When She Returned

By: Lucinda Berry

Narrated by: Coleen Marlo, Lauren Ezzo, Amy McFadden

Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

One woman’s reappearance throws her family into turmoil, exposing dark secrets and the hidden, often devastating truth of family relationships.

Kate Bennett vanished from a parking lot eleven years ago, leaving behind her husband and young daughter. When she shows up at a Montana gas station, clutching an infant and screaming for help, investigators believe she may have been abducted by a cult.

Kate’s return flips her family’s world upside down—her husband is remarried, and her daughter barely remembers her. Kate herself doesn’t look or act like she did before.

While the family tries to help Kate reintegrate into society, they discover truths they’ve been hiding from each other about their own relationships. But they aren’t the only ones with secrets. As the family unravels what happened to Kate, a series of shocking revelations shows that Kate’s return is more sinister than any of them could have imagined.

©2019 Heather Berry (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Beware.... terrible ending.

If you are tired of listening to a good book only to be backhanded at the end... than bypass this book all together. I don’t know what happened with this author and the ending. I really liked this book and listened to it nonstop as I always do at work and then this floppy ending. Blah. Wish I hadn’t wasted my time.

A 5-Star Surprise!

Be prepared to be instantly hooked and very, very disturbed. TRUE CONFESSION: Once I started the book, I could not stop listening.

Let the record show that I have zero interest in cults and, quite frankly, this almost stopped me from requesting this title. The book's character development, plot, and narration were all over-the-top.....and after I finished the book, all I could say was WOW!

WARNING: Some of the content in the book was very disturbing but all of these details were necessary to make the book's compelling storyline work.

One of my favorite things about this book was how the story unfolded from three different voices: from the perspectives of the daughter, the first wife, and the second wife.

I have listened to soooo many duds lately and even though this book was disturbing, it was also a breath of fresh air.

I highly recommend this title.

Interesting & Compelling, but Fell Short

Kate’s Voice: I just can’t with that narrator. Cult plot: I can see how of much of this may be true to life, and how people are programmed and brainwashed. But there were so many loose ends. Why did they target her to begin with? That is never really answered. Why would she have believed they would contact her family once she was down in that cellar? Why would she have taken his word for it before she was truly “programmed”? Why would Scott not be concerned about who Kate was calling, and why would he have even considered letting Abby go with her? It’s just too over-the-top. I think there was a lot of potential here, but it was just very depressing and pretty unbelievable.

Big disappointment!

If this had been a lot shorter it would have been better but it got very boring and is certainly not a thriller. Also, I could not stand listening to Kate. I will never listen to a book narrated by her again.

oh come on Lucinda!!

Lycindas books are pretty good, Ive listened to a few. This one was getting pretty interesting and I was wondering what was going to happen neext.
And heres what did happen next:
The End

Say whhaattttt?!?

Five Star Psychological Thriller...

This is the second Lucinda Berry book on Audible. Her first is The Perfect Child which I thoroughly enjoyed. This too is a really good psychological thriller. Very different but just as good. Berry’s writing kept me interested and thinking about the story long after I finished the book.
The story is told from three points of view by the three main characters. A mother, daughter and stepmother each have a piece to contribute and do so through three excellent narrators.
But things are not as they first appear and it doesn’t take long before what you are lead to believe unravels.
I don’t want to add to the publisher’s summary and spoil anything. Instead I will comment on the writing style. This book is a roller coaster of emotions. I felt like I could empathize with the family of the missing woman. The longer she stays with the family you learn how she deceived them and that they had been missing and mourning someone that never was.
If you have kindle unlimited this book is FREE to borrow with the kindle edition.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
If you found this review helpful please indicate so.
Thank You.

Good but annoying

Cults make me uneasy so it’s not my favorite subject and I found the weak will of a few of the characters super annoying. As for the story it was very entertaining. I understand they had to be weak for the story to work, it’s just a pet peeve of mine.

This is an incredible story

I loved this book. The story line is different than what I generally read. I experienced this novel through the Kindle Unlimited Read and Listen option. I generally switch back and forth frequently but with this novel the audio narration was so good that the majority of it I listened to.The fact that there are multiple narrators is wonderful and engrossing. The characters are well developed and the story is suspenseful, intense, and full of emotional out pouring. There are twists and turn galore. I like the way it is written in different characters POV and in different timelines. It all flows so well. I will read more by Lucinda Berry.

I want my credit back...

Typically, I don't write reviews UNLESS the book is FANTASTIC or DREADFUL. This one was a mixture of the two. It was interesting for about 11 chapters, then it became a "... keep reading to see how it ends" kinda book. Not sure what happened to the writer towards the end of the book, but she must've had a family emergency or won a sweepstakes because the ending was: T.E.R.R.I.B.L.E. and painfully abrupt. I'm so disappointed that I wasted an entire weekend reading this attempt at "suspense". I could've had a V8, watched Netflix all day and eaten a tub of icecream with more zeal than her sad/uninspiring ending. Who were her editors? No one told her the ending was REALLY bad??? I took English 101 in college and even I could write a better ending with more dramatic closure for the characters AND the readers! Save your credit...the ending will just tick you off. You have been warned...

Voices don't sound real.

The story itself was well crafted. The voices at times were often way over played.

very good

really liked this book well written found it hard to put down. The characters were very good I would highly recommend this book

Slow but gripping

It felt like the story could have been half of what it was, but it kept me hooked all the way to the end. Narration was good except, when they narrated as the dad.

A Good Listen

I enjoyed this story and it was read well. The subject gave for interesting thinking. I immediately purchased another book by the writer and will keep a close eye for her books now.

Good listen

If you love her books give the audio versus a go. I'm totally addicted to this author so having the book on audio has sped my time up. Great story with canny readers

This was absolutely Brilliant! five stars all rou

This book caught my attention right from the start, it was brilliant, twists and turns, the narrator was fantastic. I enjoyed this book so much. I had 6 couldn't finnish books before this, so I was delighted to get a book that was as good as this to get me back into listening. I don't sleep well due to chronic pain so I rely on my books to amuse me during the pain and they distract me, and this book was WOW, I loved it, totally loved it, thank you Lucinda Berry for such an amazing story, you are a star and your book is 5 stars all the way x x x x x

Terrible story

Terrible story sped read it just to see what would happen although it was obvious way back .

I enjoyed it

4.25-4.5⭐️
Kate Bennett’s sudden reappearance after disappearing 11yrs ago throws her family into turmoil. As the family unravel what has happened to Kate, a series of shocking revelations shows her return is far more sinister than they could imagine.

The story flips between the now and then. We get various points of view from 3 narrators.

It doesn’t have the pace of the other books I’ve read, the narrators carried this one for me.

It’s a topic I haven’t read much on. I don’t want to discuss it because of spoilers. It’s got an underlying darkness.

I loved it. The storyline was more predictable than her other books, the characters felt believable and real, I’ve read criticism about the lack of pace, and it is one thing that usually bugs me, here I felt that the narrators carried it well. I’ve loved other books more, but the audiobook holds its head up well in the line up.

fast phased and intense!

i really enjoyed this one! it was fast phased and kept me at the edge of my seat most of the time. if you like domestic thrillers, which involve cults you'll surely enjoy this book!
The performance of all narrators was fantastic 👏

Sadly Predictable :(

A re-write of every cult story ever told , I can't even apologise for spoiler!

Unusual and gripping story

This story tells of Kate's return to her family after escaping from a violent cult. She has been through a terrible ordeal, yet is still in the clutches and thrall of the cult and its disturbed leader.

There are several narrators for the different characters.
Meredith's voice is irritatingly nasal, as if she has a blocked nose. Her American accent sounds quite distracting to my British ears. "Dress" and "chest" have become "drass" and "chast", "horror" is pronounced "whore"....
Abbie's voice always sounds wobbly and tearful, but the whole process is so upsetting that's quite believable.
The process of indoctrination into a cult, and how difficult it is to leave, is portrayed accurately and chillingly.