The Marsh King's Daughter

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This book was really refreshing for me. I read so many thrillers that it's tough at this point to find one that feels wholly new. The Marsh King's Daughter isn't trying to be "the next" anything — it's just entirely itself, and there's not one hysterical, unreliable protagonist in sight. I loved it.  Recommended By Emily F., Powells.com

Helena Pelletier spent her first 12 years in captivity, being trained in wilderness survival by her abductor father. She escaped, and he was jailed. Now he’s broken out and Helena is the only one who can track him down. Set in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, The Marsh King’s Daughter is a powerful, riveting read. Recommended By Mary Jo S., Powells.com

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 twenty 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.

"[A] nail-biter perfect for Room fans." Cosmopolitan

"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)

"Sensationally good psychological suspense — I loved this book." Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Jack Reacher series

"Brilliant….In its balance of emotional patience and chapter-by-chapter suspense, The Marsh King’s Daughter is about as good as a thriller can be." The New York Times Book Review

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 twenty 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.

Karen Dionne is the cofounder of the online writers community Backspace, the organizer of the Salt Cay Writers Retreat, and a member of the International Thriller Writers, where she served on the board of directors. She has been honored by the Michigan Humanities Council as a Humanities Scholar, and lives with her husband in Detroit’s northern suburbs.