Tear ME Apart by J.T. Ellison

Synopsis via jtellison.com:

The follow-up to her critically acclaimed Lie to Me, J.T. Ellison’s TEAR ME APART is the powerful story of a mother willing to do anything to protect her daughter even as their carefully constructed world unravels around them.

One moment will change their lives forever…

Competitive skier Mindy Wright is a superstar in the making until a spectacular downhill crash threatens not just her racing career but her life. During surgery, doctors discover she’s suffering from a severe form of leukemia, and a stem cell transplant is her only hope. But when her parents are tested, a frightening truth emerges. Mindy is not their daughter.

Who knows the answers?

The race to save Mindy’s life means unraveling years of lies. Was she accidentally switched at birth or is there something more sinister at play? The search for the truth will tear a family apart…and someone is going to deadly extremes to protect the family’s deepest secrets.

With vivid movement through time, TEAR ME APART examines the impact layer after layer of lies and betrayal has on two families, the secrets they guard, and the desperate fight to hide the darkness within.

Miss Ellison is a favorite of mine. She is from Nashville and I get to see my city through someone else's eye. Though, in this particular story, the setting is outside of Nashville, but there are a few references to it. She also has a special place in my heart because she portrays the Nashville Police Department is such a positive light (and we know how the police are ragged on right now). You see, my husband is a retired Nashville Police Officer.
But, this is not the first novel of hers that I have read, and it definitely will not be the last!
Miss Ellison really knows how to weave a good suspense story. She takes you round and round, up and down, and has you guessing all the way through the story. She weaves the lives of her characters so well. It is like a spider's web, you have all these concentric circles and then there are these straight lines that intersect the circles all over the place.
The characters are very well thought out. She has a knack for making you feel for each of them, even the bad guy. The intensity of each of the relationships is what really draws you into the heart of the story and the suspense is such a natural part of the flow. I have read some suspense stories that feel like the author was struggling to figure out a way to add that element of suspense. but not Miss Ellison. Oh no, she is a natural at making her story flow like a meandering stream. it is so inviting and easy to follow, but you never get bored of being along for the ride