Review: House on Fire by Bonnie Kistler
House on Fire, the debut novel from former trial lawyer, Bonnie Kistler, is available today. For more information on the author and/or the book, visit her website here.
Continue reading on for the synopsis and my review of House on Fire.
P L O T :
In the bestselling tradition of Jodi Picoult and Celeste Ng, a tightly wound and suspenseful novel about a blended family in crisis after a drunk driving accident leaves the daughter of one parent dead—and the son of the other parent charged with manslaughter. Divorce lawyer Leigh Huyett knows all too well that most second marriages are doomed to fail. But five years in, she and Pete Conley have a perfectly blended family of her children and his. To celebrate their anniversary, they grab some precious moments of alone time and leave Pete’s son Kip, a high school senior, in charge of Leigh’s fourteen-year-old daughter Chrissy at their home. Driving back on a rainy Friday night, their cell phones start ringing. After a raucous party celebrating his college acceptance to Duke and his upcoming birthday, Kip was arrested for drunk driving after his truck crashed into a tree. And he wasn’t alone—Chrissy was with him. Twelve hours later, Chrissy is dead and Kip is charged with manslaughter. Kip has always been a notorious troublemaker, but he’s also a star student with a dazzling future ahead of him. At first, Leigh does her best to rally behind Pete and help Kip through his ordeal. Until he changes his story, and claims that he wasn’t driving after all—Chrissy was, and he swears there is a witness. Leigh is stunned that he would lie about such a thing, while Pete clutches onto the story as the last, best hope to save his son, throwing his energy and money into finding this elusive witness. As they hurtle toward Kip’s trial date, husband and wife are torn between loyalty to their children and to each other, while the mystery of what really happened that night intensifies. This richly conceived and tightly plotted psychological exploration of family and tragedy will have you racing toward its shocking and thought-provoking conclusion.
M Y T H O U G H T S :
In House on Fire, a once well blended family is torn apart by grief, lies, and the search for the truth. The characters were not entirely likable, but the dynamic between the blended family and the changes they experienced throughout the novel, were interesting. I became invested in the main storyline, but I found it disappointing when it continually veered of track, exploring far-fetched side stories that fell flat, causing me to skip pages of information I found to be unnecessary, therefore lessening my overall enjoyment of the book. After Kip and Chrissy are in an accident, Chrissy later dies from a resulting injury. What appeared to be the truth at the scene- Kip was driving under the influence and crashed the car- may not be what actually happened after all. Once the charges against Kip take a more serious turn from Baby DUI to Manslaughter, Kip knows that it’s time to tell the truth. Will he be believed? When Kip changes his story of events, people aren’t quick to believe him. The truth- as he tells it- is Chrissy was driving and crashed the car, and he took the blame to protect her. The only problem now? Chrissy is no longer able to corroborate his story, and the ‘witness’ he claims exists, is nowhere to be found. Kip’s always been a master at spinning a story, at stretching the truth, so it’s no surprise he’s seen as a “liar liar pants on fire” but… what if this time, he’s telling the truth? Bonnie Kistler’s novel is a domestic fiction with a bit of a legal thriller and family drama feel. The story was intriguing, but at times it felt disjointed. The main plot was getting lost beneath the over the top sub plots that were both distracting and convoluted. In the end, the complicated and improbable side plots negatively affected what could have been an altogether gripping story. Still, this was a debut, and I would give this author a try again should they release another title in the future.
**Complimentary copy for review provided by Simon & Schuster Canada and Netgalley. All opinions expressed here are honest and entirely my own.**
