Carly is currently reading The Brothers Kenney

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This pacey "Who's the Real Villain?" book kept me guessing from start to finish.

Character development was strong...........

Suspense levels and atmospheric tension were sky-high.

I could feel the chill in the air.

I listened to the audiobook, brilliantly narrated by Tamsin Kennard.

This was my first Martin Griffin book and I will be watching for this talented author's future releases."

"After reading and enjoying several books by this talented author, I certainly consider myself a fan. Even if I weren't one before, though, this one would pretty much seal the deal even though it didn't end the way I'd have preferred.

Sean Kenney's older brother, Michael ("Kick") died on his 39th birthday - according to the police, a suicide by gunshot. But Sean, once a hotshot track runner who's been estranged from his brother and largely with his ex-wife Meghan and their two daughters, doesn't buy it. Despite having a relatively solid reason for his disbelief, though, nobody else in the family including their sister Katie and Michael's widow, Jenny, will even entertain the notion that he could have been murdered.

Still, Sean persists; basically, the story follows his attempts to prove that he's right. Along the way, he rehooks up with old flame Rachel - who once was involved with Michael and is at least willing to discuss the possibility. She even offers the services of her firm's private investigator to give more legs to Sean's investigation - which includes family members (okay with me since I didn't find any of them to be someone I'd want to go have a beer with).

The devil is in the details, of course, and also of course, I'm not at liberty to explain them. All in all, the story was engrossing all the way to the end, and I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review it.
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"An astoundingly first chapter that leads right into an astounding book. Author Adam Mitzner pulls no punches; he gets right to it and sets up the uncertainty, confusion, mystery and suspense that will be with you until the equally astounding final chapter. Sean Kenney’s sister Katie travels to New Orleans to bring Sean home to East Carlisle, New Jersey, where their father has died of Alzheimer’s. But it’s a lie, as Sean quickly learns when his father shuffles into the dining room. It’s not a complete lie, though; someone has in fact died. Instead of their father, it’s their older brother Michael who has died. Michael, the big success to Sean’s big failure. Sean and Michael have been estranged for two years and Katie knew Sean would never come home if he knew it was Michael that died, especially once he found out that Michael committed suicide. Sean immediately rejects that idea. Why would Michael commit suicide? He had a great job, loving family, beautiful house, everything Sean lost when he could no longer be the track star he once was. If Michael is dead, it’s because someone killed him. Neither Katie nor anyone else will believe Sean is right. He ran away from East Carlisle, has alcohol issues, stability issues, what does he know. Well, what he knows is that Michael � Kick � called him the night he died and said he would see him again. And Kick never lied to Sean.

With that astounding start The Brothers Kenney envelops you in dark foreboding and keeps you off balance. For several chapters I kept hoping that Kick wasn’t really dead; if their father wasn’t maybe he wasn’t either. But he is dead, and everyone but Sean is ready to accept the verdict of suicide and move on.

No one is off limits for Sean’s suspect list. And author Mitzner makes Sean’s suspicions of each person just plausible enough for you to believe it might be so for a while. Michael’s widow Jenny doesn’t seem to be grieving too hard, and she’s awful friendly with Katie’s husband Ben. Is something going on there and Michael needed to be gotten out of the way? Kick told Sean he was in some kind of trouble and things seem a little fishy with Kick’s work colleagues. Bad business deals? Bad business associates? As Sean digs deeper everything and everyone seem shadier and somehow sinister.

As Sean is fumbling through his amateur investigation his personal life is bumping along. His ex-wife Meghan has remarried but she seems ready and willing for Sean to re-establish a relationship with his daughters if he’s sincere and will put in the work. Michael’s ex-girlfriend Rachel and Sean had a thing for a while after Rachel and Michael split up, and Rachel is suddenly back in Sean’s life and acting as if she wants to pick right up again. Sean is hopeful, more hopeful than he’s been in two years, but is it too good to be true? There’s something vague about Rachel, something that doesn’t quite ring true with her stories and the man Dolev she brings in to “help� Sean find the truth.

The Brothers Kenney speeds along, introducing people to wonder about and threads to pull to try and find out what happened, and dives into family relationships and history and wounds that maybe never heal, and distrust that pops up when you least expect it. The last 45 minutes of the book are almost unbearably suspenseful; you think you’ve found the answers � and peace � but you’re still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Thanks to Blackstone Publishing for providing an advance copy of The Brothers Kenney via NetGalley. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is well written, smoothly and believably plotted and completely engrossing. I recommend without hesitation that you read it, and that you read author Adam Mitzner’s backlist as well. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own.
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