The Stepfamily

Silicon Valley Series, Book 1

By: Bonnie Traymore

Narrated by: Meghan Kelly

Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

Laura's on the verge of living the life she's always wanted. At the age of twenty-seven, she put her career plans on hold, married handsome widower Peter Foster, settled down in his Silicon Valley home, and helped raise his two children.

Twelve years later, its her turn to shine. Her career is thriving, the kids are out of the house, Peter's company is on the verge of an FDA approval that could garner a windfall in stock gains for them, and she's training for the Kona Ironman. But when a series of freak accidents can no longer be chalked up to bad luck, it becomes clear that someone is out to get her. Is it someone from work, jealous of her promotion? Or is it perhaps someone more dangerous? Someone closer to home?

Laura has no enemies that she knows of, but she senses that husband Peter is keeping secrets. And when she starts digging into the family's past, a twisted and unsettling story starts to slowly reveal itself. But with the walls closing in on her, she needs to find out why someone would want to harm herand what really happened to his first wife. Before it's too late.

©2023 Bonnie Traymore (P)2024 Bonnie Traymore

Critic reviews

"Building on the success of tense mysteries like Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl (2012), author Bonnie Traymore has crafted a deliciously unsettling domestic thriller with her new novel The Stepfamily." - BookTrib

I did like the story line

It kept me interested but the narrators voice for Laura drove me nuts . I almost didn’t finish because of it . She sounded very whiny . I am sorry I hardly ever complain and I never not finish a book . Like I said though the story and how everything unfolded was good but that voice kinda ruined it for me .

Great book!

This book kept my interest the entire time. It had multiple twists that had me guessing of who was involved. I have to admit, I did suspect the husband, especially given the outcome of his 1st wife. The narrator did an amazing job. I love Meghan Kelly’s voice.

The StepFamily

The story is edge of your seat. And the beginning has you wondering if it’s just coincidence. Of course we know it’s not! I was a little let down with how easy the ending played out, but am definitely looking forward to the next book! Over all a good listen and the narration is spot on. She really nailed the characters.

All around OK book

The plot was ok, nothing too over the top or mind blowing but good enough to keep listening. I listened at 1.4x to ease up the robotic soft voice of the narrator. The versatility of the narrator for each character was good.

Great Fast Paced Thriller!

Laura has been with a wonderful man and stepfamily for awhile and has been very happy.  It’s 12 years later and she is still very happy with Peter and his kids are now out of the house and get along fine with Laura, but all sorts of freaky accidents are mow happening to Laura.  This is a great psychological thriller where you think you know who did it one minute and then it changes the next minute and then changes again!  I loved this story and look forward to the next book.  Meghan Kelly did a fantastic job with the narration and her voices for each character and their emotions made this book a great listen.

Can’t wait to read the next book!

This was the third or fourth book I’ve read of Traymore’s, and really enjoyed it. She has a way of constructing complex, layered female protagonists that make the lead character more relatable than most mystery books.

I was genuinely surprised by the outcome and the cliff-hanger at the end left me eager to read the next book in this series.

The story telling was great. It kept you listening. The story was very good and interesting.

I really liked the characters and the whole plot was gripping and kept you listening.

really good thriller that keeps you guessing

really liked how this got started right away & the plot moved super fast. enjoyed the family dynamics drama & all the different characters that could have been suspects. I enjoyed where this ended up & loved how it ended. really good thriller!

WOW!

What a wonderfully written story. It kept me guessing right up until the end. There were so many twists and turns I suspected everyone.
Meghan Kelly is a brilliant narrator. She puts every emotion into her words and I love that she can do the male voices along with the female voices.

My Thoughts on The Stepfamily

This was a new to me author that I decided to check out because I liked the synopsis and I love the narrator. But I’m glad that I did because this story was one that held my attention with no issue from start to finish and would certainly have me interested in checking out more from the author. The point of view was third person and yet at the same time seemed to focus a lot on Laura Foster who married into this family in which her husband’s previous wife died many years ago leaving him a widow with two young children whom she’s helped raise after coming into the picture years after the death. But suddenly weird and dangerous things are happening, and truths are coming to light, and it was one heck of a thrilling ride. I was impressed with the way it all came to light and the overall flow of the story was well done. When combined with the excellent narration I found this to be a really good listening experience.