose that’s what books do. They carry us other places.

I think she did a really good job with this book. There were a few things I didn’t like, the bracelet she found, and the gold tooth. Those were kind of weird and again didn’t add much to the story I mean who else is bracelet would that have been??
I hated the idea of the one family. We didn’t at all like what was going on, but that was based around the subject that pushed the storyline of Tatum’s supposed demise.
Overall, I would recommend it.
I could even see this made into a movie or series. Those are just my personal thoughts.

needs a different narrator

The story was ok. I would have gone through to the end but I was just done with the narrator