The Thinnest Air by Minka Kent

"A woman's disappearance exposes a life of secrets in a twisting novel of psychological suspense from the author of The Memory Watcher. Meredith Price is the luckiest woman alive. Her husband, Andrew, is a charming and successful financial broker. She has two lovely stepchildren and is living in affluence in a mountain resort town. After three years of marriage, Meredith's life has become predictable. Until the day she disappears. Her car has been discovered in a grocery store parking lot--purse and phone undisturbed on the passenger seat, keys in the ignition, no sign of struggle, and no evidence of foul play. It's as if she vanished into thin air. It's not like Meredith to simply abandon her loved ones. And no one in this town would have reason to harm her. When her desperate sister, Greer, arrives, she must face a disturbing question: What if no one really knows Meredith at all? For Greer, finding her sister isn't going to be easy...because where she's looking is going to get very, very dark."--Amazon.

This one has too many internal monologues that I did not enjoy. Women making stupid decisions and talking us through their not good thought processes. Needed to redline edit those parts. Plus the ending romanticizes red flag bad behavior. Not good. Solid premise but the story didn't have enough layers for me.

Lately, I've been reading a lot of fiction featuring female protagonists. And I was delighted to learn that The Thinnest Air by Minka Kent has two. Meredith and Greer couldn't be more different. The former is beautiful and, to be truthful, a little ditzy. She's not sure what she wants to do in life and, by some stroke of cosmic luck, has managed to marry a wealthy investment banker. Greer, on the other hand, is practical and focused—even hard. She's looked after her sister since they were little and apparently has zero sense of humor, not to mention a talent for winding people up. Each, however, is strong in her way.

The book is organized into chapters that alternate between Meredith and Greer, which I found to be compelling as a storytelling device. By the midpoint, I actually found myself preferring Greer's story to Meredith's. Maybe it's because the older sister is a no-nonsense kind of gal. Overall, this novel works as a fun, taut thriller. But I have to say I was somewhat disappointed in the ending, which I won't reveal here. Suffice it to say that the author set up a path that needed to lead to its logical conclusion but retreated at the end. Nevertheless, fans of the genre will find the story entertaining and the characters appealing.