This book is pretty much every woman's nightmare as a mother, wife, friend, and as a basic human being. It is creepy, disturbing, squirmy, uncomfortable, and it will make you want to binge read it from the first chapter to the very end. You'll lose sleep while reading this book, and it will give you a book hangover afterwards.

I discovered through this book that kidnapping stories are a trigger for me. As I started reading this tale, I was sucked in quickly by Molly Clarke's present-day situation, her backstory, and what the heck was actually happening to her. It evoked fear and dread in me. There were many heart-pounding chapters, and I couldn't stop reading because I wanted to know what would happen to Molly.

All of the characters were incredibly damaged. Most were unlikeable. The most fascinating character of the story is the little girl Alice. She is definitely a standout in this book due to her psychopathic tendencies. She gave me the creeps and she was absolutely sinister.

Like all of Wendy Walker's stories, this one had multiple storylines, complex characters, a rich backstory, and takes the reader on twists and turns with an explosive and unexpected ending. The final chapters tie up all loose ends so that the reader can finally get closure at the end.

This story is about grief, tragedy, obsession, anguish, addiction, love, parenting, and survival. You will root for Molly Clarke in ways that you have never rooted for a main character before. You will admire her ingenuity and resilience, and her will to live. You will sense a change in her by the end of the book, and a reconciliation of the tragic events of the past. But most of all, you will be haunted by Alice and be relieved that she's only a character in a book.

Wendy Walker does not shy away from the uglier side of human nature. She is able to expose the flaws in each of her characters, including those of a child. Far from alienating the reader, it creates an affinity for their humanity. Who hasn't experienced regret? Don't Look For Me takes the repercussions of regret, along with the subsequent miscommunication that follows, to a whole other level. Who will pay the ultimate price? If you love second-guessing characters' motives while trying to make all of the pieces fit Don't Look For Me will check all of the boxes. Perfectly paced, a twisting tale awaits!

This is one creepy thriller that will leave you guessing until the very end. It’s heartbreaking and heart pounding at the same time. Wow... the book leads you on so many wrong paths that you don’t know who to believe until the end. Usually I can guess a book’s ending less than half way through. All my guesses were wrong this time. A great story. Probably the best book I’ve read in weeks. A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc.

This is a fast-paced, original thriller that kept me reading till it’s shocking end. I liked the depth she gave to the Clarke family, especially surrounding their complicated past and how one horrible event sent each of them on different paths. I did feel like Nicole and Molly’s voices felt a tad similar but I enjoyed each of their perspectives equally.

You can see the first reveal coming and it comes fairly soon, but the second one caught me totally off guard. While it involves a trope I’m not the biggest fan of, I think it was executed fairly well overall.

This is certainly my favorite of Walker’s books thus far and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!

I almost DNF'd this book. I got about 25% in and was bored with the repetitive and choppy inner dialogue. So I did something I never do, I skipped to the end and read the last chapter just to see if the ending was at least a good indication that the rest of the book would get better. I was intrigued at that point, so I went back and continued to read. It took me longer than I'd normally take to finish a book, but I'm glad I did give it a chance.

Even after reading the final chapter in advance, there is still one really shocking part that left me with a dropped jaw. I certainly did not see that twist coming! I mean, it's far-fetched and not even close to believable when everything up to that point was at least pretty reasonable to assume it could happen. I had to keep re-reading that part several times since there are too many names to remember that I got confused about who was who for a while there. The ending still left things too open-ended for my liking. I know it takes place 7 months later and we do get a glimpse into how their lives are now that the danger has ended, but there was still at least one issue left unfinished that bothered me.

I wasn't a big fan of many of the characters. They all seemed a bit self-centered and overdramatic. I did start to like Nicole and Molly by the end. Nicole was starting to show her loving side again who was processing grief better. And Molly was just someone who really just needed a break after losing her daughter to an accident and having her family shun her. She fought until the end and I had to give her credit for being so strong after she initially came off weak.

Alice (the little girl) reminded me of one of those creepy kids in a horror movie. I tried to like her since I knew she was an innocent party being manipulated, but it was really hard to with all the things she said and did.

I'm typically a romance reader (whether that be contemporary, dark, suspense, etc.), but I do enjoy a good mystery too to keep things interesting. Karin Slaughter is my typical go-to mystery author, but since Wendy Walker seems to be popular and this invite for an ARC came up, I decided to give this 'new to me' author a chance.

Thank you to Netgalley, Wendy, and St. Martin's Press for an advance copy of Don't Look For Me.

This is my second Wendy Walker book, my first being Emma In The Night. I love Wendy's ability to write flawed characters and flawed situations that you still can't help but root for. Don't Look For Me is a mod podge of people all battling demons that takes us on a wild ride trying to figure who exactly is responsible for all the problems encountered.

Molly goes missing on the anniversary of a family tragedy. Feeling unwanted and like more of a burden than asset to her husband and children, it's widely speculated that she made herself disappear. However, the story is told through multi-POV and we learn that is not the case. Molly was taken, and it was not a random abduction.

I felt all of the characters were developed and explored nicely, even the small side cast. There were several twists. Every time I thought I had it figured out, I was wrong. It was a creepy read, I felt uncomfortable reading it home alone at night sometimes, which in my book is a job well done.

I truly enjoyed this book. It’s a fast paced, emotional page turner. An awesome psychological thriller full of mystery and suspense. So many unexpected twists and turns throughout. I recommend this book if you like edge of your seat, pulse pounding thrillers. This review is based on a complimentary pre-release copy from NetGalley.

Don't look for me is a mystery that opens with a tragedy. Molly has has three children., two girls and a boy. One girl, Anne, dies in her driveway as she runs out of the house and her Mother is pulling in from work. Anne was about five years old. Nicole was in her senior year and her son was a freshman in a private high school. The accident weighs heavily on Molly and the family suffers in their own private way of guilt. On a trip back from visiting Molly's son there is a bad rain storm and she ran out of gas. She tries to walk to a near by gas station but its closed. On the highway she sees a truck driver with a little girl. Molly waves them down and they stop. That is the beginning of a mystery kidnapping and what unfolds will have you guessing until the end. I received this book free from NetGalley

Have you ever wished to just disappear? Sometimes life can overwhelm us and we feel like chucking everything in and just walk away. Is this what happened to Molly or are there more sinister forces at play?

A brilliantly written story that I read in 1 sitting. Very good twists and it kept me guessing till the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Overall, Wendy Walker knows suspense and how to do an ending. I truly wanted to know what happened to Molly Clarke. I may have to go back and look into more of her backlist, honestly.

Molly Clarke has had a very bad day. Her husband had been his usual cold self, her daughter started a vicious argument and after a four hour drive to see her son play football, he refused to acknowledge her. Oh, and it’s also the anniversary of her youngest daughter’s death, a death that she was responsible for. And she’s driving into a hurricane. Then her car runs out of gas....

So when Molly is offered a ride into town, she accepts. This begins a nightmare that will envelop her, her husband John and her children Nicole and Ethan. The police are all too happy to close the case and list Molly as a runaway wife. But is she? And who can you trust in the small town of Hastings?

Don’t Look for Me is an exciting, well plotted read that shows how grief affects people differently. With warring themes of deception and forgiveness, this psychological thriller draws you in and doesn’t let go. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Wendy Walker for this ARC.

Daaaammmn!!!!!!! Don't Look For Me was FANTASTIC! I read this in two sittings .... just wow! All the stars!

Years ago a terrible accident turned Molly and her family's world upside down. Her children can't bring themselves to forgive her, her husband seems to have fallen out of love with her. Now, Molly Clarke is missing. Believed to have abandoned her family. Molly's daughter Nicole doesn't believe her mother would just walk away. She is searching for her...

You guys! This definitely takes the top spot for psychological thriller this summer ... it blew my damn mind! It's twisty, so very twisty! Packed full of suspense and jaw dropping moments - one in particular made me set the book down for a second so I could process what I had read. It's GOOD, you need it! Trust me.

Huge thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for my review copy!!

This is one heck of a psychological suspense thriller!
Molly Clarke's family life takes a tumble after the tragic accident that took her nine year old daughter from them. After an argument with her eldest daughter, getting shunned by her son and distance growing between her and her husband, she decides that maybe she should just walk away and start anew. Little did she know she would get help in doing just that when she's picked up by a man and his daughter after running out of gas in the midst of a hurricane.
With more than a few twists that were surprising, this fast paced, well written story held the edge of my seat interest from start to finish. With believable characters I was invested in, I couldn't turn the pages fast enough to learn how their stories resolved. I really enjoyed the ride and am sure this will be another hit by Wendy Walker.

Thank you to Wendy Walker, St Martins Press and NetGalley for the ARC to read, review and enjoy.

What just happened? This was a great thriller. I don't normally read alot of thrillers so I tend to think everyone is guilty so when one of the characters was 'revealed' I said out loud - WHAT??? The author hooks you right in from the first page and it's a fast-paced can't put down kind of book. I highly recommend it!

Don't Look For Me kept me hooked throughout seeing the story from two different perspectives. A cleverly plotted psychological thriller that will keep you wanting for more!

So I don’t know about anyone else, but I am a little tired of books being marketed as thrillers when they are slow and not very exciting. This is not one of those books. This is a fast-paced, engrossing thriller that you will want to binge read.

One night, during a storm, Molly Clarke walked away from her life as a wife and mother. Or did she?

I don’t want to write any more about the plot because I’m afraid of giving anything away, but this was a great book to get me out of my thriller slump and now I want to read all the good thrillers out there!

4.5 stars

Molly Clarke has dealt with tragedy in her and she is dealing with the grief and guilt from it--and the guilt and attitudes from her children. One night, on a long drive home during an impending hurricane, she runs out of gas just before she reaches the gas station. She abandons her car on the side of the road and now she is missing.

What happened to Molly Clarke?

That's what her oldest child, Nicole, is going to find out. She goes to the town of Hastings where her mother was last seen. Nicole received a call from a woman claiming to see her mother that night. This is how she starts her own investigation into what happened to her mother.

I really enjoyed this one. It was fast paced and twisty. Full of suspense! It kept me guessing throughout. Just like Nicole, I wasn't sure who she could trust.

Thank you to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for a digital advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review.

You know that fulfilled feeling you get after you have just finished a great book? That’s how I felt after reading this one! I have not read a mystery/thriller recently that shocked me like this one did, and I was so incredibly impressed by practically every aspect of this novel.

While this book is obviously very plot driven, the characters are very important in the story. Nicole, the daughter of Molly – the women who “walked away” from her family, is the main and most important character in this story. The plot follows her footsteps, as she is the key in deciding how the story will unfold. Her character was written so well, and she makes huge strides and develops a crazy amount in this novel. I also really enjoyed most of the other important side characters. There were quite a few of them to keep track, but that could have been because I was reading this novel alongside another one, which is something I rarely ever do.

Like I mentioned earlier, the plot twists in this book shocked me. I have not read a book in recent memory that boggled my mind like this one did. The twists and turns in this book were so well crafted and so unexpected, yet, they all made perfect sense in the end. Nothing seemed unrealistic, which is something I take into consideration when reading and reviewing thrillers. There was a point near the 70% mark of this novel where I sat right up in my bed when reading this, simply because I could not fathom one of the twists!

The writing in this novel is really fantastic and unique. The story is written in two perspectives, the perspective of Molly and her daughter, Nicole. Molly’s perspective is in first-person, while Nicole’s is written in third-person. This change in writing style was subtle, but made perfect sense once the story reached the last few scenes. I was never confused by the writing style, and appreciated how distinctive each perspective read.

Overall, I loved every aspect of this novel, and gave it 5/5 stars. If you consider yourself a well-read thriller reader, I would highly recommend this one, as nothing was easy to predict!

My Review:⭐️⭐⭐️.5/ 5 stars

Voluntary Disappearances have always been intriguing and mysterious to me. In this new thriller by Wendy Walker, Molly Clarke, mother of three, has felt at loss after she accidentally kills her youngest daughter by a tragic car accident. She blames herself - and her husband and other children are not the same after. They look at her with disdain - like they would rather she not exist or with annoyance. In the middle of a storm, it seems she voluntarily abandons her vehicle on the side of the road and disappears with a mysterious note at a casino hotel that she is leaving and to not look for her anymore. Her daughter Nicole, who is struggling with her own demons, does not believe this and continues to investigate her mother’s disappearance after a phone call from a woman who claims to have seen her mother the day of the storm. This book follows the POV of Molly from the first few days of the disappearance and Nicole’s days after the disappearance until it eventually coincides in the same timeline. The whole situation with Molly is so CREEPY and seems it could happen to anyone. And either Nicole pivots back and forth in being the biggest idiot or the smartest person in the story. An entertaining read for sure, but the ending has a surprise twist that I definitely did not expect. However, I felt there could have been a lot more to keep it exciting throughout. So-so read for me...

Thank you @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review! It is out on Sept 15!

Wow! What a wild ride this book is! Wendy Walker does a phenomenal job of writing a story that captures you and keeps you wanting to turn the page. With dual perspectives and cliff hangers at the end of each chapter you won’t want to put this one down. I spent the entire book bouncing between who I was suspicious of and I was genuinely surprised by the twists and turns in this novel. I don’t want to tell you any part of the plot because you’ll want to discover the pieces yourself! I also found there to be a definite eery quality which I loved. I thought Molly was a fantastic main character. I admired her strength and the way she used her knowledge to her advantage. I also really appreciated the exploration of grief and trauma in this story. There are themes in this book that go deeper than your average thriller. This is a book I highly recommend!

Don’t Look For Me comes out everywhere September 15th. I encourage you to pick this one up!

4.5/5

I received an eARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.