Member Reviews
I read Catherine Steadman’s first book Something in the Water when it first came out. That book started with a bang and was so enjoyable until the middle when the main character did stupid things she knew she shouldn’t have and it ended up being a 3 star read. I wanted to give Catherine’s second book a chance as the premise sounded interesting. Unfortunately, the book didn’t live up to my expectations. At first I felt the plot was slow with the back and forth perspective. As I discovered details of Emma’s past, the book became more interesting. However, in the end, it was another 3 star read for me.
Unfortunately, this book wasn't my favorite. I felt the pacing was a bit slow, and it just didn't live to the suspense. The love interest didn't feel genuine and it was almost as if it was just thrown in at the end.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.
A very good book, and my second pleasant experience with Catherine Steadman! Impossible to put down!
I wanted so badly to love this book. Something in the water was a 5 star read for me, and I was incredibly excited to see this one coming out.
Unfortunately, this book was disappointing. It seemed to lack cohesion and be all over the place, with the writing style being extremely dissimilar to the style of something in the water. I wouldn’t have thought they were written by the same person.
The concept of this one was intriguing, and it showed tremendous promise, but fell flat for me. And I was rooting so hard for this one to be amazing.
I will definitely check out this author’s next book and hope it’s more similar in execution and caliber to her first work.
Thank you Netgalley for my free digital copy.
I really liked Catherine Steadman’s first novel “Something in the Water” so I was excited to get my hands on her latest one. I really liked the premise of “Mr Nobody”, because it was different than typical thrillers. The memory loss aspect left holes in the story, that were filled in later, but kept me trying to figure it out throughout the book. I enjoyed all of the information given about fugue states, brain scans and how the brain reacts to thoughts. My brother works with brain scans everyday, so I’m excited to ask him more about all of that. “Mr Nobody” is a slow burn, but is definitely worth the read!
Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for my honest review!
A man is found washed up and battered on a beach. No one knows who he is, including the man himself.
A doctor has been hiding from who she used to be for the past 16 years, and it seems that her past is finally catching up to her.
What do these two people have to do with each other? And how will their stories end?
I loved Catherine Steadman's first novel, Something in the Water. I thought it was absolutely fantastic and couldn't wait to get my hands on anything else she came up with, so when NetGalley offered an ARC, I jumped on it immediately. But wow, what a disappointment. It started out great with so much potential. But then it just dragged. And I was skimming because there's got to be a big payoff, right? Right?! Nope. Not in this case. I just yelled at my kindle in belief throughout the last 15-20%. Are you freaking kidding me?! What a bummer of an ending.
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
After reading Something in the Water by Steadman, I was open to reading her new book. I wouldn't say this book was disappointing. It was actually well written and the characters were in depth. That being said, the pacing of the story was rather slow for a thriller. Normally, these types of books bang out the plot pretty quickly. Speaking of, the plot was easy to follow and left me feeling as if I could predict what was going to happen. The twists were not as well done as her previous novel. I still recommended this book to several of my library patrons who enjoy easy mystery. In the end I just think it wasn't my cup of tea. In the future, I will still probably pick up her new books, just out of curiosity.
I was so excited to read this one, having loved Something in the Water (the authors previous book) but I was sadly not as in love with this one. The writing is still there, the plot was intriguing and I was really interested for the first part of the book. After that though the twists just didn't feel as provocative, the pacing felt off and the ending was messy. Overall it was only okay. I do however have faith that this author can write another great book so I fully intend to check out her next one!
This book has been in my queue for months, and I’m kicking myself that I waited so long to read this! Mr. Nobody is fantastic. It centers around a man who lost all memory of who he is and the doctor who’s brought in to help recover. At one point you believe things come together nicely with a perfect little bow, and then WHAM! Catherine Steadman flips everything on its head. This book sucked me in and didn’t let go — I literally finished it in a day!
Thank you to NetGalley and Ballentine Books for those advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately this one didn’t work for me. This ending was such a let down. I had high hopes for this book and unfortunately it didn’t pull through.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of Mr. Nobody! I didn't know much going into Mr. Nobody, but after reading Something In The Water I knew I wanted to read more of what Catherine Steadman could deliver. This one isn't exactly like her previous work, but it stood well enough on it's own that I'm still interested in reading more. The psychological aspect of the storyline kept it interesting and the end was a plot I didn't see coming. I wouldn't necessarily consider it a thriller until the last few chapters, but I did find myself trying to figure out where we were being lead. Some of the twists seemed extremely coincidental and unlikely but I still enjoyed reading how they came together.
If you want a thrill please read Mr Nobody. The better part of this novel I felt sorry for this man trying to make sense of the fact he could not remember who he was or where he belonged. As we the reader see his relationship with the psychiatrist taking his case,she thinking he,s a face so familiar it scares her. The flood of memories from each of the lead characters, leads us down a trying and violent trail. Emma sans Marni has a past she thought was long behind her and Stephan/Matthew is weaving a trail of sorrow and intrigue everywhere and involving people in Emma’s close circle. The ending scenes between patient and doctor are really tense and I found myself hoping the end would be a good solution to a bad dream. The resolution is every thrill readers wish come true. Happy reading
Who is Mr.Nobody? A man is found walking a wintery deserted English beach and awakens without knowledge of who he is. Or does he know? Everyone wants to know...Neuropsychiatrist Dr. Emma Lewis. who has her own secret past, the police, reporters, all of Britain, it seems. I want to know and you will too!
Like most of the people who have picked up this book, I too was a huge fan of Something in the Water by Catherine. It wasn’t my typical type of read and I was really blown away with how much I enjoyed it. A few months back when I saw an advanced reader copy of the author’s new novel on Netgalley, I jumped at the chance to read it. I didn’t even read what the plot blurb was, I just clicked to get it! So, I was pretty excited to read this one.
Mr. Nobody starts off with a great hook. Just who is this man? What has happened to him? Ok, you got me, Catherine! I’m dying to know what happened. I am officially hooked.
I really enjoyed watching the story of Mathew (the Mr. Nobody himself) unravel. It was very interesting and I was completely stumped at where the author was going with him. There were so many little clues and tiny bread crumbs to follow but I had no idea what they all meant. When we finally find out who Mathew is, I’ll admit it… I was pretty surprised. I’m pretty sure my mouth was hanging open when I read what had happened. Out of all my theories (and they ranged from the silly to the extreme), I had not once thought in that direction. So I give Catherine a gold star for that. I really liked her plot twisty idea.
The story chapters were written where they alternate back and forth between the two main characters, Mr. Nobody (Mathew) and his Doctor (Dr. Emma Lewis). Normally I’m not a huge fan of this kind of thing, but it seemed to work well in this book. It was easy to follow and it didn’t get too convoluted with who was doing what when.
I really liked all the characters in the book. They had a good chemistry together and their interactions felt natural. Their flow was nice and I felt like they convey their emotions really well. They felt super relatable.
I definitely felt a connection with Emma and the subplot going on with her and her father’s death when she was a child. She had something bad happen in the past which has cast a shadow over how she lived her whole life. She felt haunted by it. Her memories grew and morphed into this horrible unreal nightmare.
At first, when I found out the truth about what happened to her father, I felt let down. Like, that’s it?? Just that? That’s not that big and scary! And I was kinda angry at the author for having such a let down of a backstory. I kept thinking about it and how disappointing it was.
And then one day, I realized. Shit. That’s the whole fucking point! What her father did… yes, it was bad… BUT. In her mind… in her memories of what happened… over time they got twisted and warped, turning this tragic event into something much more monstrous then it should have been. It made me stop and think about my own monsters and villains from my past, things that I’m scared of. Have I, too, let those bad memories twist into a giant nightmare of false memory monsters? Have I miss remembered a bad event and made it into something monumentally horrifying, when maybe it’s not? How many times have my memories of something “bad” turned a mole hill into a mountain? Have I let my own false memories control my adult life through fear? Hmmm. Something a little uncomfortable to think about, huh? I ended up really liking this subplot and the “disappointing” reveal about Emma’s father. It showed Emma (and us) that if something bad happens, don’t let the memories of that event get out of control and turn into something that it wasn’t… don’t let those false memories rule your actions and your life. Very subtle but powerful message by the author.
Now, the very end felt a little anti-climaticish. But only just a tiny bit. There was not a big fight scene or crazy whirl wind rescue or anything like that. It was actually kinda sad. I felt bad for Mathew and Emma for the situation they found themselves in. At first I was a little bummed about the slower paced ending, but after some thought, I felt like it was actually pretty fitting. This isn’t an action movie. It felt more believable for the type of characters in the story ( Emma is a doctor, not Laura Croft). Emma dealt with the ending in away that felt realistic for a doctor. My only big complaint with the end is that it felt a little bit abrupt. Didn’t ruin the ending or anything like that though.
After finishing Mr. Nobody, it took me a few weeks to think on the review to give it. I knew the review was past due for Netgalley, but it feels like there are a lot of layers to this book to ponder over. I knew I liked it, but I wasn’t quite sure of what all I wanted to say about it.
I did enjoy this book a lot. I found it entertaining and it moved quickly for me. A great hook that had me guessing the whole time. I was dying to know what the hell was going on all the way til the end. I was entertained the whole time, even though the pacing was slow in some spots. I felt like this is a nicely done character driven mystery. I liked it a lot, but not as much as Something in the Water. Still, Mr. Nobody is very well done and I will definitely continue to read this author’s future works.
An interesting medical mystery/thriller revolving around an injured man found on the beach with no memory of who he is or how he got there and the psychiatrist brought in to treat him. Returning to her childhood neighborhood reawakens memories for Emma which changed her life completely. The story builds as she tries to unravel whether his complete memory loss is real or not and how he seems to know so much about her and continues right through to the conclusion. A good read.
See goodreads for my review of this book. Thank you for the opportunity to preview the galley and provide feedback.
I was very impressed with this novel.... I will admit that at first I did not know if this was going to be a book that I would really enjoy. The cover almost threw me off (I know I can't judge a book by it's cover) but sometimes I do! But wow am I glad I read this one... y'all will truly dive into this story line. A must read!
I really enjoyed this novel. There was the mystery of what really happened with Emma's father, and who the mystery man found on the beach really is to keep you guessing throughout. There is the hint of romance in the air, and childhood hopes brought to light.
When I saw this author had a new book, (after reading her first book, Something n the Water,) I had to read this new one called Mr. Nobody.
This book was awesome. It is so scary, but yet so fascinating, and I could not put this book down. The book is so well written, has plot twists and turns I did not see coming, has so much emotional angst, I was glued to the pages. The characters are written so well, I felt like could step into the story.
The main character is a Neuropsychiatrist Dr. Emma Lewis, who is the top in her field. She is hiding a secret not too many people know about, and when she is asked to take on a case of a man found on the beach with no memory, she wants to do it, but should she?
The man doesn't seem to be any threat until the first time she sees him and he says something to her that causes her to feel a horror she has not felt in 14 years. Who is this man, and how does he know her. Meanwhile the man himself wants to know the same thing.
The book rushes towards the end and then I was shocked by the last few chapters of the book. If you like thrillers this one is for you! I gave this book 5 shocking stars and hope for a new book from Catherne Steadman soon!
I really enjoyed the first half of this book, thenI sloggeg through the second half, I found it repetitive and overly wordy, Also, I was disappointed in the ending. Many of my questions weren’t answered and it just seemed to end. The first half earned the stars! Many thanks to NetGalley and Catherine Steadman for allowing me to read and review this book.