The Scientist's Daughter is the sequel to The Patient From Silvertree, a YA realistic fiction book. This romantic thriller was sent to me by the author.
Lisa returns from college on break 4 years after The Patient from Silvertree took place, still attempting to cope with the ramifications of her traumatic experience from Graham and Sophie. Unfortunately for her and Josh's family, the past isn't behind them. Graham, Sophie, and their psychopathic boss reappear in Silvertree with a new agenda and new kidnapping and murder victims. More complicated is that Lisa's boyfriend has close family connections with them. When Lisa and everyone she loves is put in deadly danger again, she must find a way to overcome her fear and speak her truth in order to save them.
Dribus's depiction of Lisa's PTSD was extremely realistic, as was her reluctance to come forward. Victims of prior abuse or trauma are more susceptible to ending up in abusive relationships in the future, and the writing of David was also accurate. While Lisa's mental health and relationships were not the prime focus of The Scientist's Daughter, it is likely the most impactful on the reader and leaves a lasting impression and education on the impacts of trauma and PTSD.
Veronica behaved exactly as a sister should; she loved Lisa unconditionally and was incredibly patient. Veronica stood up for Lisa and took tremendous risks to keep her safe. She defined the hope and love in the tragic story. She was definitely my favorite character. In my review of the first book, I talked about Graham's moral compass. The book, as was the first, is divided in to alternating third-person perspectives of all the main characters. Graham's background story and motivation for his criminal actions are fascinating on a psychological level. Contrary to Sophie and the boss (who's name I won't reveal as that is part of the mystery), he is capable of emotion and love. His love for the boss is partially what drives his actions. While he is just as guilty as the others, in life or death final moments, his capacity for a bit of empathy makes the most game-changing impact.
I am not sure that tragic is the right word to describe The Scientist's Daughter, but describing this book is somewhat difficult due to all the unique aspects. Dribus combined inspirational realistic fiction with a thriller, a mystery, a romance, and even aspects of science fiction into just an action-packed 288 pages! It felt so much longer that that! I might have read some parts in the middle too quickly in anticipation to find out what happens in the end and who survived! (I did go back and read those parts again.)
I highly recommend this book and am very excited for the prequel, Help Me (https://www.mariandribus.com/), which takes place in 1972 and tells the origin story of fourteen-year-old Agnes' cancer and the relationship between Peterson and Richard. My review of the first book can be seen here.
Title: The Scientist's Daughter
Author: Marian Dribus
Publisher: Marian Dribus
Pages: 288
Series: Yes, Book 2 of 2
Rating: 5 Stars
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