Don't Look For Me is about a family still reeling from a death five years ago that now must deal with the mysterious disappearance of mother Molly. (swipe left for a full summary) ⁠The story alternates between the perspectives of Molly and her daughter Nic. ⁠⠀
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I cannot remember the last time I felt as genuinely scared by a book as I did this one. And at no point did I guess the plot twist – a rarity for someone who reads as many mysteries and thrillers as I do! I couldn't put it down until I had finished and even now I'm still thinking about it and trying to process the ending.⁠⠀

There were points when I found the plot to be a little confusing – there are a lot of secondary characters – but I like that the author didn’t dumb the story down. I do wish it were about 50 pages shorter.

All readers who love mysteries, thrillers, and suspense novels need to pre-order Don't Look for Me now – it's on sale next Tuesday, September 14th!⁠

5⭐️
“No matter what path taken as a
child, survivors grow up believing they should have done something differently.” ~Sarah E. Olsen

I picked this up and found myself glued to it like a day of binge watching a whole season of my favorite show on Netflix in one sitting. I couldn’t put it down. I planned my whole day around it. I made excuses to my husband to make sure I could finish it.
It was really good. 5 star good.
I heard about this author and the book on Goodreads and had to read it.
The story centers around the death of a family member and no one can handle the aftermath. And then another family member goes missing.

The book:
• Is a mystery, suspense, psychological thriller.
• non-fiction, stand-alone.
• Realistic theme with believable events.

Overall captivating, nail biting with lots of suspense till the very end. I highly recommend this to anyone who loves good writing and mystery.

This was a NETGALLEY gift from the publisher and all opinions are my own.

Wow, what a wild ride. I was glued to this book from the first page. Every page thereafter kept me guessing and I never saw the end coming. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that loves thrillers!

Excellent! One of the better WW novels I've read - I couldn't put it down and found myself racing to figure out what happened. The ending is a little crazy but overall, a very smart novel. Would definitely recommend to suspense fans.

Don’t Look for Me is what you call a wild, amazing, edge of your seat thriller. I was completely and utterly hooked from the very first page, and all the way up until the last page was turned. I seriously could not focus on anything else in my life besides this book, I had to know what was going to happen. This book was so suspenseful and full of drama, I loved it and I feel like it is going to be a hugely talked about book.

In this book we follow Molly and her daughter Nicole. Years ago, their family faced a tragic event and haven’t been the same since. One night coming home from her sons’ game at school, Molly realizes how her whole family hates her and she hates herself. It is a wicked storm and she runs out of gas, the next day no one knows where she is. The police think it was a walk away, she decided she wasn’t good enough for her family and walked away from it all. Nicole, her daughter, isn’t buying it, she knows they all have demons they have to face, but her mom would never just give up on her family. Nicole will do everything and anything to figure out where her mother is.

Most thrillers lead you up to where the missing person is, but not this book. This book was insanely unique and had the perspective of the person held captive, and of the people trying to find that person. It was seriously an unputdownable book. I felt as though I couldn’t trust anyone in this book, and actually had to tell myself to breathe because I was so pent up with stress and anxiety. Reading about what horrors the kidnapped person is going through is rough, but it was crazy to see both sides. The twists and turns were spectacular, and I didn’t see any of them coming. Not to mention they were all believable, which actually made this a little creepy at times. It was quite realistic and it freaked me out knowing it could and probably does happen. I really enjoyed the ending and saying I was surprised is an understatement. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Wow. Wow. Wow. This is a compelling page-turner that would not let me go. This book did not have to look for me. I was glued to it and finished in one day -- sneaking chapters in around the rest of the tasks needing my attention. Molly Clarke is missing. Did she walk away? Who could blame her? The trauma her family experienced when Molly accidentally struck the youngest child with her car has resulted in walls obstructing the relationships between husband and wife; mother and child. Molly's daughter does not give up and it is heartwarming to watch Nicole push and push to get to the bottom of the mystery. Filled with thrilling moments of peril, some convincing red herrings, and a well-timed plot twist here and there; this is one of my favorite reads of 2020.

Thank you to St. Martins Press and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for a honest review.

// 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊 / 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝗪 //⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣
Title: #DontLookForMe
Author: @wendywalkerauthor
Publisher:@stmartinspress
Pub Date: 9/15/2020⁣
Type: #Hardcover #FinishedCopy
Total Pages: 352
Genre: #Mystery #Thriller⁣
Must Read Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⁣⁣⁣⁣💫

My thoughts:

I often wonder how authors come up with the ideas/plots behind their books. I can honestly say, I have never read ANYTHING quite like Don't Look For Me and I am desperate to uncover how and why Wendy came up with this book idea! It was brilliantly written and for the life of me, I could not put it down. There are a lot of mystery/thriller novels out in the market today that lack originality or punch and this was NOT ONE OF THEM! I am astonished that Walker can continue to write such amazing and unique stories. Her writing style is no like other and I know I am in for a treat when I open her books. This book packs a doozy .... full of lots of (un)likeable characters and the perfect amount of suspense to keep you fully engaged. I went into this one without any knowledge of what the book was actually about and I would highly suggest that my followers do the same. This will likely rank as one of my top thrillers of 2020 ... and I definitely encourage you to grab this as soon as it publishes! Bravo, Wendy!

If all you need from a book is a propulsive, creepy-in-a-good-but-not-supernatural-way thriller, you will be highly satisfied with Don't Look for Me. If you want even more -- say. a richly complex family dynamic under the microscope of tragedy and press coverage, there will still be lasting satisfaction from this book.

And if, finally, you demand from your reading an intelligent narrative that treats all characters and the reader with respect, this could be your new favorite book. It scored on all levels, particularly the complicated interaction between mothers and daughters -- in this case Molly and Nicole, a mother who has disappeared and the almost-estranged daughter who relentlessly searches for her.

I am late to the Wendy Walker fan club, but I will be making up for lost time. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance readers copy.

Excellent psychological suspense! Well drawn characters, edge of your seat plot combine to make this a must read!

This is a story about fortitude and healing, about finding the strength to perform the basic acts that keep us going and sustain life. This involves facing those demons who want to do nothing but hold us back from what they know is salvation, a place down a road they tell you is impassible. While it may be covered with brambles and thorns, one can still pass through if the will to do so is strong enough. This involves recognizing what is most important.

Molly Clarke is in this dark place, trapped in a mental prison of her own making, reinforced by her beliefs. A traumatic event has caused her family to split and when Molly leaves a note and disappears, her family believes she is gone for good.

Except for her daughter, Nicole. Nic has her own demons, ones she cannot exorcise without finding the truth. Nic returns to the small town where her mother disappeared, doing her best to reopen the investigation that was essentially closed. The more Nic discovers, the more she feels that people are lying to her and the truth becomes difficult to separate from the fiction.

Author Wendy Walker starts the suspense right from Chapter One and keeps it rolling throughout the book. I thought that early on I had deciphered the clues and solved the mystery only to discover that Ms. Walker had planted a few red herrings for readers to find. The result was a satisfying read that I raced through in a few readings. Four stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a complimentary electronic copy of this title.

This was a great suspense read! Lots of twists and action. Thoroughly enjoyed and quickly read! I will definitely be reading others by this author!

This is my first book by Wendy Walker. I have definitely found a new author that I want to read more of!!! This book is filled with suspense. I didn't want to put it down. Molly Walker has had some bad things happen in her life. Her family is growing apart and she's feeling a lot of guilt over something that happened with her daughter. I don't want to give away the story, but if you like mystery and suspense, you will really enjoy this book! The story is told in two perspectives, and jumps back and forth between timelines for the first half, and then both people are in the same time frame. I really enjoyed this book. The characters are all flawed, but I found myself rooting for them. Well worth reading!!

I was definitely caught by surprise by who the villains were and I think you will be too. The story is eerie and filled with suspense. When Molly disappears, her daughter Nicole goes searching for her. It is a twisted plot told from several point of views that retraces the steps that brings the characters to this point in time. The author does an especially great job with Alice’s character which makes her seem almost surreal.

Molly Clarke has been a mere shell of herself since her car struck and killed her 9-year-old daughter Annie five years ago. The incident was an unavoidable accident but Molly can't forgive herself and - in her profound grief - has become distanced from her husband John, teenage son Ethan, and 21-year-old daughter Nicole (Nic).

Nic, who was babysitting Annie at the time, also feels guilty, and fills up her 'hollow spaces' with vodka and one-night-stands.

Molly still makes it her business to make the four hour drive to her son's boarding school every other Thursday, to watch his football games. As Molly is returning home one evening, a storm hits and her car runs out of gas. Being just outside Hastings, Connecticut, Molly gets out to seek help, hails a passing truck, and vanishes.

When Molly's car is found, her family descends on Hastings, but the police can't find a clue to Molly's whereabouts. Two days later a note signed by Molly is found in a hotel room, asking her family not to look for her.

Molly's family won't give up that easily and offers a big reward for information about her whereabouts. Two weeks later, while Molly's husband is away on business, a woman comes forward with information and Nic returns to Hastings to check it out.

The book is told from the alternating perspectives of Molly and Nic. Molly's sections provide a day by day precis of what she's experiencing; and Nic's segments detail her search for her mother and her interactions with people in Hastings, especially the sheriff; deputy sheriff; hotel manager; and bartender.

The tension builds up little by little as we learn of Molly's plight and observe the suspicious behavior of people in Hastings.

That's all I can say without spoilers.

The book is suspenseful but moves too slowly for my taste. I don't enjoy books that are (mostly) step by step descriptions of what people are doing. I also got tired of seeing the phrase 'hollow spaces', which is used again and again to describe Nic's state of mind. Moreover the story's climax is overwritten and has elements that are not believable. That said, many readers loved the book so you might want to check it out for yourself.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author (Wendy Walker), and the publisher (St.Martin's Press) for a copy of the book.

Wendy Walker has done it again. Yet another edge of your seat thriller. And you will not know who the real criminal is until the very end. It is that good !!! Molly Clarke disappears, did she leave on her own ? Or was she taken ? The Clarke's lives are falling apart. Is it all related to a girl who went missing years earlier ? Or a completely separate crime. Fast read and hard to put down. Excellent as always.

Don't Look for Me by Wendy Walker is a superb page turner. Well worth the time and the read! Looking forward to the next novel.

Wendy Walker's Don't Look for Me is a book that broke my heart, kept my pulse pounding, and literally made me gasp out loud; it doesn't get much better than that!!!

Realistic, flawed characters, a tight plot, escalating suspense and a cheer them on story will keep readers engaged from the first page to the last. Kudos on another good read, Wendy!!! Keep them coming!!!

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions stated here are indeed my own.

One night, Molly Clarke walked away from her life. She doesn’t want to be found. Or at least, that’s the story.

I have been needing a good thriller in my life that I couldn’t put down and this was it. I started it Saturday morning and finished it Saturday night. About 15% of the way in I thought that I figured out how the story was going to pan out, but boy was I wrong. The author did such a phenomenal job by leaving us hanging at the end of each chapter so that it’s impossible to put down.

This book will be our on September 15th and I highly recommend getting it! Thank you @stmartinspress and @netgalley for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

Wow! This book kept me on the edge of my seat. I didn't want to stop reading. There were twists and turns; some I saw coming and some I didn't. With the backstory of Molly you could see how people would think she could just walk away from her family, but the daughter, Nic, knew she could not. Nic would not give up looking for her mom. The mother and the daughter's characters are really explored; not so much for the dad and the son. Would have liked a little more interaction with the dad but in spite of that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I read it in 2 days.

I received this book from NetGalley. I have read quite a few of Wendy Walker’s books so I was excited to get this one early.

Molly Clarke has had a hard go in life lately, her family relationships were strained and she isn’t happy. When she disappears, it is easy to imagine she could have walked away from it all. However, her daughter knows that something isn’t right with the official story.

Walker wrote a compelling story that kept me wanting to turn the page. As for the twists, some I saw coming and some I didn’t. I felt like some of the more peripheral characters, like Molly’s son and husband were a bit under developed, but that was probably necessary to keep the main story moving.

For fans of Wendy Walker or fans of “there’s a twist” trillers, this book won’t disappoint.