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  • The Marsh King's Daughter

  • Written by: Karen Dionne
  • Narrated by: Emily Rankin
  • Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (31 ratings)

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The Marsh King's Daughter

Written by: Karen Dionne
Narrated by: Emily Rankin
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Publisher's Summary

Praised by Lee Child and Karin Slaughter, and sure to thrill fans of The Girl on the Train and The Widow, The Marsh King's Daughter is mesmerizing psychological suspense, the story of a woman who must risk everything to hunt down the dangerous man who shaped her past and threatens to steal her future: her father.

At last, Helena Pelletier has the life she deserves. A loving husband, two beautiful daughters, a business that fills her days. Then she catches an emergency news announcement and realizes she was a fool to think she could ever leave her worst days behind her.

Helena has a secret: she is the product of an abduction. Her mother was kidnapped as a teenager by her father and kept in a remote cabin in the marshlands of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. No electricity, no heat, no running water, not a single human beyond the three of them. Helena, born two years after the abduction, loved her home in nature - fishing, tracking, hunting. And despite her father's odd temperament and sometimes brutal behavior, she loved him, too...until she learned precisely how savage a person he could be.

More than 20 years later, she has buried her past so soundly that even her husband doesn't know the truth. But now her father has killed two guards, escaped from prison, and disappeared into the marshland he knows better than anyone else in the world. The police commence a manhunt, but Helena knows they don't stand a chance. Knows that only one person has the skills to find the survivalist the world calls the Marsh King - because only one person was ever trained by him: his daughter.

©2017 Karen Dionne (P)2017 Penguin Audio

What the critics say

"Narrator Emily Rankin's buttery voice smoothly delivers Dionne's psychological thriller.... The complicated tension between daughter and father, and wanting to know how she and her mother escaped the marsh years, keeps one listening." (AudioFile)

“Dionne’s breathtaking psychological thriller is a fairy tale writ large...the suspense in the plotting and the cold distance Helena’s voice projects [hold readers] entranced until the stunning climax.” (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

“Exceptional.... Helena’s conflicting emotions about her father and her own identity elevate this powerful story.” (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

What listeners say about The Marsh King's Daughter

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Keeps an interest

This kept my interest but the reader had to be played at 1.2 she draws out every word f-o-r-e-v-e-r

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intriguing and emotional

I quite enjoyed this novel. well written, and we'll performed. The story line flows well and the end is satisfying. #Audible1

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    3 out of 5 stars
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Not my cup of tea

This wasn’t my best audio book... mediocre. I found some of the story gross. The narrator was so-so

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Perfect For True Crime Lovers

A complex story about love, family, and the heavy cost it can bear, THE MARSH KING'S DAUGHTER is definitely a weighty book. It tells the story of a woman who was quite literally born in captivity to a man who, decades later, escapes from prison for revenge against her.

The premise hooked me immediately, but this is not a fast paced book. It's engaging and filled with dramatic, intense moments, but the majority of the plot centers around the main character as she continues to cope with the ramifications of her past and the role she played in her father's choices.

Helena is an interesting character. I'm not entirely sure if I would like her as a person, but I always understood her. Karen Dionne does an excellent job describing a situation that is far from black and white. While we all might have made different choices, it's impossible to deny that Helena was raised in isolation with a sociopathic father and terrified young mother.

There aren't many characters, so the author is able to explore each one fully and dive into a truly complex situation. I'm a fan of complicated family stories, and this gave me what I expected and more. While the pacing is slower than some other thrillers I've read, it's nonetheless compelling right until the very end.

A perfect book for anyone who enjoys true crime, THE MARSH KING'S DAUGHTER is a compelling book that is not to be missed!

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