I knew I wanted to read this book by Wendy Walker. I loved her previous books, “The Night Before” and “Emma in the Night”. I devoured this book in one day.

The main character, Molly, was very relatable. She was a resourceful and practical captive. Be prepared for this story to pull on your heartstrings. Her daughter, Nic, was headstrong and a colorful character.

The twists and turns in this story will keep you guessing throughout. It is defiantly a five-star thriller you don’t want to miss.

I received this galley for NetGalley.

The suspense in DON'T LOOK FOR ME is artful. Thrillers are hit-or-miss for me, but when an author truly nails the suspense, I am in heaven. Walker does exactly that.

One of my goals for 2021 is to catch up on my Netgalley reads! I went a little wild with requesting in 2020, so now I have quite the back log!

I just finished “Don’t Look for Me” by Wendy Walker. This particular book has been on my TBR for months and has been popping on quite a few fellow reading buddies as one of their 2020 faves.

This book I devoured a little over a day. It’s super captivating and keeps you hooked until the very ending. It’s a typical cat and mouse story with all the twists and turns that I love in a good thriller! I also am a sucker for a book that has a creepy child as one of the main characters! ha!

Majority of the book’s POV is between Molly (the main character) and her daughter Nicole and their quest to find answers. Both characters are dealing with a sensational amount of trauma and loss, but express their emotions is different ways, which of course left a wedge in their relationship.

I don’t want to give too much away since it is a guessing game. Obviously, it is too soon to tell if it’s a contender for a 2021 best, but overall great read!

Wow!

I absolutely loved this story and found myself completely connected and invested in not only the plot but the characters as well. I truly felt for them and the emotional pain the we’re going through as if I actually knew them and could personally relate to their situations.

Some parts were harder to read than others, mainly because as a mother it was hard to not empathize with the pain Molly Clark felt and lived with daily. Some parts were maddening, who could be trusted? And then some parts were surprising, while others were predictable (which never detracts from the enjoyment of the story). It definitely keeps you guessing though and trying to figure out what is going on.

I definitely recommend this story!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

4.5 stars

I devour Wendy Walker’s writing, and this was no exception. The reason that this is 4.5 instead of 5 stars is my own fault: I was totally convinced, pretty early on, that I knew who “Mickey” was. I read about 40% of the story thinking this, and then, when I turned out to be wrong, I had to rethink how I had processed the events of a good chunk of the story. I will say that I was glad to be wrong-- I don’t like to figure out the reveal before I’m intended to-- but I really thought I had this one.

*** 5 Stars ***

Yes, yes, yes!!! This was just what I needed to pull me out of a reading slump in time to start the new year strong.
Gosh I don't want to give any of this away because it is so suspenseful and intriguing. I couldn't put this down. Molly Clarke's car is found abandoned on the side of a road with a note found in a nearby hotel showing that she had to get away. Her painful past was too much to handle. But is that really what happened to Molly Clarke? Molly was actually on the way home alone, during a storm, from one of her children's football games when she runs out of gas and a man with a little girl stop and offer her a ride. When she accepts the ride, the doors lock and life is never the same.
This story alternates between Molly Clarke's POV and her other child Nicole, who is desperately trying to find out what really happened to her mother.

Stellar read, that I couldn't recommend more. I'm a huge Wendy Walker fan but this is my favorite from her so far! I really liked the main character Molly and her daughter Nicole. Well written and fast paced.

Special Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In the book you can feel Molly and her families grief at the death of Molly's daughter. The whole family has not recovered. It would be understandable if Molly did just up and leave, after all she is blamed for the death. It appears she has, everything points to that conclusion. Until, her daughter Nicole receives some new information. Did Molly really leave? This is a perfect thriller. It had me thinking I knew the answer then some new information shows up. It wasn't until the very end until we find out what actually happens to Molly.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers of this book for an ARC copy for my honest review. I look forward to reading more books from this author. 5 Stars out of 5!!

Five years after the death of her daughter and Molly Clarke is still entrenched in her grief. Her family hates her and she believes that they have every right to hate her. After all, she did kill her daughter. No matter how nasty they are to her, she is still there for every meal. For every football game. Then night Molly went missing. She had been at her son's football game and she never returned home. Her car was found and her credit card was used at a hotel. Then there was a note saying "Don't look for me." So everybody stops looking for her, except for her oldest daughter, Nicole. Nicole hasn't had an easy time since her sister died and she knows that she has been nasty and cruel to her mother, but she knows that her mother would never just leave them. Did Molly leave her family behind or is Nicole right that Molly would never willingly leave her family?

Don't Look For Me was a fairly predictable mystery novel about a woman who has taken a lot of abuse. And nobody was more abusive to Molly than Molly herself. I can't say that I would behave any differently if I was the one who killed my own child. Nicole was also a mess. She made a lot of risky choices after the death of her sister and it was just pure luck that she didn't end up in a situation similar to her mother - or worse. And then she did. The whole scenario was really predictable - even the "twist" was predictable. - CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS.

Bottom Line - I have enjoyed Wendy Walker novels in the past, however, I was disappointed with the predictable nature of Don't Look For Me. I can promise you this, though, it won't stop me from reading her next book.

Details:

Don't Look for Me by Wendy Walker
On Instagram
Pages: 352
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: 9.15.2020
Buy it Here!
Thank you to NetGalley for the book in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved Wendy's Walker's book, The Night Before. So, I had high expectations for Don't Look for me and it did not disappoint, This was a solid thriller with surprising twists and turns.

This book was a rollercoaster! I kept thinking I had it figured out, then a new twist would come which would make me rethink everything. I liked the back and forth views from Nic and her mom. It kept the suspense high because I would need to figure out what happened to Nic! And then Molly! And then Nic! The book also had a creepy aspect to it without being gory or gross, which I liked. Overall, this book was great. I have now read two of Wendy Walker’s books, and I have a couple left to read! She is turning into a must read author for me!

Awesome book! This definitely had me coming back for more and kept me guessing! I will be reaching more from this author in the future.

CREEPY READ! OMG Ladies and Gentlemen, if you are in the market for a new addition to your shelves, grab a copy TODAY. Well written, dark, thrilling, edge of the seat read. I actually didn’t want it to end. LOL. But, alas, they always do. But don’t fear, Wendy will grace us with another read before we know it!

LOVED IT!

**I received this book from St. Martin’s Press via Netgalley for an honest review**

The thought is that Molly Clarke walked away from her life. Her family has been shattered from past tragedy and she just can’t handle it anymore. Her daughter Nic doesn’t believe that to be the case, so she refuses to stop looking for her mother.

I started this story thinking this entire family was trash. They had more drama than anything which you learn is jut grief talking. The husband was sketchy, the daughter was mean, and the son was a typical jerk of a teenager. It made you empathize with the mother, Holly, and you kind of understand her outrageous thoughts. I thought her decision making was terrible. She was obviously way too trusting and not questioning enough.

This was one wild story. Between Holly and Nic, I wasn’t sure what to think. I was guessing and second guessing what I thought was going to happen. I wasn’t sure who to trust but had my doubts about one person in particular. The author does a great job of painting a picture and making you want to assume it’s one person doing all of the crazy. Overall a pretty good read with great mystery.

What do you do when you really need a distraction during a global pandemic? You sit down with an edge of your seat psychological thriller like Don't Look for Me and get sucked right in from the very beginning. This story is everything a good thriller should be. The tension and suspense steadily rises as you turn the page, and it's the kind of story that makes you suspect everyone at one point or another. Parts of the story do require a stretch of the imagination but not so much that I couldn't stay lost in the book. It's well written, thoroughly gripping, and impossible to put down, and it's exactly what I needed in this crazy dramatic time.

I love Wendy Walker, and this one met my expectations. Molly Clarke is a married mom who hasn't been doing well lately. She has accidentally struck and killed her own child, her teenage children do not have time for her and don't seem to like her at all, and she's convinced that her husband is seeing someone else. When her car runs out of gas with a huge storm brewing, she accepts a ride from a man with a young girl inside a pickup truck. What happens next is a strategic kidnapping made to look like a runaway mother/wife who just doesn't want to be found. This is nail-biting suspense with cut-throat drama. You just don't know what's coming or who to believe. Loved it!

It was a dark and stormy night (of course), when Molly Clarke disappeared while driving alone in a small New England town. Her car was found and a credit card charge from her was made at an area hotel. A note signed by her was found in the hotel room saying she was walking away from her life. BUT, that is not what really happened. Molly was abducted by a man in a truck with a young girl and locked up in an isolated house in the woods. Molly's own daughter Nicole, doesn't believe that her mom would just walk away from her life so when a new tip comes in she drives to the small town to look into things herself.

The chapters in this book alternate between Molly's perspective and Nicole's. It is clear that their family has its share of issues and each of them deals with their guilt in their own way. The pacing of this story was near perfection and I like the alternating perspectives as we the reader tried to figure out what exactly was going on. This is definitely one of the more enjoyable thrillers that I've read this year.

No down time in this one, really enjoyed and completely unpredictable. This book took off from the very first page! It got very intense and creepy right away.

After weeks of searching by her family, the police and townspeople with no results, the search is called off. Her daughter Nicole can’t imagine her mother, a woman who always did the responsible thing, just walking away from her family. So when a woman contacts her with new information about her mother’s disappearance, she decides to follow-up on the lead and starts her own investigation.

The story is told alternately between Molly and Nicole. Information about what happened that stormy night and the events that led up to it are revealed in the parallel narratives. Molly’s narrative is that of the resourceful victim and Nicole’s is the tortured soul trying to drown her pain in vodka and meaningless sex. Despite their obvious pain, I never felt much sympathy for either woman, or any of the other characters. I did want to know how the story line would play out and read the book in two sittings. There are countless clues that make you want to keep reading and wondering if you are on the right track. Some clues will help you unravel the mystery and others will lead you completely astray. I have to admit I was completely blindsided by part of the ending, but the rest was somewhat predictable.

Overall, a descent read but not as original as I had hoped.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this book.

Another great mystery from Wendy Walker - she is known for her plot twists! This one grabbed me from the beginning and kept me guessing, and I would recommend it to others who love this genre! Thank you to the publisher for this ARC - I really enjoyed it!

So this book had a bit of a slow burn. I did like how it went back and forth between the mother and the daughter. I like seeing both perspectives. I also liked how there were small plot twists revealed all throughout the book. When the biggest plot twist was revealed I was a bit stunned. How someone could do so many things and get away with it. I wish we could have gotten a little more of Daisy’s story. The book seemed like it was peeling back layers of an onion. But it also seemed to wrap up too quickly, like there was a deadline and had to hurry up and end it.