When Anna Came Home - Literary Titan Gold Book Award

I am proud to say that Literary Titan has awarded When Anna Came Home a Gold Book Award! Please see their review below

When Anna Came Home dives straight into the shadows of power, wealth, and betrayal with a gripping opening, and refuses to let up. The story follows Anna Cahill, a young woman who, expecting to surprise her family with good news, walks into a nightmare—her entire family gunned down, and her world flipped inside out. What follows is a fast-paced unraveling of secrets, lies, and a tangled web of criminal conspiracy that stretches from family dinner tables to international arms deals. It’s part domestic thriller, part espionage drama, and entirely absorbing.

The writing was clean and fast-moving, but also rich with emotional detail. Condon doesn’t waste time. From the first page, she plants you right in the action. The opening chapter feels like a scene from a slick thriller, with men in black, secret cash exchanges, and ominous hangars. But then, we’re immediately pulled into Anna’s raw, personal hell. The hotel suite scene where she gives her statement is haunting, and her breakdown after realizing her family is gone hit me hard. It was real and messy and completely believable.

But what really got me was the subtle emotional manipulation going on in her family before everything fell apart. Chapter 3 paints a picture of Anna’s picture-perfect life with all the cracks starting to show. Her mother, Meredith, is this elegant, controlling force, and the scene where she comments on Anna’s weight while smiling lovingly was so sharp and real it made me wince. The way Oliver, Anna’s brother, confesses the truth about their parents’ criminal activity over Chinese takeout was the perfect mix of “I love you” and “you’re my only way out.” It’s all so layered—family, guilt, loyalty. Even when Anna’s getting her makeup done there’s this undercurrent of dread that never quite lets up. I kept waiting for someone to pull the rug out from under her again.

This book had me flipping pages late into the night. There’s action, emotional weight, and a steady drip of reveals that kept me guessing. If you’re into shows like Scandal or books by Lisa Jewell, you’ll probably eat this up. That said, there are definitely some heavy themes—abuse, manipulation, corruption—so it’s not exactly light reading. But it is worth it.

I’d recommend When Anna Came Home to fans of twisty thrillers and emotionally complex stories. It’s for readers who like their heroines smart, their villains slippery, and their plots loaded with secrets just waiting to explode. Shannon Condon doesn’t pull punches, and I was all in from page one.