THAT WHICH REMAINS

A surgeon attempts to avenge one lost sister while reuniting with another in Ossenelli’s suspense novel.

In the three weeks since his foster sister Tess went missing, surgeon and military-trained sharpshooter Evan Kaufman has been an emotional wreck. Ever since they were children, Evan has been Tess’ protector, especially after Tess’ twin sister disappeared after a house fire when they were children—an event for which Evan blames himself. Based on the panicked voicemail she left Evan, police think Tess might be the latest victim of a local serial killer, but Evan suspects that their abusive old foster father, who recently moved to the area, might be to blame. Frustrated by the police’s lack of progress, Even hires a private investigator to see what he can dig up. Then, two things happen that completely upend Evan’s world: The cops find Tess, dead, and the private investigator finds her twin sister, Penny, alive. Evan will do whatever he can to get his revenge on the man who killed Tess, and the opportunity to learn the culprit’s identity comes in the form of an unexpected offer from a shadowy criminal organization interested in trading information for Evan’s medical services. Meanwhile, Penny—or Laci Daniels, as she’s now known—has no memory of Evan or of the fire that led to their separation. When a serious health condition puts her under Evan’s care, he must decide if his quest for violent revenge is worth ruining the chance to have Penny back in his life. Ossenelli relates Evan’s story in direct, urgent prose: “I remembered that helpless feeling, as I flew to her room with the red lights flashing, the horror I felt watching her heart stop, the fear that consumed me as I fought to revive her lifeless body. Just thinking about it now made it difficult to breathe.” The author certainly takes big swings, but the plot is so contrived, and Evan is so unrelievedly melodramatic, that the reader struggles to make it through the novel’s 400-page length.

A soap-operatic thriller that strains credulity at every turn.