Don't Look for Me by Wendy Walker is a tense and twisty page turner. One of those books you pick-up and cannot put down. Very well written with interesting, complex characters. Suspenseful - will keep you guessing till the end!

This was my first time reading one of Wendy Walker's books. Loved it! I'll be sharing this title with friends and family!

Thank you to NetGalley, Wendy Walker, and St. Martin's Press for giving me the opportunity to read and review this advance reader copy.

Don't Look For Me was a twisty psychological ride that kept me riveted all the way through.

Molly Clarke, still grieving and feeling enormous guilt after the death of her youngest child five years earlier, contemplates walking away from her life. While preoccupied with her sorrow, driving home through a terrible rain storm, she does not notice she is low on gas until it is too late. When her car runs out of gas on the side of the road right outside the town of Hastings, she walks through the storm to the gas station only to find it boarded up against the rain. As she turns to head back to her car, she flags down a passing truck and then seems to just disappear.

Nicole (Nic) Clarke, Molly's daughter, feels her own grief and guilt that she numbs with booze and men. After they end up calling off the search for her mother after a note was found, seemingly in Molly's handwriting asking her family not to look for her, Nicole gets a phone call from a woman who may have information about Molly's disappearance. Nicole returns to Hastings and reopens the investigation. She knows in her heart that her mother would never willingly walk away from her family and vows to find her.

I loved reading the alternate perspectives of Molly and Nic, they were well-developed characters with flaws and strengths and I really enjoyed the suspense hearing one side and then anticipating what was to come on the other side! The suspense was intense, and alllll of the men in the book were suspects at one point or other.

My only problem with this one was the ending, it was very unexpected, which is good, but I also found it to be pretty implausible, which is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC!!

This book was a much needed respite after having to read multiple boring nonfiction texts. I haven’t read a page-turner like this in awhile and it was completely different than anything I’ve ever read. The pace was absolutely perfect, each chapter ending with the push to read more. The honest feelings felt by each character were a refreshing change of pace, having dealt with my fair share of grief, the guilt and coping mechanisms described were very relatable. Surprising twists and turns kept me theorizing about the outcome until the very end, and amidst a trend of unresolved finales, I was pleasantly surprised. As a relatively new reader to Wendy Walker, I have been more than pleased with what I’ve read and she has found a fan in me.

Thank you, St. Martin’s Press, for allowing me to read an advanced copy. The opinions are my own.

I loved this book! Read it in 2 days and that is quick for me. It was perfect.

Grabs you from the start, doesn’t drag on with the back story, just gets your attention from the beginning and holds it throughout the whole story.

This book kept me guessing. Every time I thought I had it figured out, wrong! Then maybe I was right, only to question myself again. It had it all, suspense, drama and a whole lot of crazy. I will definitely be watching for this author in the future.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Molly goes missing whilst returning home from a trip to see her son. She is grieving her daughters death and dealing with her family breakdown due to the loss of their loved daughter/sister. We get alternating points of view between Molly and Nic who is her eldest daughter.

This book is right in the middle for me. I enjoyed the creepy aspect and the chapters featuring Annie the child, who is one of the central characters were my favourite. But I did find it to be too emotional at parts and not as fast paced as I was expecting. The ending was far too anti climatic and I was hoping it would end on a different note. And let me not get into the overused phrase of ‘Hollow spaces’. I would still definitely check out more of Wendy Walkers work and I would recommended this book as it was still interesting.

I received an ARC of this book from St Martins Press and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

My first Wendy Walker book and I look forward to many more. The plot was so gripping, I couldn’t wait to figure it out and was so wrong, boy will you be surprised! What an ending twist.

Molly Clarke’s life was full of tragedy. Her life was her family, and it seemed that they had all turned against her. When she disappeared, it was assumed that she just wanted to run away from it all... or did she? This thriller, told from the point of view of Molly and her daughter, who is trying to find her, kept me guessing until the end. I have a toddler, and still stayed up way too late to finish the book- it hooked me that much. I will say that there was maybe one too many twists at the end (there is a LOT going on in the last few pages), but it was thoroughly enjoyable!

This novel reminds me of Room by Emma Donoghue. You know you’re engaged in a story when you try to help the protagonist with her decisions. I really enjoyed reading this. Well done. Thanks to NetGalley and publisher for the ARC.

The book was interesting and definitely kept me reading. I love a good psychological thriller, but it was nothing groundbreaking for the genre. The story follows a mother with a secret who disappears one stormy night, and her daughter who is determined to find her. Did she run away (and was it the daughter's fault?) or did something else happen to her? Is she even still alive? Switching back and forth between times - present-day and before and between characters - the mother and her daughter, was a fun way to see things from multiple perspectives, slowly uncover the past and the present, and to keep things constantly moving and evolving.

As the book progresses, you slowly start to piece together the narrative and how all the characters are connected. Some of the "reveals" were not surprising yet others totally were, and there are mini reveals throughout the book, not just at the ending. So lots of payoff throughout.

Without spoiling anything, I will just leave it at the ending did not make any sense to me and I was disappointed. But it was still a fun read.

Wow wow WOW!! This book gets 5 stars all around from me. The writing, the story, the characters, the suspense....ALL FIVE STARS!! I could not put this one down! First off I can’t even imagine what it would be like to have gone through the tragedy that Molly went through...the grief, the sadness and the guilt...I just can’t even think about how heartbreaking it would be. I could understand how someone would feel like just running away and trying to escape the pain. Oh this story! It takes you on such a ride. I want to talk about Alice, I want to talk about so many of the characters but this is one book that you want to go into blind with no spoilers. I predicted a couple things that did end up happening, but as far as the big shock at the end....I absolutely did NOT see that coming at all! WOW! The ending alone deserves 5 stars! I highly recommend this one and can’t wait to read more by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

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At the start of this book, on the anniversary of her child’s death, a woman named Molly disappears on a stormy night. The police say she walked away voluntarily, but her 21 year old daughter Nicole is not convinced. The book alternates with chapters from Molly’s perspective starting with that night, and Nicole’s starting two weeks later as she tries to investigate. Serious page turner with some creepy enough parts that it made it hard to go to sleep after reading. Like Wendy Walker’s other two books that I’ve read, it’s kind of crazy and gets a little over the top towards the end, but in a way that just adds to the enjoyment even if not 100% believable.

Don't Look For Me is completely captivating from the very first chapter. I love when a mystery/thriller immediately captures my attention and draws me in.

Mollie Clarke is travelling home from one of her son's football games. She runs out of gas during a storm and runs to the nearest gas station. What happens after that has her entire family confused-Mollie Clarke seems to have disappeared. The police are calling her a "walk away." They claim women do it all the time when they want to start their lives over. But Mollie's daughter Nic is not sure that is what happened, and now she is investigating what happened to her mom that night.

I loved the alternating POVs from Mollie and Nic. I did figure out one twist early on, but the last one completely took me by surprise! Definitely give this book a chance if you are in a reading slump or need something quick to read one weekend.

Holy cow what a ride! This was everything I wanted in a jam-packed mystery/thriller!! The constant twists and turns throughout kept me guessing on every page. The dual storyline of mother and daughter kept the pace moving and the mystery building. Just when I thought I had a solid theory, the rug was pulled out from under me (again) and I loved every single minute! Highly recommend this book for anyone who craves high-level suspense, relatable characters, and a plot line that is sure to make your head spin!

This was one of those unputdownable thrillers that I read in just one sitting.

Molly Clarke gets caught in a hurricane one night and a stranger and his daughter pick her up to offer shelter...except molly instantly has a weird feeling in her gut about it. To everyone else, it looks as if Molly just decided to walk away from her family (which, to be fair, she was kinda considering). But her daughter is haunted by the last words she said to her mother and is determined to find her.

I would consider myself well-versed in thrillers, but I couldn’t predict the ending at all, which really impressed me. There were a couple theories I had in mind, one of which turned out to be true, but then there’s another twist at the end that will just blow your mind. This is a top tier storyline.

I also really loved how Walker explored the themes of grief, loss, family, and the love of a mother. Highly recommend!

Thanks to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the e-ARC!

Don't Look for Me has all of the elements I usually enjoy in thrillers, but there was something about it that fell flat for me. Though there were a lot of twists in the story, I managed to predict all of them ahead of time, which was disappointing.

Plus, the characters were kind of one-dimensional, and as the story went on and more characters were introduced to keep you guessing, I began losing track of who was who. It started off strong and kept me reading, but eventually I just wanted the story to end...and it (predictably) did.

I really enjoyed Walker's previous book The Night Before, but this one let me down. I gave it 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC!

Don't Look For Me follows Molly Clarke as she is travelling home from watching her son's football game. There is a hurricane like storm brewing and her car is running out of gas. Molly is questioning whether she should continue home where her husband and adult daughter don't want her or just disappear. Molly is living with the guilt of a terrible accident that happened five years ago. It has torn her family apart and she doesn't have the strength to help bring them all back together. In fact she's sure they will be better off without her. Stopped on the side of the road in a torrential downpour she takes the first ride offered to her. It is a man and a little girl. (As an aside, when we meet the girl, Alice, she is wearing a facial mask. The author explains it is like ones a medical person would wear. You know, like the ones we are all wearing now in 2020. Just felt like, oh, this was written before the pandemic, as I read it.) From there this thriller takes off.

The story is told from Molly's POV and her daughter, Nicole's. I like that Walker gave more background on the family of Molly and Nicole before we started meeting the other townspeople who might be suspects. I had the kidnapper figured out before the reveal, but didn't guess part of the ending. It was not an edge of your seat thriller, but it was engaging. I do wish Alice had been given more of a voice. Or at least have the author acknowledge her creepiness came from the environment she was raised in. It should be evident to the reader, but still felt strange that Molly made it seem like the girl was just born knowing how to manipulate people. It didn't sit right with me.

Overall it was a quick, entertaining read. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a psychological thriller.

Don’t Look for Me was such a wild ride. There were so many twists and turns. It alternates perspectives between Molly, the missing woman, and her daughter Nic, frantically searching for her, and I thought the structure really worked well. I highly recommend it if you’re a fan of thrillers!

One night, Molly Clarke walked away from her life.
She doesn't want to be found.
Or at least, that's the story.
The car abandoned miles from home.
The note found at a nearby hotel.
The shattered family that couldn’t be put back together.
They called it a “walk away.”
It happens all the time.
Women disappear, desperate to leave their lives behind and start over.
But is that what really happened to Molly Clarke

This has to be the best thriller of the year, loved it! love the way Wendy alternates the timeline of the characters, it is a thriller filled with suspense and a couple of twists, the end is unexpected, it is better going into this one knowing as little as possible.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me this E-Arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Ever since Nicole's younger sister, Annie, died, things have never been the same. But would her mother, Molly, decide that it was better to walk away from it all? Nicole doesn't think so. So when a woman turns up one day saying that she saw Molly the day she disappeared, Nicole knows that it is up to her to bring her mom back.

The dynamics between the members of the Clarke family, the guilt, the anger, the heartbreak are powerfully illustrated, but it's Alice, with her so, sooooooo creepy behavior, who stole the show in this book.

If you enjoy a good psychological thriller, don't miss this one! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

THE DETAILS✎
❐ MYSTERY⬦ SUSPENSE ⬦ THRILLER
❐ FAMILY TRAGEDY
❐ DUAL POV'S --BETWEEN MOTHER AND DAUGHTER
❐ FANTASTICALLY PACED
❐ INTENSE & TWISTY
❐ LENGTH OF AUDIO ➯ 9 HOURS, 51 MINUTES
❐ I LISTENED ON LIBBY THROUGH MY LIBRARY BUT I PREVIOUSLY RECEIVED AN ARC VIA NETGALLEY IN EXCHANGE FOR A HONEST REVIEW --I PREFER AUDIO!

There isn't much more I can say without giving anything away...and I don't want to give anything away...because this is too good.

I would have liked a second narrator for either the daughter or the mother...but since it didn't have that, I will say Therese Plummer did a phenomenal job with the two different voices...giving each one a slightly different inflection so I didn't really confuse them.

In closing, this story will keep you guessing until the end...giving you just enough clues to keep you trying to put it together and work it out...and even then it will surprise you. So glad I was able to listen to this all at one time because it was unstoppable...I'm also pretty sure that it's unputdownable if you choose to read it, instead.

BREAKDOWN✎
Narration ➯ 5 STARS
Plot ➯ 5/5
Characters ➯ 5/5
The Feels ➯ 5/5
Pacing ➯ 5/5
Addictiveness ➯ 5/5
Theme, Tone or Intensity ➯ 5/5
Originality/Believability ➯ 5/5
Flow (Writing Style/Ease of Listening) ➯ 5/5
Twisty-ness/Mystery ➯ 5/5
Ending ➯ 5/5
SUMMATION ➯ 5 STARS