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The Cahills #1

by Lisa Jackson, Mihai-Dan Pavelescu (Translator)

Totul a inceput intr-o noapte pe o portiune intunecata de autostrada din nordul Californiei. Orbiti de farurile din fata, soferii a doua vehicule parasesc soseaua, lasand in urma o femeie moarta si alta in coma. Cand supravietuitoarea se trezeste, memoria i-a pierit si fata i-a fost reconstruita chirurgical. Membrii familiei ii spun ca se numeste Marla Cahill… dar toti ii sunt necunoscuti.

Aflata in convalescenta in vila ei izolata din San Francisco, Marla asteapta ceva care sa-i declanseze revenirea memoriei, totusi are sentimentul profund ca ea nu este femeia despre care spune toata lumea. Ea mai stie, de asemenea, ca se afla in pericol. Si pe masura ce teama ii creste, un ucigas asteapta momentul perfect pentru a lovi – momentul in care Marla isi aminteste!

Fiori reci de oroare i se furisara incet in sus pe sira spinarii cand isi dadu seama ca nu-si putea aminti nici macar o singura clipa din anii ce insemnau viata ei. Era ca si cum ea n-ar fi existat niciodata.

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Romantic Suspense, Romance, Suspense, Fiction, Mystery Thriller

432 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2000

About the author

Lisa Jackson is the number-one New York Times bestselling author of over ninety-five novels, including the Rick Bentz and Reuben Montoya Series, the Pescoli and Alvarez Series, the Savannah series, and numerous stand alone novels. She also is the co-author of One Last Breath, Last Girl Standing, and the Colony Series, written with her sister and bestselling author Nancy Bush, as well as the collaborative novels Sinister and Ominous, written with Nancy Bush and Rosalind Noonan. There are over thirty million copies of her novels in print and her writing has been translated into twenty languages.

Before she became a nationally bestselling author, she was a mother struggling to keep food on the table by writing novels, hoping against hope that someone would pay her for them. Today, neck deep in murder, her books appear on The New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly national bestseller lists.

With dozens of bestsellers to her name, Lisa Jackson is a master of taking readers to the edge of sanity—and back—in novels that buzz with dangerous secrets and deadly passions. She continues to be fascinated by the minds and motives of both her killers and their pursuers—the personal, the professional, and the downright twisted. As she builds the puzzle of relationships, actions, clues, lies, and personal histories that haunt her protagonists, she must also confront the fear and terror faced by her victims and the harsh and enduring truth that, in the real world, terror and madness touch far too many lives and families.

Visit http://www.LisaJackson.com where you can find a Media Kit with photos and more information.

Reviews

[Dale Harcombe · Rating 1 out of 5]

One and a half stars.
How would you feel if you woke up after an accident that nearly took your life to find yourself stripped of memories? The premise of this novel is just that. When she wakes from a coma those around her, which apparently include her family stress she is Marla Cahill. But is she? The woman has doubts since she has no recollections of any of them. To her they are strangers. The first chapter I almost decided I wasn’t going to read this book as I didn’t like the tone or language of the person who had caused the accident. But then the premise of a person who could not even remember her family got me in, so I kept reading.
I liked the way the doubts inside her were explored and the hints given of memories that didn’t tally with what her family told her. But if she wasn’t Marla Cahill, who did not sound like she had been such a good person, then who was she?
There were a couple of inconsistencies that troubled me. One was when she opened the door to her daughter Cissy’s room. ‘It was empty, the lights turned out, tidier than she’d ever seen it.’ My immediate thought was, if she had no memory how could she remember it was tidier than usual?
The early part of the book intrigued me as it explored whether she was Marla or not. But the second half became farfetched and unenjoyable. It was filled with crude language, sex scenes I skimmed and the character of the woman who may or may not be Marla changed dramatically. I really only kept reading to see how it ended. This is my second book by this author and the same problems from the first read were evident here. While it is apparent from the number of books she has published that others like them, I have decided this author is not for me. I was sorry in the end I had wasted my time finishing it and should have stuck with my initial reaction.

[Sharon Orlopp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Action packed thriller! Wealthy Marla Cahill is in a coma in the hospital after a serious car crash that claimed the life of her friend, Pam. When Marla awakens from the coma, she has amnesia.

Marla can’t remember any of her family members and sometimes she wonders if she’s really Marla.

Great book with many twists!

[J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This must be one of those "gender line" things, like Harlequin Romance novels, and Lifetime Network original movies that only a woman could like. That is the only way I can come up with that this book has such a high rating. If you took one of those "Lifetime Original Movies" and attempted to turn it into a novel... it would look something like this.

Soft porn like the "harlequin" made some parts of the story too long, too drawn out and had absolutely no effect on the actual story... at all. None. Completely and utterly pointless. I am not a prude, and the language and scenes did not "bother" me as it would some people. It just needs to have a reason to exist in the story, but these didn't. And yet other more critical parts, including the whole ending were so short and stunted they appear to have just been tacked on to finish the book.

Red Herrings were so poorly done that there was little guessing involved. If you couldn't figure this out by the time you were half way through, you weren't really paying attention. This certainly didn't live up to its billing as a "mystery" at all.

Overall, it was an unsatisfying book, and while I see some potential, I will think twice about reading Lisa Jackson again.

[Karla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story & audio 3.75 stars**
Narrator Christine Williams

[Pearl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am only giving this 2 stars because to me it was the longest out drawn book with several characters back and forth about the same thing. She repeats herself so much I was questioning myself as to whether I had read it twice or not. The storyline and plot are excellent and would have made for a great read had she not provided so many unnecessary details. We are at the end of this and she brings back Kylie's childhood experience with a boy at school when she is 8 or 9 only to not relate the experience with the present. I just felt like she wasted a lot of pages on nothing. As for the romance— if that's her idea of romance she really need to read some real romance novels and start over. Only one scene and it wasn't that great. Don't know if I want to read anything else by this author. Maybe we will see.

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

if I had only known

I was disappointed with this book..took too long to develop..I ended up skimming through a lot if it and managed to finish.. But it really wasn't worth my time.

[Maureen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very disappointed. Cliché plot. Inconsistent character behavior (a huge pet peeve). Constant internal back and forth dialogue. Needlessly wordy. 368 pages and I hated it by page 101. Why do I torture myself like that? Its sad, too, bc this author has a lot of books in a genre I really like. Sigh.

[Suzanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book would have benefited from having at least 100 pages chopped out.

[Cheri · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read mixed reviews on this book but I liked it. Twists and turns trying to figure out who is who. I plan on reading the next one Almost Dead.

[Ginger Vampyre · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was not thrilled by this book. The plot is dry and predictable, the action slow, and the characters are incredibly one dimensional. The story starts with a woman walking up in a hospital with no knowledge of who she is or how she got there. She learns that her name is Marla Cahill, married, mother of two, and survivor of a horrible car accident. Her husband takes her home, a mansion upon a hill in San Francisco where generations of rich Cahill, her husband's family, have grown up. From the moment she arrives she feels out of place. As Marla struggles to regain her memory and find out who she is, the dirty secrets of the family start presenting themselves. Blah blah blah. Not my taste and even the sexual tension between Marla and the brother-in-law Nick couldn't save it for me. However, if you like a nice, normal, romantic-mystery, it's not a bad read.

[Carol · Rating 1 out of 5]

Marla wakes up in a hospital, unable to remember anything or anyone. You know “Marla” isn’t going to actually be Marla because then there wouldn’t be a book. She doesn’t remember her husband and kids but she feels an attraction to her brother in law, Nick. Marla and a woman named Pam were in a wreck, which is why she’s in the hospital. We also know someone caused the accident on purpose. The day of the wreck was the day Marla got out of the hospital from giving birth. But she can’t remember if she actually gave birth or not. Which, I’m pretty sure she’d be able to tell.

SPOILER: “Marla” is really her half sister, Kiley. Their rich but crazy father was leaving his money to his male heir, but he didn’t have one, and Marla couldn’t have kids, so she and her husband Alex propositioned Kiley, who was never accepted as being part of the family and never had money. But then Kiley didn’t want to give away her baby and told Alex and Marla she wasn’t going to go through with the plan and I don’t know, somehow she has the baby and the day she got out of the hospital she was with Pam who was a lawyer that specialized in child custody cases and Marla’s cousin Monty jumped out in front of the car so they’d wreck and at one point Marla was sleeping with her cousin Monty, which she admits in front of Alex and really there was NO reason to have her ever sleep with her cousin so I’m not sure why that was added to the plot other than fo an Ew factor. And when Kiley woke up and had amnesia they were like, score! We’ll just tell her she is Marla! And they had the doctor in on the whole thing.

BUT, once they found out Kiley lived, they didn’t know she was going to wake up with no memory, so why did they set everything up with the doctor to have all the nurses and all the hospital papers and everything have Marla’s name? Because wouldn’t Kiley wake up and just say, hey, I’m not Marla, and Marla and Alex want to take my baby? And then the doctor and Marla and Alex would be in trouble for falsifying all the records to have Marla’s name?

And WHY and HOW did Kiley/“Marla” never think “Hmm, I was discharged from the hospital and this woman I barely know is the one who picked me up while my husband was already home with my newborn son. Why didn’t my husband pick me up? And why didn’t I have my son with me?”

Also, there’s a red herring that’s thrown in about Pam’s daughter that was completely unnecessary and confusing.
And of course Kiley and Nick fall in looooooove and have sexxxxxx even though she’s totally postpartum AND has just had reconstructive surgery, but she’s good to go. Her body heals remarkably fast. Which, now that I think about to, might be she wasn’t sure whether she’d just had a baby or not.

[Karen C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't like the book very much. Not my cup of tea. I find American women authors are predictable (except for Karin Slaughter and Laura Lippman). I wouldn't have bothered pursuing the book but wanted to see how she wrapped it up. Too much sex (predictable) which I find unnecessary. I like the British authors and most recently I've been reading Swedish and Norwegian, as well as Scottish and Irish authors. I prefer those; however, to each his own. Just not for me and I wouldn't read another one of her books.

[Mina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found myself without my Kindle or phone at the car service center so I walked to the nearest drugstore and purchased a book to read. Three hours later I realized I had chosen poorly. This read like a Harlequin Romance meets bad Lifetime Television. I finished it though - because I can't not. Poor character development and lots of unnecessary dialogue back and forth.

[Suze · Rating 3 out of 5]

IF SHE ONLY KNEW

This is a very strange story, a bit on the unbelievable side. There was a lot of suspense, but very little romance. I thought the book could have been a lot shorter, the last couple of chapters were pretty good.

[Beanse · Rating 1 out of 5]

Meh..... not the best Lisa Jackson book I have ever read. A reads a bit like a bad Lifetime movie.

[lolsuzie21 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25⭐
Kurcze po przeczytaniu opisu spodziewałam się czegoś lepszego. Dla mnie książka miała za dużo zbędnych opisów i się ciągneła. Mimo wszystko fabuła mi się podobała ale nie wiem co sądze o zakończeniu. Ale + za wątek romantyczny

[Tatiyana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a, could not put down & of course PAGE TURNER! It keep me thinking and on my toes of what could of happened to Marla. It gave me dark/eerie vibes & can we just talk about Nick ugh I got the hots for him. TY, to my friend Johanna for the rec! 4.5 ⭐️

[Abby Hicks · Rating 2 out of 5]

I honestly don't understand why this book has such good reviews. For me, it became a chore to read. I paid for it so I wanted to finish it, but man oh man I had to force myself. I think the biggest issue was that it was so descriptive, often describing the same things multiple times for no reason (we get it, Nick's lips were really thin and the mother's hair was apricot). There could have easily been at least a hundred pages less to this if the excess descriptions were cut out and then maybe I would have enjoyed it more. Even though the twist at the ending was something I didn't guess, by the time I got to it I was so tired I just wanted to get it over with. 400 pages was just too much for how little progression we got every 100 pages.
Also, and this is just me, but I thought it was SO weird how often the author used the word "helluva". I mean...no one uses that word. Only for chip dip! This author had like every character say it and it was used in the narrations. I'M SORRY WHO SAYS HELLUVA?

[Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read many Lisa Jackson novels. All summertime reads with some creative writing and all page turners with some plot twists. It's amazing that her books can rate from 2 to 4 stars on a consistent basis. She is not a formulaic writer like Patterson, Sandford, Child, etc... Her books and characters follow no formula. The problem with this book, while a fast read and mildly entertaining, the characters are just not endearing in any way. The whole love story had no reason to be written at all. Reads more like a harlequin romance which I abhor. Lisa Jackson has some great reads, her first novel was amazing. This novel is just a chore, only reason I finished is I skimmed some and finished in 3 hours by the pool sipping lemonade...
Respectfully, Thomas

[Stacie (Shy Book Nerd) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was pretty trippy. Lots of family politics going on that made the book quite boring at times. That's why my rating is in the middle. Aside from that, I liked Marla as the MC. She struggled to figure out who she was but never gave up, and that ending was mind boggling. I really had no clue who the mastermind was. All I'll say is that they are one demented family lol.

[Caro · Rating 1 out of 5]

What boring book with the most uncrearive writing style. Didn't even bother finishing this book. I read 100 pages, nothing had really happened storywise, I didn't click with any of the characters. Won't touch any other Lisa Jackson book after this disaster, that's for sure.

[Karen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not really my type of book. The mystery was pretty good but I don't need the long-drawn-out descriptive sex scenes.

[Ilona * ksiazka_w_kwiatach * · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lisa Jackson to jedna z nielicznych zagranicznych autorek thrillerów psychologicznych, po której powieści sięgam z przyjemnością. Autorka niejednokrotnie udowodniła, że ma talent do pisania thrillerów trzymających w napięciu, pełnych intryg i mrocznych tajemnic.

W północnej Kalifornii dochodzi do wypadku samochodowego, w wyniku którego ginie jedna z kobiet, a druga zapada w śpiączkę. Kiedy przebywająca w szpitalu kobieta odzyskuje przytomność, okazuje się, że straciła pamięć, a jej twarz została zrekonstruowana. Bliscy zapewniają ją, że nazywa się Maria Cahill, jednak kobieta czuje się wśród nich obco i ma wrażenie, że tak naprawdę nie zna nikogo. Dochodząc do siebie w odizolowanej rezydencji, Marla czeka na moment, który sprawi, że coś sobie przypomni, jednak jedynym, czego jest pewna, to to, że nie jest osobą, za którą wszyscy ją uważają. Kobieta stara się robić wszystko, by odzyskać pamięć, gdyż ma nieodparte wrażenie, że czyha na nią niebezpieczeństwo.

Biorąc do ręki książkę Lisy Jackson, wiem, że czas, jaki spędzę na lekturze, nie będzie stracony. Tak też było i tym razem. Historia, którą stworzyła Jackcon wciągnęła mnie od pierwszych stron, a liczne tajemnice i sekrety tylko potęgowały moją ciekawość i chęć odkrycia prawdy. Autorka zręcznie manipuluje czytelnikiem, wodzi nas za nos, podrzuca różne tropy, odkrywając przy tym kolejne sekrety, co sprawia, że lista pytań, na które chcemy poznać odpowiedź, rośnie w zastraszającym tempie.
„Gdyby tylko wiedziała” to dość dynamiczny i pełen zaskakujących zwrotów akcji thriller, który trzymał mnie w nieustającym napięciu. Jackson miała świetny pomysł na fabułę i myślę, że w pełni to wykorzystała. Stworzyła historię pełną intryg, manipulacji i kłamstw, wykreowała ciekawych bohaterów. Styl, jakim posługuje się Jackson, jest lekki i przyjemny, co sprawia, że pomimo trudnej tematyki, książkę czyta się błyskawicznie. Tym razem autorka dużą część historii poświęciła amnezji, ukazując nam osobę zagubioną i zmagająca się z utratą pamięci.
Kolejny raz jestem usatysfakcjonowana powieścią Lisy Jackson i Was również zachęcam do lektury.

[Donna Mallery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lisa Jackson is an excellent writer. Better than most I read. There is a solid mystery to this story with a few good twists. There’s also a bit of romance (graphic sex) if you are in to that sort of thing. I don’t look for romance, but it was nice in this book. Her descriptions of events, settings and characters are phenomenal which really adds to the quality of this novel.

[_ lvanilia_ · Rating 5 out of 5]

a whole roller-coaster 🧎🏼‍♀️🧎🏼‍♀️

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was recommended to me as a good mystery/thriller. Although there was a mystery involved, I feel they should have warned readers that this is more of a romance novel and not a good one at that. The first clue to that came when it seemed the author had a need to mention "engorged" organs every 40 pages or so. It was hard for me to believe that a woman who had just had a baby and been through a horrific accident and was dealing with an enormous amout of pain, not to mention having her mouth wired shut, would be feeling amorous, let alone wanting to rip the shirt off of a total stranger. I understand the popularity of these books. I just didn't realize that is what was being recommended to me as I personally do not care for them.

[Carol Werner Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC of “If She Only Knew” by: Lisa Jackson for my honest review. This is the first book I’ve read by this author. My rating is FIVE STARS!

I had no idea when I started this book there is a second book, “Almost Dead” and a third book to be released July, 2020, “You Betrayed Me”. I’m looking forward to reading both of these books about a wealthy family, The Cahills in San Francisco.

The characters are very believable. I wasn’t sure who I could trust from the first chapter until the final chapter!

I definitely recommend this Book!

[Kimberly Mintz · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's like reading a soap opera, where somebody's been murdered and you know the twist ties back into the family somehow. I gave it a 2 instead of a 1, only because I give a 1 to books I choose not to finish. It was a gift given to me at Christmas. Not interested in reading anymore of her books.

[KellyAnn Sutton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read!

This book was a page turner. I had no idea where the plot was taking me. It had an unsuspecting ending.

[Elaine Reads AllDay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lisa Jackson never disappoints!!