Member Reviews
Molly Clarke is devastated at the accidental death of her daughter at her own hands. She believes the guilt is too much to bear, and her family has changed because of the little girl's death. After attending her son's football game, she is driving home through a terrible storm, only to find she needs to make a choice. Does Molly use this opportunity to walk away and disappear from her life or return to a pain so unbearable that she cannot go on?
Overall, I enjoyed this book. The plot was developed well and flowed. I would have liked to have seen a little more suspense - it was a little too smooth for a thriller. However, overall, it was a good read. Thanks NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
This book is five stars! I rarely give five star reviews. It grabbed me from the very beginning and was extremely difficult to put down! The characters are intricately woven and multi faceted. Heartbreaking scenarios, thriller chapters and complex unpredictable moments. Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. Wendy Walker is on my author radar.
I've not read Wendy Walker before but it was a great experience. Don't Look For Me reeled me in. I read day and night on my kindle on my iPhone when out and even when I was supposedly watching tv. So many suspects! Trying to figure who was good and who was bad with exciting and drama filled pages. Wendy has a knack for ending a chapter with you not being able to put it down you must read the next and the next!
Five years ago Molly Clarke was driving the car that accidentally struck and killed her 9 year old daughter Annie. Since the accident the family has not recovered from the guilt, blame and pain. A family is torn apart by tragedy and all look at Molly with blame especially herself.
Molly loves her family with her whole heart and as usual goes to see her son play football, a four hour trip with a hurricane heading that way. She is met with the cold shoulder, that on top of a brutal verbal attack by her daughter Nicole that morning and the way her husband can't meet her eyes is too much. Her heart is broken. Do they wish she was gone?
As she drives home in mounting hurricane winds and rain she realizes she didn't prepare and runs out of gas. Abandoning her car to walk to get gas she wonders if she should just disappear. Would they even care? When she doesn't return home, not even noticed until the next day, and her car is found abandoned they begin a search. After only two weeks the police with some found evidence say she is considered a voluntary walk away wife and mother and stop searching.
Nicole, Molly's 21 year old daughter has been on a downward spiral since the accident filled with her own guilt and pain. She isn't giving up she must find her mother, even if her mom just walked away, Nicole needs to make right the last words hurled at her mom as Nicole left the house that day. She is determined to find her and doesn't understand why her dad has just gone back to work and given up..
The story is told from Mollys point of view and Nicoles. Molly wondering if her family is looking for her? Do they figure she walked away would they wonder if something bad happened to her?
When Nicole returns to where her mom disappeared.she is met with mystery and lies. Why? Who to believe and who could have knowledge that will help her. Did one of them help her disappear? Why are people lying to her? Nicole won't give up even if she could be in real danger. I recommend this book highly.
Thank you NetGalley, Wendy Walker and St. Martin's Press for this ARC
Great story line and characters. Felt what each one was going through, felt a little disconnect with the dad. The second half of the book is thrilling and lots of suspense. The relationship between Molly and Alice is very well done and super smart.
Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press for the advance copy of this book. I freely give this review.
Put Don’t Look For Me on your fall vacation reading list!
Not being a stranger to Wendy Walker’s writing, I was excited to receive an early look at Don’t Look For Me. You instantly feel for Molly Clarke, who has an all consuming guilt from the past. One day when everything goes badly, she disappears during a storm. As everyone around her deals with their guilt and emotions over how they acted around her, they seem to want to accept that Molly just walked away. Her daughter Nicole doesn’t think so so and follows her gut instinct to continue searching.
Don’t Look For Me is a great mystery/suspense read. It checks all the believability boxes - so well put together, and maintains its tense pace throughout. It’s smart, and heart-breaking, and will keep you turning the pages.
Don’t Look for Me, by Wendy Walker, is spectacular! It is fast paced, the characters are very personable, and the environment is the perfect place for crimes and secrets to remain hidden! Wendy Walker’s talent for including rich details make everything so true to life and real! Definitely a must read! I was not about to figure out who did it, and it was an even better mystery because all of the characters had shady stories, secrets, and motives. I loved being surprised like that! It was obvious that Wendy Walker had researched for the book too because I did not know certain facts that played out into the middle and ending of the book, and that made it even more intriguing! It was easy to read and easy to understand, and altogether a great book!
Molly Clark is a mother struggling with grief due to her involvement in a tragic accident that she considers unforgivable. She fears her husband is having and affair and doesn’t love her anymore. She is troubled by her adult daughter’s seething hatred towards her and the lifestyle choices she makes. Even her son seems to be embarrassed by her. She doesn’t know how to handle her grief, retreats further into herself, and starts to wonder if life like this is even worth it.
Plot: On the drive home from her son’s game (where he doesn’t even acknowledge her after she’s driven for hours to see him), Molly runs out of gas. She had already been feeling lost, helpless, and alone for so long that she’s overwhelmed with grief and hardly even cares that she’s in an isolated environment during a terrible storm. She waves down the first driver she sees, and accepts a ride from the seemingly kind stranger and his slightly odd daughter. She only half heartedly cares about the potential risks. When she begins to question her safety and the intentions of the stranger, all she can hear is her husbands frustrated voice in her head telling her to stop being her typical self. Within a short amount of time she realizes that she’s made a deadly mistake that will most likely cost her her life, and will also put someone she loves in danger. The once hopeless desperation she felt quickly turns into a strong determination to somehow escape the life threatening situation she’s in if only to be able to save her loved one. Shut off from the world, Molly relies on fragments of information she gets from a child who is somewhat on a power trip and refuses to offer any help.
The police, local residents, and Molly’s family searched the town for days trying to find her, but the search was called off when a note from Molly was found in a hotel room asking people to please not look for her and to let her go. Although her daughter and son are baffled at the idea of her mother just walking away, her son returns to school and her daughter goes back home. When a mysterious caller claims to have information about Molly’s whereabouts, her daughter returns to the town to meet with her. There’s a huge sum of money being offered for any information or her location, so although she’s skeptical, she meets with the woman to see what she knows. Her short planned visit to the town turns into a much longer stay than she anticipated. She feels guilty for the last words she said to her mother on the day of her disappearance. She still cant grasp the concept that she walked out of their lives and is determined to find her. The longer she stays, the more she gets to know the people who reside in the town. It’s a small town where everybody knows everybody else - and their secrets. When the stories from the different people she meets start to contradict each other, she is even more determined to find out the truth and what really happened. Who do you trust when everyone is harboring secrets though?
Thank you Wendy Walker, St. Martins Press, and Netgalley for allowing me the privilege of readIng Don’t Look for Me. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.
Great mystery! Told from alternating points of view of a mother and a daughter, this book kept me guessing right up till the end. The characters were compelling I couldn’t put this one down, and look forward to reading more from Wendy Walker!
First of all, the synopsis for Don’t Look for Me is absolute perfection. I genuinely love these types of synopsis. They feel like a free for all. Not only is the synopsis amazing, but the story itself is crazy! Like all Walker novels that I’ve previously picked up, I start it and can’t stop at any cost. My house is burning down? No problem, Fireman will come eventually…just finish that damn book. The kids are screaming for me? Yeah…No. Not today little baby Satans. I’m going to read, work it out. World is ending? Like I could possibly survive without figuring out how this ends. Increasing my odds of survival. None of these are ideal situations, but this is an accurate depiction of the thought process happening while reading a Wendy Walker novel. Not just Don’t Look for Me either, this has happened with each one of stories that I’ve picked up. Don’t ever change, Walker!
Like the synopsis, I think this book will do one best if readers have no inclination on what to expect. Go in blind. It will have the best pay off.
Since I don’t want to offer a single spoiler, I am going to keep this review short and sweet. This is a classic Wendy Walker novel. Don’t Look for Me is thrilling and enjoyable. Especially from a genre that some avid readers may find predictable and overdone. It was great to get excited about a thriller again. Keep `em coming, Walker!
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin Press for a copy of Don’t Look for Me!
Molly Clarke has gone missing. Her family is desperate to find her, but then a note is found that she's leaving. Or did she? This book is quite the wild ride.
What I really liked was how twisted almost everyone in the little town of Hastings was. No one is telling the entire truth. And Molly's family is messed up as well. And the ending - even more twisted that what I saw coming! Loved it.
I have read several of Wendy Walker's books, and they are all good and twisted.
Thanks to NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Edge of your seat thriller with a killer twist. Highly recommend to fill out library collections and for book club recommendation.
What a twisty story! I loved Wendy's first two novels so I was especially excited for this, and it did not disappoint. While I found the first few chapters a bit slow, I think the pacing picked up overall. I thought the character of Alice was very well done; what a creepy little girl, though her layers were slowly revealed in a really wonderful way. I look forward to more from this author.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Don't Look for Me was a pretty standard thriller. I enjoyed how fast-paced it was (I read it in just two sittings) and the dual perspectives. However, I guessed the ending halfway through the book, which made for a poor reading experience. Additionally, I didn't feel as though the characters were fully fleshed-out.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the free e-copy.
Too much repetition and too little real story. A mother runs out of gas just as a hurricane is arriving. She starts walking, gas station is closed, but a man in a truck picks her hp and brings her to his house. He has a little girl with him who is "allergic" to everything outdoors, so when he leaves the next morning to "make some calls," the woman has to stay with the girl. huh?
Add to that, a very trouble marriage, 2 children who seem to hate her and a third Child she is mourning..
I gave up when I got sick of hearing the same facts over and over.
Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest opinion.
This book is fast paced, thrilling, yet emotional and disturbing and creepy all at the same. Molly Clarke's car is abandoned on the side of the road a half a mile from a gas station and days later her family finds a note that says Don't Look For Me. But that's not what happened to Molly Clarke. And through alternating chapters from Molly's perspective and Molly's adult daughter's perspective, Wendy Walker weaves a heart-pulsing psychological drama that will leave you on the edge of your seat gripping that book quickly turning the page, and then the "Wait, What??" ending that Wendy Walker is so known for. This book is just absolutely bloody brilliant, and Walker at her best. Lies, deception, twists, turns, all rolled up in this complex mind study of what happens to Molly in the days that follow the start of the book. I highly recommend it.
If you want to lose sleep, read Don’t Look For Me by Wendy Walker! I made the mistake of starting this at bedtime. The first few chapters were so creepy and unsettling I had a hard time going to sleep....so, I had to pick it up and read more. Needless to say, I didn’t feel so great when I had to get up at 5:30 AM and go to work. But it was so worth it! Molly Clarke, married and a mother, disappears one night after traveling 4 hours away to watch her son’s football game. Her car is found on the side of the road, near a gas station, with the keys and her phone left in it. Where has she gone? Did she leave on her own or was she taken? The story you are about to read will leave you feeling unnerved and disturbed. I don’t want to say too much else about the plot because I don’t want to accidentally give any spoilers. Just trust me when I say you need to read this book! I have read Wendy Walker’s previous books and it seems like each one gets better and better. This is my favorite of hers so far. I’m sure I’ll say that about the next one she writes too. Thank you to the publisher and net galley for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
This is a fast paced creepy thriller that makes for a.great summer read. The youngest daughter dies after accidentally being hit by a car driven by her mom. (No plot disclosure here) The family is trying to recover after this devastating loss. The story is told in alternating chapters through the voices of the mom and the oldest daughter. Lots of twists and turns for the mystery lover. #Don’tLookForMe #WendyWalker #NetGalley
This is an intriguing story that is difficult to figure out. The protagonist is a melancholy person who has experienced a tragedy that one can’t imagine. When she disappears she has no ideas others are looking for her. She meets a stranger changing her life...this is a sad, frightening book that gives one pause. For the real mystery lover...
Hunka Munka.........
This one has bite.
Wendy Walker douses Don't Look For Me in high octane gasoline and strikes the match. There's internal combustion going on here with a jiggy jaggy storyline and characters that will keep you up late at night.
You know the feeling when you're riding on fumes and just want to make it home after all those miles. Molly left her son Evan's private school's football game some time ago and is driving solo right into a New England storm. But Fate and an empty gas tank have decided already. With no other recourse, Molly puts her head down and begins to make her way in the torrential downpour to the Gas 'N Go down the road. Everything's been boarded up and closed because of the oncoming storm.
But someone stops for Molly and she gladly gets in. Two weeks later, no one knows what's become of Molly. Even her family has about given up hope. No clues. No leads. Maybe Molly just chose to walk away from the family tragedy that has been suffocating all of them before she went missing. You see, it was at Molly's own hands that the unforgiveable event occured. Guilt weighs heavy on the heart and the soul. Molly knows.
I don't know how Wendy Walker came up with this creative storyline that she showcases here in this novel. All I can say is there's many a dark corner lingering in the shadows of her superb mind. Don't Look For Me is deeply character driven. Walker winds her way into the psyche of these individuals and forms a transcending bridge between reader and story. The knotted thread that runs throughout is the uncertainty of this shaky ground. Who do we even trust as readers? Not gonna tell. Be quick to pick this one up.
I received a copy of this novel through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to St. Martin's Press and to Wendy Walker for the opportunity.
My first read by Wendy Walker was highly recommended by a fellow reader so I was intrigued to find out why.
I wasn’t too thrilled about the first person point of view as the story started but it became quite effective as the story unfolds in a chapter by chapter tick tock. This is a fast paced page turner which is very important to me as a reader. The author crafted a pretty solid whodunnit with Don’t Look for Me. I was more engaged in the story than the characters and there is one aspect of the plot twist that I didn’t like but I wanted to know how this story ended.
It’s always positive to want more from an author and I am looking forward to trying another Wendy Walker book soon.
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher St Martins Press for the opportunity to read this book for a honest review!
In Don't Look for Me by Wendy Walker, Molly Clarke mysteriously disappears by the side of the road when her car runs out of gas as a hurricane approaches. The first chapter is told from her perspective, but then her eldest daughter, Nicole, narrates the next part. There is a million-dollar reward for her return. The book continues in these alternating patterns of point of view to find out why Molly disappeared five years after she accidentally ran over her middle daughter with her car. The police think she purposely left and doesn't want to be found, but Nicole has other ideas and wants to make amends with her mother.
I love this style of narration because it makes it really suspenseful. You still get a glimpse of Molly and what's happened to her but have to wait while Nicole catches up. The characterization is expertly written. You can feel the characters' pain and understand their anguish. The suspense is thrilling and artfully crafted. It's one of those books you don't want to stop reading, but have to sometimes because of how painful it is to go through the experience with the characters. It's cathartic and exciting all at the same time.
The plot is intricately woven and doesn't feel forced or obvious. You get enough clues as you're reading to get more and more interested in both the characters and what happens to them. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It had all the elements of a great thriller.