THE NARCISSIST'S DAUGHTER by Craig Holden

This title begs the question, "Who is the narcissist?"  There are 2 daughters, but one, Chloe, has only one parent, Brigman, an alcoholic car mechanic, and I think it's safe to say that he is not the narcissist.  The other daughter is Jessi Kessler, whose father Ted is a physician and whose mother Joyce is a nurse.  Either of these unsavory parents is a candidate.  The main character and narrator is Syd, Chloe's half-brother, who in 1979 works in Ted's lab at the hospital as a phlebotomist.  Ted encourages Syd to transfer to the night shift, where Syd meets Joyce and begins an affair, even though he realizes that Ted can sabotage his med school plans if he finds out.  Then Syd discovers that he has been victimized by the Kessler family and seeks revenge by wooing Jessi, a teenager.  This scheme backfires in more ways than one.  There are several plot twists, the last of which I found not particularly surprising, and the storyline is a little bit kinky (no complaints here).   I actually love plot-driven novels, but still I would have liked to have known what makes Syd tick.  He's obviously intelligent and attractive, but his moral compass seems to be a little off course.  He might be more ethically inclined if he weren't kept in the dark about most everything that happens around him, but I doubt it.  Is he the narcissist?  Perhaps, but that would require a daughter….