I got a digital copy of this book on Netgalley. I started to read. And read. And read. I couldn't put this book down! I ended up finishing it in one day! This story was just what I needed. There was mystery, suspense, adventure, and more! I kept reading and turning pages because I couldn't wait to see what would happen next! This is the story of Molly (the mother) and her family who are all recovering from an unspeakable family tragedy. Molly, John, Nicole (NIc), and Evan are all feeling, reacting, and dealing in different ways. The plot thickens when Molly gets caught in a hurricane and goes missing without a trace except for a note imploring people not to look for her. The town of Hastings mobilizes to join the search, all to no avail. Then, there is a twist and new information is discovered that leads Nic back, vowing to find her mother. Throughout the story, the reader becomes aware of secrets that the people of Hastings would rather keep hidden. Nic embarks on a relentless search for her mom as the clock continues to tick. I was on the edge of my seat as I was caught up in this thriller and wondering if NIc would find her mother safe or was it already too late? In this time of COVID and uncertainty, this book was exactly what I needed to capture and keep my attention and distract me. So, does Nic find her mother? You will have to read this book to find out! I look forward to reading more books by this author.

DON'T LOOK FOR ME has some decent moments of suspense and a dual narrative that combines into a pretty okay thriller. Our first perspective is missing Mom Molly as she is being held captive for reasons she isn't aware of (at first), and the second is of her daughter Nic who has gone back to the small town her mother was last seen in hopes of finding some clues. There isn't much mystery as to what happened to Molly, as from the get go we know; rather, the mystery is why she has been taken, and what that has to do with Nic. Walker slowly puts the clues into place, and it held my attention enough, but none of the characters were super compelling. I did, however, find myself tricked by the big reveal, as while I kind of saw where the narrative was going, I didn't know how it was going to get there. That's all I will say, as I don't want to spoil it for anyone who may want to read it. It's an entertaining enough read, though it doesn't really reinvent any wheels, nor does it have much new to say within the genre.

DON'T LOOK FOR ME is fine. I'm definitely going to see what Walker has to offer next. I think that I had hoped for more, however.

Molly Clarke just disappeared. Her home life wasn't great, her teenage daughter hated her and she had a terrible tragedy happen, that she was still not over. Her husband did not seem to be there for her and so life was not happy.
Molly is driving during a bad storm. Her car runs out of gas and she starts walking. A truck stops and the driver offers her a ride, she is wary, but the man has a little girl with him and seems friendly, so she gets into the truck.
This novel keeps you interested and flows well.

What a twisty, unexpected ending!!

Molly Clarke and her daughter, Nicole (Nic) have spent the last five years dealing with crushing guilt about the death of their 9 year-old daughter/sister. A horrific accident has created unbearable rifts in the family.

Now, one of them has gone missing. Was the guilt too much? Read and find out!

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for my review copy!

Loved this book. Gripped me from the beginning. I couldn’t put it down. Did not see the end coming! Great plot. Go read this.

It's been five years since Molly Clarke killed her youngest daughter Annie. Her whole family is trying to cope with guilt and grief ... actually the crux of this heart wrenching complex narrative. Molly's despair results in an all pervasive feeling of unworthiness and self-loathing. This was truly a tragedy and an accident ... an imperfect juxtaposition of events resulting in an unavoidable accident. But, who can recover from holding the broken body of your child. Nicole, at age sixteen, was in charge of her siblings ... Annie and brother Evan. However, she had much more important things to occupying her mind .... talking on the phone and ignoring both siblings. When Annie heard the ice cream truck she ran down the driveway hellbent on satisfying her desires. The whole family deals with grief and guilt imperfectly. Nicole, now twenty-one, is infested with anger ... previously an honor student and on her way to a prestigious college ... only to drop out of life and ultimately be expelled from school for drug usage. Hardly a day goes by without telling her mother she hates her ... and reminding her that she "killed" Annie. Evan is functioning in a boarding school and immerses himself in football, but ignores any overtures of concern or love by his mother. And lastly, the husband John has withdrawn his love and interest in the family ... especially for Molly. He feigns sleep when she comes home late from a meeting. A hellish storm is forecasted and yet Molly drives several hours to watch Evan's football game ... only to be shunned and ignored by her son. On her way back home down Route 7 the storm breaks and she finds herself out of gas just shy of a known Gas n' Go station.
Walking through the numbing cold and rain she finds the station closed and boarded up.
The next day her abandoned vehicle is found on the roadside. A search party from the neighboring town of Hastings Pass is mounted to no avail, without uncovering any leads. The search is halted and the family is left to stew in their overwhelming guilt. Then a credit card charge is reported from a nearby casino ... and a hand written note is uncovered in a local hotel room, simply stating "Don't look for me!". What does this mean? Is Molly's body lying somewhere in a ditch ... or has she really "walked away"... or has she been kidnapped and held captive.
Wendy Walker proves to be a master storyteller and weaves a complex and twisted but yet insightful tale of grief, tragedy and obsession. This beautifully written page-turned escalates to a shocking and unsuspected denouement. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing an Uncorrected Proof in exchange for an honest review. This has been my first and certainly not my last encounter with the writing genius of Wendy Walker.

Several reviews posted allude to the creep factor and I definitely agree. This story had it along with an interesting dual POV. The twists and reveals kept coming at a pace that kept me turning the pages.

This didn’t grab me right away like I expected it to. And that’s completely a me thing. I was a bit hung up on a part of the story that I’m not always keen to read. But once it took hold there was no looking back and had me guessing until the very end. Definitely recommend.

What a wild ride! One night Molly walks away from her life but did she? This book is a thrilling ride from start to finish! Did Molly walk away from her family? The clues say she did but her daughter doesn't believe it. Nicole is determined to find her mother no matter what! I enjoyed this thriller and it kept me on the edge of my seat while I was reading! I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.

Molly Clarke makes the long trek to see one of her son's games and never returns home. Evidence found leads people to think she walked away from her life and wants to be left alone. There are things that have happened over the years that would support Molly feeling this way. Her daughter, Nic, isn't quite convinced that her mother just up and left. Nic wants answers and heads back to Hastings, the town where her mother supposedly decided to leave her life behind. What Nic finds is more questions than answers, and different people who are either leery of telling the truth or willing to straight up lie to her face. Will Nic be able to solve the mystery of her mother's disappearance?

Never Look for Me was a wild ride! It was told from the alternating viewpoints of Molly and Nic. Suspicions are cast on several different characters and I kept changing my guesses on who was behind it all. I wanted answers and read this in two days. This is the first book I've read from this author and I'm looking forward to reading more!

Loved! Wendy Walker delivers an exciting story with plenty of twists and turns. After Molly Clarke's family suffers a terrible accident, she disappears during a storm and her daughter Nicole tries to find her. This book will definitely keep you on the edge of your seat!

Take note - THIS is a prime example of a perfect suspense novel!

This is my first read by Wendy Walker and she had me hooked from the first to last page - finished it all in one sitting.
Not only is her writing style solid, she created an excellent, emotionally charged storyline crafted through dual POV's, complex characters, and intriguing mystery. She didn't leave me hanging with unanswered questions, she went above and beyond from beginning to end and even popped in a great twist!

I highly recommend for suspense and mystery lovers.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a gifted copy in exchange for my review.

4 stars for Don't Look for Me by Wendy Walker! Wow this book was creepy from the very first chapter and I was hooked.

Molly Clarke was ready to walk away from her troubled life. At least, that's the story that's being told. Her car is found abandoned on the side of a highway, a note with her clothes is found in a nearby hotel. The authorities are ready to give up looking, but her daughter Nicole, riddled with guilt about how cold she was towards her mother, is not. The book alternates between Molly & Nicole's chapters as the reader slowly unravels what exactly happened to Molly from her own perspective and from Nicole's discoveries. Each chapter leaves you hanging on the edge of your seat, compelled to keep reading and figure out what is going on.

I flew through this book in less than 24 hours because it was such a compulsive, addicting read. If you're looking to get wrapped up in an insane and twisty thriller this Fall, pick up Don't Look for Me when it comes out on September 15th! I am excited to go back and read more of Walker's books now and she has become an auto-buy author for me.

Special thanks to St Martin's Press, Wendy Walker and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Don’t Look for Me by Wendy Walker is an absolute page turner that tugged at every emotion I had! There is so much tragedy that’s happened to the Clarke Family but we hear the most from Molly Clarke and her daughter, Nicole, both who feel enormous guilt for the death of 9-year-old Annie 5 years ago. Their lives are torn apart, there is anger, miscommunication, lack of communication … so much dysfunction in this once happy family.

When Molly makes the long trip to watch her son play football at his boarding school, it’s during a hurricane but her guilt and feelings of unworthiness drive her to make this trip. When her son sees her standing there but completely ignores her, it’s the last straw. Molly’s car runs out of gas on the way home and as she’s walking through the rain and the wind, she thinks to herself, why not just disappear, nobody would care, nobody would miss me. Then a truck stops and she gets in. Her car is found by the police but nobody knows what happened to Molly.

Aaah! This book hit all the emotions! It’s both heart-wrenching and terrifying with the creepiest atmosphere … ever! There’s more to the story than Molly walking away and Nicole, her daughter, is going to find out what happened. Nicole herself is already spiraling downward, using booze and men to cope with her own guilt and anger. When a witness comes forward with information on the truck that Molly got into, it gives Nicole the fuel she needs to move forward with her mother’s case. I’m going to stop myself here because I don’t want to risk spoilers but this is a complex and convoluted story with twists and red herrings that kept me wondering all the way to the end! Insidious, disturbing and unputdownable!

A big thank you to Macmillan Reading Insiders Club, St. Martins Press and Wendy Walker for gifting me this DRC in exchange for my review.

This is the third of Walker's books I've read and they're always solid thrillers. I wasn't sure what to expect based on the description, but oh wow did it get twisty. I've been reading a bunch of thrillers recently and have started to crave something different than an unreliable narrator with a murder that maybe happened. I really enjoyed the narrative structure - you're getting different facets of the story at different points in time. I did guess some of the twists, but not all. I particularly appreciated how Walker really delved into the psychology of grief and how it can change family dynamics. It made this book more than just a standard thriller.

This book was so freaking good. I love this author. I can never figure out the ending in advance, which is absolute gold for authors in this genre.

Molly runs out of gas during a storm and then is picked up by a stranger.
Fourteen days later, her daughter Nicole receives a new clue despite the fact that the missing persons case has been closed since they found a note from Molly stating that she was leaving and not to bother looking for her.
Did Molly really leave? What will Nicole do to get her back?

This is so good. I definitely recommend it.

Tragedy and sorrow lead a family on a path of self destruction; an interloper can take what is needed from this crew to solidify a dastardly plan. Molly suffered a great tragedy and her family is falling to pieces.. Why wouldn't she leave it all behind? Why wouldn't she want to start over where she doesn't have to remind her family of what she did? Why can't a little girl have a mommy that loves her? What happens when someone decides that's what needs to happen?

This book hooked me from the first page and I raced through it to see how it would end! It had the perfect amount of creepiness (lots of chills without being downright terrifying or gruesome). I didn’t completely love the ending which is the only reason I didn’t give it five stars. But overall, I really loved this!

A car abandoned in the middle of a small town. A note that was found at a nearby hotel. It looks as if Molly Clarke has walked away from her life. Is that what happened?

This was my first Wendy Walker book, and love her writing, I can't wait to read more by her. This was one twisty read! The pacing was perfect filling you with suspense and dread. So many questions and you try to make sense of whats happening, who, and why? The twist was great one I really didn't expect. I narrowed down to the people I thought it was! I was close but I had no idea what really going on.

Are you a good Mommy?

A family torn apart by tragedy and each withdrawn from the others and out of feelings pushing blame.

Molly Clarke, the wife of John and mother to Nicole, Evan, & Annie. Molly drives hours to the boarding school to attend her son's football game, despite Nicole telling her mother that he doesn't want her there.

Molly can feel her daughter's hatred, her son's indifference, and her husband's lack of love, but for every game Molly still makes the long drive to watch her son play.

This is one night, that Molly should've stayed home. There is a hurricane on the way, and after the game Molly begins the drive home, only to run out of gas. The gas station, she has walked to, is closed due to the storm.

Molly being despondent thinks about just walking away and starting over. A credit card charge and a note left behind lead to a search, but it's as if Molly walked off the face of the earth. Police have concluded that Molly walked away.

When Nicole gets a call from a woman telling her a few things as a witness, Nicole must follow up and heads back to Hastings. Holes are poked into the woman's story, and in a short time, Nicole realizes everyone she has spoken to has holes. She doesn't know who to trust, not even her own father, and things are not adding up, but she is not going to give up until her mother is found.

This was an amazing thriller! I was pulled into the heartache of the tragedy, and how each family member was trying to cope followed by the twists and turns of Nicole's need to learn more, and her coming to grips with her own guilt and the parting last words said to Molly, that became the drive to find her mother. Also, trying to decipher who was trustworthy and who was lying.

I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me an ARC. I have voluntarily reviewed this book.

Molly Clarke goes missing. Does she want to be found, or does a note left indicate that she does not? Her daughter Nicole tries to find her after most others had given up. It turns out that Molly had been targeted for a kidnap and was quite well-hidden. The novel is about the search and finding out who the kidnapper is. Author Wendy Walker does a good job of unfolding those events to maintain excitement The writing is good, and the terror that the victims felt feels very real. I recommend this novel.
Thanks, Netgalley, for the ARC.