Emily and Caroline are surprise twins.  By surprise, I mean that their mother did not know that she was going to have twins until… they were here.  Emily slips from her mother perfect and easy, shortly after along comes Caroline, blue and not breathing… a struggle from the moment she is born.

As the girls grow to adults, Caroline who knows she is not loved by her mother as Emily is, lashes out in her own ways with respect for no one’s time and a liking to the shocking as well as to alcohol.

Yet as the story opens, Emily is fleeing her life and her husband.  She is changing her name, picked up a new job, and remaining hidden… although we do not know why.  What has happened to this girl who by all outward looks seemed to be the one that had it together?

Told in alternating voices and in flash backs, slowly the puzzle begins to clear… and that one step too far… means so much more than you think.

 

 

 

Side story.  I love the Renaissance Festival.  My very first time I went as I walked down a narrow wooded dirt path to the entrance with my friends a costumed man sitting up in a tree above me hollered down with an accent, “DO NOT STEP IN IT!”

I of course stopped and looked at him.  Then I glanced around.  There was nothing there but trail.  “What?” I responded.

“DO NOT STEP IN IT!” he cried again more urgently.

I giggled, this being my first introduction to the Renaissance and it was a fun exchange.  “I do not see anything to step in,“ I responded.

“IT!  IT”, he said loudly with anxiety in his voice and pointing at the ground.  “DO NOT STEP IN IT!”

I then looked down and seen right where I stood in the trail, the word “IT” was scratched into the dirt.

I was not even in the front gate yet and already loved the Renaissance Festival.

 

That may seem like a random story for a review, but it actually fits.  I thought of that story as I listened to this book on audio, mainly because as I listened I could not help but feel as though I had stepped in IT.  And… like that day at the Renaissance, I loved it.

One Step Too Far starts out with a lot to take in.  You have the girls and their mother… you see that Caroline is a bit of a struggle.  So when Emily is the one who seems to go a bit nutty… it is shocking and you spend much of the book learning what has happened.

And when you know…

whoa.

I really enjoyed listening to One Step Too Far.  I admit I was a bit nervous when the audio started and it seemed as though I had found my way to yet another read that is told from multiple perspectives, flashes back and forth… and quite honestly, I have had enough of that style for a bit.  Yet, One Step Too Far pulled away from that format by engaging me fully into the story.  In the end, I was impressed.

Elizabeth Knowelden and Paul Fox are excellent narrators for this book.  Flawlessly, they complimented each other.

 

 

• Audible Audio Edition
• Listening Length: 9 hours and 8 minutes
• Program Type: Audiobook
• Version: Unabridged
• Publisher: Harper Audio
• Audible.com Release Date: January 27, 2015