‘The Wrong Family’ does it right with its plot twists
Tarryn Fisher’s new thriller piles on the suspense by playing on expectations.
Tarryn Fisher’s latest thriller, “The Wrong Family” (Graydon House, 336pp., ★★★g), is the perfect book for readers when one shocking plot twist is not nearly enough.
Retired therapist Juno, 67, just wants to live the remainder of her life in peace. Suffering constant pain and running from a past she would just as soon leave behind, Juno finds herself in the community of Greenlake, a desirable suburb of Seattle, living with the Crouch family. While it might not be exactly where she thought she would end up, Juno is determined to make the best of her situation.
Often while sitting in the park across from the Crouch home, Juno looks at the family through rose-colored glasses, seeing a perfect family living in a beautiful house in a tony neighborhood. It is not until Juno is actually in the house that she realizes all is not what it seems.
In Juno’s eye’s, Winnie Crouch is not so much a loving mother as an overbearing control freak. And Nigel, her husband of 15 years, is more an absent rather than doting husband. Only Samuel, their 13-year-old son, is spared Juno’s judgment. As far as she is concerned, he is a good kid living in a difficult situation.
It is not until one fateful night, while Winnie and Nigel are arguing, that Juno overhears a shocking secret. Juno decides she must act, no longer a background character but a force the Crouches must reckon with. But her reasons for getting involved might have more to do with her own secrets.
After all, Juno’s background as a therapist colors her view of the world.
Juno is blinded by her own assumptions both about herself and her assumptions about the Crouch family. But once Juno commits, none of their lives will ever be the same.
The author’s talent for creating a page-turning thriller lies not in just her writing choices, but specifically in what she chooses to omit. Fisher exploits our assumptions and uses them to tailor a novel whose twists and turns might be shocking but, in retrospect, are really not all that surprising. Why didn’t we see that coming? Not just from the breadcrumbs that Fisher leaves but the ones she chooses not to.
Fisher does not stop at one plot twist. Just as we get comfortable with the status quo, another twist is unleashed that we should have seen coming, but our presumptions got in the way.
So for readers looking for a thriller that will keep them on their toes, “The Wrong Family” is just the right read.