I realise I probably didn’t enjoy The Brothers by SD Hinton as much as others because of my disinterest in all-things-war-related.

As a result I skimmed sections that talked about Jake’s time in the military. Thankfully – though there’s a lot of reference to Jake’s deployments (his experiences and the result of his injuries) – it doesn’t have much to do with the unfolding plot here, other than to explain why Jake and Tom haven’t seen each other for some time.

The Brothers
by S.D. Hinton
Published by HarperCollins Publishers Australia
on 03/08/2022
Source: Harper Collins
Genres: Thriller / Suspense
ISBN: 1460762576
Pages: 400

Goodreads

When Special Forces veteran Jake Harlow returns to the hamlet of Lorne on the Victorian south-west coast for his younger brother Tom's funeral, he finds a sinister series of notes that suggest Tom's death was no accident.

With Tom's best friend Stocky, and ex-girlfriend Lucy, Jake starts to dig into secrets old and new. Who might be targeting the Harlow family, and why?

As they get closer to the truth, the danger becomes very real. But can Jake, burdened by scars both physical and mental, still protect anyone - including himself?

I liked Jake a lot and very much liked Tom’s bestie Stocky and ex-girlfriend Lucy. I probably would have liked to spend a little more time with Jake and Tom’s sister Ali as she seemed like a really well-rounded and engaging character and was a standout for me.

When Jake starts to receive threats he wonders if they’re something to do with his past or somehow related to Tom’s accident. Of course when he discovers Tom also received threatening notes it convinces him that – not only was Tom’s death NOT an accident – but that the death of their parents years before may have been the result of foul play

I liked Hinton’s examination of the brothers’ relationship (even in Tom’s absence) and the respective relationships they had with their parents. Jake’s able to reflect on his childhood and realise (now) all was not well in the seemingly happy household and better understand the nuances of his parents’ marriage.

Although I confess to skimming the parts of the story related to Jake’s time in the military I enjoyed the mystery on offer here and Hinton does a great job at teasing out past secrets and lies, making this another great debut by an Aussie author.

The Brothers by SD Hinton was published in Australia by Harper Collins and is now available.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review purposes.