I could not put this book down! Be prepared when you start this book, you week have a sleepless night or two. 🌟🌟🌟🌟1/2 rounded up to five for goodreads. Thank you to St Martin’s Press, Netgalley, and Wendy Walker for the book in exchange for an honest review!

If you even remotely like suspense, mystery or thriller novels, you are going to DEVOUR this book by Wendy Walker! From the beginning to the very end, you are on an emotional rollercoaster as she develops her characters beautifully. The shocking twists leave you hanging on every word.

It has your evil, sick and demented characters naturally, but it also shows the love and strength of what a mother daughter bond can really be...even, when they didn’t have that bond before evil entered the picture.

Thank you to St Martins Press and NetGalley for an ARC in return for my honest review.

I don’t normally read books in the genre but I am so glad I did. The story begins with Molly and her life has been changed forever after the death of her youngest child. She leaves home one day and never returns. Her daughter Nicole sets out to find her and encounters many dangers along the way. The story has so many twists and turns that I could not put it down. You need to read it for yourself and find out what happens to Molly. Did she walk away asking for no one to find her or does something more sinister happen to her???

This was an un-putdownable book! I thought I'd read a few chapters here and there between working, and I ended up staying late and getting up early because I needed to see what happened next. Especially since I couldn't guess what was going on. I *thought* I'd guessed it, but I was totally wrong. I love misdirection like that. I am quickly becoming a solid Wendy Walker fan. Not only is the mystery in this book really well done, but Walker's character explorations and motivations are spot on, and this book is her best yet in this regard. She writes fully-formed characters with backstories that inform their decisions and make everything feel very three-dimensional. Additionally, I loved the dual perspectives of Molly and Nic.

Wendy Walker supplies her readers with another taut thriller: Don’t Look for Me. This standalone novel centers around the sudden disappearance of a woman, Molly Clarke, as she was returning home during a storm. It is assumed that she has purposefully run away from her family, ravaged with guilt over her role in the accidental death of her youngest child. Her oldest daughter, Nicole (Nic), refuses to give up the search for her mother even though everyone else seems to be quickly resuming their lives. Nic returns to Hastings, the small, run down New England town where her mother’s car was found abandoned. She had been contacted by a woman who claims to have seen Molly that night. Although her description and details are convincing, Nic and the authorities in town are suspicious that this new witness is motivated to collect the offered reward. Still, Nic wants to know how this woman came to know things that were not released to the public. The novel pivots back and forth between Molly and Nicole’s points-of-view, back and forth over the course of several days following Molly’s absence. Nic is tormented by her own memories and deeply conflicting feelings about her mother as a result of her sister’s death. Her struggles with alcoholism and compulsive promiscuity interfere with her judgement, but the men of Hastings she encounters all seem to be deceiving her in some way. It is the type of town that traps those who lack the wits to escape, and it becomes apparent that Molly is not the first woman who has inexplicably vanished from its boundaries. Walker skillfully interweaves timelines to a satisfying end, with some unexpected twists and a complex but credible conclusion. Although the inner monologues of the two women are at times repetitive, the characters are well-rendered and their emotional depth is impressively depicted. Don’t Look for Me would be a good pick for those looking for some solid suspense this Fall and fans of Wendy Walker will be sated by her latest effort.

Thanks to the author, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a pre-release copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

As with Wendy Walker’s previous novels, this one is impossible to put down. Molly’s life is at rock bottom. One of her daughters died and her other two kids hate her. Her husband doesn’t love her anymore. She could just walk away and nobody would care. But could she just disappear? Months later, her daughter Nic is still looking for her, in the town she was last seen. As is the case with small villages, everybody knows each other and they’re all hiding secrets. The story is told from alternating points of view. We hear what’s happening with Molly and follow Nic’s efforts to find her. I saw a few twists coming, but others were completely unexpected, so I kept reading to try to find out what was going to happen. But it’s the characters that make the plot work. Molly and Nic are not your typical dumb heroines, but strong, smart and resilient women. Their plans may not always work but they try their best. The final chapters are very suspenseful and I loved the conclusion.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/St. Martin's Press!

I'd never heard of this author but the description was intriguing so I gave it a shot. I'm so glad I did! What an amazing read! I finished this book in one day, it was impossible to put down. I couldn't wait to get to the end. Great characters, great story line, a surprise I ending I didn't see coming. I'll definitely check out this author again. Highly recommend!

It's been too long since a book pulled me in and wouldn't let go like "Don't Look for Me" did. Wendy Walker began with what could be considered a few simple facts and wove them into a riveting thriller of a mystery. She combines a strong plot with vivid characters and simply knows how to tell a story. First of her books I've read -- will not be the last. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51636605-don-t-look-for-me

A nonstop thrill ride of a book with unexpected emotional complexity. Molly Clarke's youngest daughter was killed in a terrible accident--and Molly was at the wheel. Years later, her life is unraveling along with her family. A series of poor choices lands Molly on the side of the road on the outskirts of a tiny town in the midst of a hurricane... And no one will be able to predict what happens next. Told in alternating chapters from Molly's point of view and that of her daughter, Nicole, Don't Look For Me is bound to be the IT book of the fall.

Don't Look for Me by Wendy Walker
Quick, grabbing read that I didn't want to put down till I read it all! Loved the alternating views, characters that I got to know, and twists and turns! This book has it all! Thank you Netgalley and the Publishers for letting me read this and leave my opinion.Was not disappointed, another great book from a really great author.

This was really fun- I read the whole thing in one sitting. It centers on Molly, a mother of 3 whose youngest daughter died horribly 5 years back, causing her family to be on a downward spiral ever since. She drives hours away through small towns every 2 weeks to see her son play football, and one night she runs out of gas in a storm. All the evidence points to her walking away from her life and not wanting to be found, but her grown daughter, Nicole, is convinced that she would never do that and sets off to investigate.

The POV alternates between Molly and Nicole so the reader knows immediately that the runaway story is untrue. It kept the story fast paced to go back and forth between Nicole's efforts to find her mom and Molly's efforts to escape the situation she has gotten herself into.

There are plenty of characters to consider when determining who the villain is and I went back and forth a few times. Even if you manage to figure it out, there was another huge twist at the end that shakes everything up again. There were a few editing issues (e.g., 7 hours turning into 9 hours later in the same paragraph, Vivian turning into Veronica after the first mention) but that didn't impede my enjoyment of the book.

I strongly recommend this book for anyone who likes fast-paced mysteries and doesn't mind reading late into the night to see what happens!

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

What an amazing read! This book pulled me in and kept me glued to the pages, literally from the first page to very last page. I read it in two sittings. I couldn't read it fast enough and at the same time I didn't want it to end. It was that good. It's a serious thriller, with quick short chapters and fast pacing throughout. It's one of those books where you know all the pieces, you see everything, but you have no idea how any of it fits together. Then BAM! - you're speeding to the end and it all starts clicking into place. My favorite part of this book were characters that didn't make ridiculous choices to support the plot. These characters were all really well thought out, lived up to their characterizations and were always thinking at the top of their game.

This book grabbed my attention from the first page. It had me guessing all along and at one point I was so surprised I gasped out loud! I look forward to reading more of Wendy Walker’s books.

Don’t Look For Me is a psychological suspense novel that sucks you in from the start. I’m generally not a fan of creepy, so as I started it I kept thinking,”I’m not going to finish this”. Yet I kept reading and eventually decided it wasn’t too creepy. It reminded me in ways of Room— adult and child held captive by someone who isn’t right but doesn’t hate them. In this case, the adult daughter did look for her missing mother. It kept me guessing most of the way through. Good characters, all working through one sort of emotional trauma or another. I recommend it as a quick, suspenseful read.

Wow! This was an amazing book. She is a master at thrills and suspense. I want to read everything she writes.

Genre: General Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Pub. Date: September 15, 2020

First off, this is not general fiction as marketed. This novel is a mystery and thriller and a below-average one at that. I can see by my fellow reviewers that I am an outlier here. After a family tragedy, a mother disappears and is believed to be an adult runaway; turns out to be a much creepier explanation. I can see how this could have been a good thriller if the characters were not so unrealistic especially, the mom during her ordeal. Actually, I found all the characters to be one-dimensional. This one simply just wasn’t for me. If you are currently reading, “Don’t Look for Me,” I hope you enjoy it more than I did.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC.
Wow, this was one heck of a thrill ride! Couldn't put it down.
This story is told from 2 p.o.v.'s: Molly, the mother and Nicole, her daughter. 5 Years ago, 9-year old Annie ran from the house, while Nicole was baby-sitting her and was killed by Molly, who was just driving home. The devastation just about destroyed the family and one night, in a terrible storm, Molly decided she's not a good mother or wife and makes plans to just leave. She runs out of gas and hitches a ride with a man and young girl.
The worst mistake of her life! What follows is a very tense and creepy fight for her life; while Nicole is looking for her, not able to trust anyone around her, desperate to find her mum. Then comes the incredible ending...my goodness, what an edge-of-your-seat book this is. Recommended!

The accidental death of Molly Clarke’s youngest child is tearing her family apart. The grief and guilt Molly and her daughter Nicole are feeling are at the core of this story. Molly begins to think that her family may be better off without her. When she runs out of gas on her drive home after her son’s football game, she thinks this might be the time to just disappear. She does disappear, but was it by her own choice or was it because of something more sinister? Nicole Clarke needs to find those answers.

This is a very well crafted psychological thriller! There are twists and turns and so many people seem to be lying and hiding the truth. What really happened to Molly Clarke on that dark and stormy night? Pick up this book and get ready to read until you reach the climactic ending.

A psychological thriller that had betrayal, manipulation, and a lot of lies, keeping you engaged from start to finish.
I couldn’t put this book down until I was done. The twists and turns had me questioning who could be trusted among the many characters in the book.
After reading this book I might second guess myself if my car broke down or ran out of gas in a small town.. I might just keep myself tucked up safe and sound with the doors locked.
A huge twist at the end , and no loose ends.. A brilliantly told story, well worth reading.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publishing house and the author for the opportunity to read a complimentary advance reader copy of this book in return for a review based upon my honest opinion.

I was on the edge of my seat with this thriller, I suspected everyone in this book. I was pleasantly surprised to be surprised with the ending to this book.

Molly Clarke finds herself out of gas in a storm in a rundown town, she is distraught and didn’t realize how low the tank had gotten, she has been thinking of how her life is not what she thought it was going to be, how one incident charges everything, her husband, her children, she feels like and outsider to them, unwanted, unloved. Sometimes she thinks she should just walk away, this so what she is thinking as she runs to the gas station only to discover it is closed due to the storm. When a man and a little girl offer her a ride, she accepts, it is not until she is in the truck that’s she senses something is not right. As her family searches for her and then finds a note saying she has left and not to look for her, she is waking up to a nightmare that she may not be able to get out of. Her daughter, Nicole, gets a call two weeks later from a woman who says she saw her mother the night she went missing and now Nicole cannot let the situation go and feels that she needs to find her, if only to deal with her own grief over the death of her sister.

A great story with lots of twists and turns, and lots of viable suspects. When not reading the book I was telling my hubby the storyline, he couldn’t wait to hear who the guilty party was as well. Love this author’s books.