Loved this suspense/ thriller
This book sucked me in, I was connected with the characters and felt like I was right on the edge of my seat the entire time.
Loved this psychological thriller that kept me intrigued, everybody seemed to have their own secrets and there is plenty of twists along the way.

I never predicted the ending and would gladly read other books by Clarissa Anne Lynch.

Idea carina, rovinata da uno stile senza infamia né gloria, e da voci narranti perfettamente intercambiabili, soprattutto nell’uso indiscriminato dei puntini di sospensione.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Gripping from the first chapter, a missing child, abusive husband and so many lies, you just don't know who to believe. Nova, flees her abusive husband with her daughter Lily who is 4 years old. Their first night together turns into a nightmare for Nova when she discovers her daughter missing from her bed!! In comes Ellie James, a police officer who is on the case. Full of twists and turns and told from 3 points of view; Nova, Ellie, Clara the neighbour.
A brilliant novel from Carissa Ann Lynch and will be looking out for her other novels.

I actually enjoyed this novel and the twist and turns it took. I enjoyed each chapter being from a different perspective (from one of the 3 main characters), so I had different things to consider.

I was truly cheering for Nova at the beginning, as I wanted her to escape from her abusive husband with their daughter. By the middle, I thought the lady was off her rocker and felt a tiny bit sorry for the husband. He was still arrogant, so it was hard for me to sympathize or side with him.

I enjoyed Clara, as she was the older and wiser one. I felt so bad that she got pulled into everything just because she rented to Nova. While reading everything she went through already in her life, I was hoping everything would work out for her.

I enjoyed Ellie, the cop. I didn't feel her character was developed as well, but I think that was just me. I didn't skim over her chapters, so I like her perspective of what happened.


Recommend this as a quick read. 3.5 stars.

Without a Trace is not on my list of favorite books. The characters are flat with the females being spineless or whacko and the males not likable. The cops are painted as being bumbling; not keeping each other informed was just one of the things wrong.

Twists are way too contrived. Too much had to be made to come together throughout the book as well as for the ending. It was not in the least bit believable. For example, nobody – nobody? – knew about Nova’s four-year-old daughter. No relatives. No neighbors. No doctors. Nobody. Farfetched is too small a word. And the ‘message’ regarding women was a little too in your face.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Without a Trace. I wish my review were more favorable.

A decent thriller. While slow at parts, the mystery surrounding Lily and the questions around Nova's sanity had some interesting elements. I would have enjoyed more character development and a stronger focus on the psychology around domestic abuse and the relationships between the women.

⭐️⭐️ 1/2

Amateur writing. Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. The beginning started out okay but the ending fell flat. It was far from thrilling.

A very interesting read . Twists and turns to keep you engrossed. Wondering which way the author is going to take it. Nice and easy to read. Flows well. Enjoyable to read

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Thanks NetGalley!

The storyline and cover captured my attention immediately. The idea that the child may not be real was a fabulous plot-line, so I had to give it a go.

The book had some major potential. It was definitely slow at times, but that happens. I"d read it again, and would efinitely recommend it to others.

This was an okay read. Not the best as far as thrillers go and I'm rating it a 3.5. There were some moments that I was highly interested in the story and discovering whether or not Nova Nesbitt was off her rocker and if her daughter, Lily, was actually real. Other times, I was honestly bored. The search for Lily took too long and the fact that the landlord, Clara, wasn't all she pretended to be irked me. I don't know. This book had potential. But ultimately I feel let down.

soooo many twists and turns you very good read all though the lead character i didn't actually like her , i will read more by this author when they are available.

When Ellie, a police officer, follows up on a call about a missing child, she soon finds herself embroiled in a case so confusing, she’s unsure who to believe anymore. When Novs claims her abusive ex husband has taken her daughter, it soon becomes clear things are not as they seem. For Nova has a record for domestic abuse herself. And there’s no record of her daughter, Lily, ever being born at all.

A twisty and interesting book which shows that things are not always as they appear to be.

Recommended for fans of the thriller genre, although there is no big twist at the end for addicts to guess and devour.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

A child is missing. The search is on to find her. Except there are strange things about the parents, Inexplicable things. Like the fact that there are no clothes in the girl's closet. Things that make the police think more might be at play here. The parents are highly scrutinized. They are suspects.

Written from the POV of 3 women, this book has more twists and turns than a rollercoaster.

Just when you thing you've got your head around it all...bam... it's all up in the air again!

This is one of the first books in a long time at times left me genuinely shocked & having to stop reading for a few minutes to process.

Great nail biting, shocking, confusing, strange storyline that I will definitely be recommending.

The only downside to me was the swift ending, literally felt like it just stopped dead which was a slight disappointment when the actual book had read so smoothly.

Stumbling across Without a Trace, I assumed that this book will be the same old missing-child "psychological thriller" but I was also curious at the same time given the excellent reviews this book has been garnering. This book by all means is a good page-turner with many delicious twists! The story is told from alternating viewpoints of Ellie, the officer, Nova, the mom & Clara, the neighbor.
Officer Ellie James is a rookie, unfortunate enough to have earned the snubbing of her peers at the very start of her career, when she takes down a fellow officer while responding to an emergency call from his wife who alleged that he abused her.
Nova Nesbitt is a runaway wife of Martin a slick but established realtor. Nova is scared of her husband and sick of the constant abuse, she was on the run with her daughter Lily and was taking refuge in one of the rentals at Appleton farms when just after a day of moving in Lily vanished. No one's seen Lily, there are no pictures of her, no birth certificate. There are no clothes or toys belonging to her at home or the house she vanished from. Does Lily exist?
Clara Appleton is the owner of Appleton farms. Living with the ghosts of an unhappy marriage, Clara is hiding secrets of her own before getting embroiled in the missing child case.
So while the existence of Lily is called to question, Officer Ellie tries to solve the disappearance of the child she can't prove exists!
The book brings to light the subject of domestic abuse, and although the plot was very good I found it to be a bit lacking. I'd have liked to see more depth in all the main characters, but given that this was a 200 page book, I feel the author has done a great job nonetheless. I really liked how the character of Ellie James shaped up to be. This would make an interesting series!
Thank you Netgalley, Killer Reads - Harper Collins & Carissa Ann Lynch for an arc!

Nova has uprooted her and her daughter Lily's entire life and moved away from her abusive husband. On their first night in the new house Lily goes missing. The police are called and as they start their investigation things seem off. The main detective Ellie James feels something about this whole story is off. Nova has a criminal record and the husband does not. Does Office Ellie follow her gut? or does she follow the evidence.

This book was fantastically written. It was suspenseful and I read it in one day as I had to know what happened. The author has beautiful writing and I could picture the land and the layout as she described it. This book twisted and turned all the way until the end. Loved it, the author now has a new fan in me.

This book was provided to me for free from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

This book took me by suprise! I wasn't really sure what to expect based on the synopsis but I wasn't expecting all that occurred, that's for sure!! I honestly only downloaded this as a back-up book. Ended up reading the whole thing in one and a half days. So much was going on, it ended up being one of those I just can't put this down kind of books! It's hard to rate it without giving anything away. If you like one of those books where you start to doubt every character, this is it! Just read it...you won't be disappointed.

Nova is hiding from her abusive husband Martin with their 4 year old daughter Lily in a dilapidated log cabin.

On their first night at the cabin Lily disappears from her bedroom and a scary stuffed Rabbit toy is left in her place, coincidentally Martin called his daughter bunny!!

Nova thinking Martin has taken Lily calls the police, officer Jame’s finds it strange that she has no photo’s of Lily and family did not know she existed, whilst Martin denies that they have a daughter. Dies Lily actually exist!!

Loved this psychological thriller that kept me intrigued, everybody seemed to have their own secrets and there is plenty of twists along the way.

I never predicted the ending and would gladly read other books by Clarissa Anne Lynch.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.

A very unexpected read on domestic violence and the need to escape the situation at home. Officer Ellie gets a frantic call from a woman Nova that her child Lily had been kidnapped by her husband. Nova had run away from his house to escape his abuse, and apparently, he had found her and taken the child to punish her. Ellie investigates, goes to the husband Martin's home, but there is no trace of child Lily ever being born, but instead there is a file at the local police station about Nova's violence, psychosis, and community sentence. Who is lying and how will Ellie get to the truth?

My first book by Carrisa Ann Lynch, and OH MY!! What a book!! This was both a thriller and a domestic noir. The story was told from the POV of three women Ellie, Nova, and the owner of the cabin Nova had rented secretly. The story took its twists and turns, each character leapt off the pages at different times. At one point, I was not sure who, the husband or the wife, was lying. I too didn't see evidence of child Lily, hence that made me doubt their statement versions.

I liked the rigmarole which was created, it felt like I was in a house of mirrors. The story was clear in its investigation but so confusing in the evidence given by all of them. I liked Officer Ellie. Sometimes being a woman in an essentially male dominated career is difficult, but Ellie carried off the mantle of strength proudly. Domestic violence was shown well, and I was really scared of Martin and his brand of evil.

Alas, my niggles... I wanted more of a thrill, the story, though complete, lacked a certain X factor to pull me in completely. But the onus of that could be on me personally. I have great expectations from the stories I like. Making the beginning read faster and the ending slower would have helped.

Overall, a gripping read which took me on a merry ride for a few hours.

After suffering years of mental and physical abuse at the hands of her husband, Nova takes her young daughter and runs like hell. Having no friends or family to turn to since having been isolated from everyone by her smooth and smarmy husband Martin she flees to an isolated, furnished cabin that she has rented with the help of someone she met through an app on her phone. In the morning, her daughter Lily is gone and this story takes a twisty turn from domestic violence to psychological terror.