Emotionally charged and sharply written with suspenseful twists and turns, Christina McDonald’s debut THE NIGHT OLIVIA FELL is a winner out-of-the-gate! A complex, heart-wrenching tale, resonates Jodi Picoult, Diane Chamberlain, Karen White, Heather Gudenkauf, and Sally Hepworth caliber, with a story-line that could be ripped from today's headlines. Dark family secrets are unraveled!This intense domestic suspense will grab you by the heart from the first page to the last. Prime for book-to-movie adaptation (we can only hope) while we anxiously await the next book from this newfound talented author."How far will a mother go to find the truth and justice for her daughter?" They said it was an accident. Her mother knows they’re lying. But the truth comes with a price…Set in the fictional town of Portage Point, Washington, we meet Abi Knight— a single mom who works hard and guards her daughter like a mother hen. Possessive at times, she wants to keep her teenage daughter, Olivia safe and offer her the best.She and her daughter are incredibly close. However, what lies stand between mother and daughter recently? Each seems to be hiding their own family secrets. When Abi receives the phone call (every parent dreads), that her teenage daughter Olivia has been injured, she is scared and upset. There has been an accident. A suspicious fall from a bridge. Furthermore, Olivia is now brain dead and must remain on life support, because her daughter is pregnant. She has suffered permanent and irreversible brain damage.Pregnant? How could this be? How could a mother with a close relationship with her daughter not know she was pregnant. She would be a grandmother. Who is the father? With all the shock of Olivia’s fall from a bridge, she also discovers this may not have been an accident. There will be a police investigation. Due to the bruises on her wrists, it appears there was a struggle. Could someone intentionally pushed her to her death? What was the motive? Is there something more sinister at play? She was found at the bottom of an embankment near the ZigZag Bridge. Who would want to do her daughter harm?The author slowly unravels the past of Abi and why she is so protective. We also hear from Olivia and the events leading up to the fall.Abi: “The thought came fast, an ugly surprise. I set my teeth against it. I’d worried for so long that all the lies I kept hidden on the dark side of my heart would one day be washed into the open. These lies, my past, kept me always on guard.”Olivia had always been a natural child sunny and sweet, an easy teenager. She was not a partyer. She was a straight-A student. However, lately the events leading up to the accident, thinking back, she had seemed distracted, temperamental, and irritable.Olivia: “A dark horror slid into my heart. I’d always trusted my mom. Trusted everything she said, obeyed everything she told me to do. I’d never thought twice about questioning her. But now I felt that trust disappearing like evaporating mist. If she could lie to me about something fundamental as this, what else had she kept from me?"Abi knew Olivia had questions about her real father. However, it was too risky to come clean with this information. Little does Abi know, Olivia has discovered things on her own about her father. Things which could prove very dangerous.Abi searches desperately for clues. Could it be the father of the baby or someone from Abi’s past who has harmed her daughter? Did Olivia know too much? Who wants to guard their secret? The silver charm bracelet Olivia always wore was gone. In its place was a string of black and purple bruises.Written with compassion and lyrical prose, an acutely observed family drama of the devastating lies, secrets, and truths of a mother and daughter relationship—combined with bone-chilling mystery and suspense. A heart-rendering and compelling tale of motherhood and loss, of grief and hope, and resilience. I loved this book!I enjoyed the balance between mystery and heart. Emotional and moving. In today’s world, with all the violence and unrest, it is nice to add a bit of heart and soul which keeps readers coming back for more. The best-laid plans and the extreme risks people take to save those they genuinely care about may not always prove to be the best.For fans of Lisa Jewell, Heather Gudenkauf, Sally Hepworth, Karen White, Jodi Picoult, and Diane Chamberlain (some of my favorites)! Highly recommend. My Top Books of 2019 list and Feb Top Books List.—JDCMustReadBooks