Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC of Don’t Look for Me by Wendy Walker. I have read and enjoyed all of Walker’s books and this one is another superb thriller!

When Molly Clarke hits and kills her youngest daughter with her car, she is filled with grief and shame. Although it is ruled an accident, Molly’s husband and kids can’t hide their disdain for her. She hates herself for what she has done and considers just walking away from her life, thinking everyone is better without her. When a note in her handwriting surfaces, her family wonders if she really did walk away. Nicole, her oldest daughter, is determined to discover the truth about what happened to her mom.

Wow. Just wow. I read this book in two days and could not put it down! It is super creepy and the tension left me breathless. The suspense continuously builds throughout and does not disappoint! The setting is a rundown town with sketchy abandoned buildings that set the stage for the mystery. There are clever twists and turns that are so well planned that you don’t see them coming! The story is complex with characters that contain a lot of emotional depth. It is such a creepy, clever, twisty tale that I will be thinking about for a long time. I can’t wait to read Wendy Walker’s next book!

5/5 stars

I really enjoyed this one. It's similar to "The Night Before" in the sense that it jumps right in and holds your attention. One of the plot twists was very predictable but the other was not so it continued to surprise I told the end.

Thank you for the chance to review this galley prior to publication. Please refer to my goodreads profile for a full review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillian for the e-arc!

I loved Emma in the Night, I thought it was the most unique take on a family dynamic. For some reason, this was completely different to me. This felt more like a high-stakes, missing person case. Especially with the daughter;s involvement, it almost felt like a Karin Slaughter-type procedural hybrid with No Exit by Taylor Adams.

That being said, I still enjoyed this book! I think it got knocked down a star because I thought it was predictable, but I don't think it'll be this way for everyone.

Wow! Quick read that I couldn't put down! Twists and turns and super quick chapters which I loved! Great characters, amazing descriptions and the story was not typical.
The creep factor was great! The anticipation build was just right; I kept telling myself, just one more chapter over and over again.

Thank you St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Don't Look For Me was packed with suspense, tension and really twisted creepy characters! (especially the little girl...oh man). I didn't know who to trust- I was constantly questioning everything. This book was fast-paced- I couldn't stop reading! Don't Look for Me most certainly pulled a twist or two I didn't see coming. Definitely recommend!

Trigger warning + spoiler alert: If you an empath, or are female and have ever had fears about not being able to leave a place when you wanted do not read this book. It's well done but I had to keep putting it down because certain chapters were just too awful to read and street sent my heart racing. I'm sure this is a really good book but I can't read any further.

This one was a huge page turner for me.
After suffering a terrible loss, Molly Clarke has had a rough few years.
She has struggled in her relationship with her husband and with her children.
However, no one would just expect her to completely walk away from her family. Her car is found only a few feet from a gas station with an empty tank, her cell phone plugged into the charger but she had her purse are nowhere to be found.
Despite their rocky relationship, her daughter know she would never give up and leave so she begins her own search after the police determine she has "no desire to be found."
Alternating from Molly's perspective and her daughter Nicole's, we find a suspenseful story that kept me on the edge of my seat from page 1!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an egalley in exchange for an honest review

Still reeling from the death of her youngest daughter, Annie five years ago, Molly Clarke feels that she has failed her two living children, Nicole and Evan, and her husband, John. After a devastating series of moments, Molly finds herself on a road, in the pouring rain, with a broken-down car. When Molly flags down a truck it sets off a chain of events that sends her daughter, Nicole looking for her mother.

Although this book won't be out until September, once I began reading the first page I just couldn't put it down. Just like she did with All Is Not Forgotten and The Night Before, Walker creates another action-packed pulse-pounding thriller that will no doubt keep readers very entertained. It certainly did for me!



Goodreads review published 10/05/20
Expected Publication Date 15/09/20

Wendy Walker has created a very captivating work. Don't Look For Me is a wonderfully-written psychological thriller. It’s a fast paced read with interesting twist and turns that will keep the reader guessing until the end.

It starts off with Molly‘s family thinking that she just abandoned her car and walked away from her life due to her depression. Also that this happened around the death anniversary of her youngest daughter Annie, is kind of understandable for them. The first half of the book is absolutely crackling with twists again and again. Fortunately for Molly, her first child Nicole is earnestly searching for her mother as she’s not satisfied with the conjecture that her mother could just walk away leaving her family.

On the other side Molly is now with a seriously deranged man as a hostage and the behavior of this man and his kid, Alice are completely creepy. So the first half of the book is more like a survival story of Molly and is absolutely gripping. The second half is for Nicole as she suspects literally everyone in the plot as every character has secrets and they keep lying to her on and on. She catches on pretty soon with their lies.

Overall, a great thriller that will keep you on your toes with its regular twists and I can totally see this as a movie. The ending felt like it wrapped up the mystery a bit too quickly. Literally, every chapter ends with a cliffhanger like situation and you are going to be forced to read on and on till the end! So just go for it!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced reader copy!

Molly Clarke killed her child...

That was an opening line wasn't it?
Dangg that book was fun and creeeepyyy. Not like Stephen King creepy but eek...I don't ever want this to happen to me.
Molly Clarke was driving home to check up on her children, eldest in charge; however, the blind spot of the driveway got her which led to her nine year old daughter death. Molly blames herself as well as Nicole, the eldest child who was watching her. Molly now lives with it every day, going from three children down to two. Her husband is probably having an affair, Nicole was expelled and is drinking all the time now, and her youngest ignores her when she comes to visit.
On her way home from her youngest's school, her vehicle runs out of gas during a hurricane and she is now stranded on the side of the road.
Fast-forward, Molly seems to have disappeared. Everyone thinks she ran away from her depressing life to start a new one. Her credit cards were used a couple of days after her sudden disappearance so there wasn't any reason to think that anything had happened to her. It honestly seems like no one cares, except for Nicole. Nicole, even though she has resentment for her mother for "killing" her sister, thinks that something is going on where her mother has disappeared. She travels out to where her mom supposedly had left her and her family; but, when she gets there, something is going on that doesn't sit well.

So...
Like I said I loved it. I would have HATED to be in the position that anyone was in during this book. I have never read anything from Wendy Walker before this one. This book has turned me into looking into some more works by her.
Bravo!

As always, THANK YOU NETGALLEY!

I'm a big Wendy Walker fan so needless to say I was excited to read her latest book. Once again, she has come up with a story that feels unique. I love how her books have suspense and thrilling elements but they also have substance. I felt equally invested in what was going to happen next as I was about learning how the family dealt with such a tragic loss years ago.

Molly Clarke has gone missing. Her car has been abandoned and a note was left at a nearby hotel. Tragedy struck the Clarke family about 5 years ago so authorities think Molly might have wanted a fresh start and therefore disappeared on purpose. Did she? The story alternates between the perspectives of Molly and her daughter, Nicole, who is searching for answers.

I'm trying to be somewhat vague with what happened years ago because as of right now the publisher synopsis doesn't get into specifics. With Molly and Nicole as the main characters you got a good look at how it impacted them as individuals but also as a family unit. The rich backstory was weaved seamlessly into the present day with everything going on surrounding Molly.

So why did I rate this book at 4 stars instead of 5? Well, as much as I was into the story I just have mixed feelings about the big reveal and the ending. It wasn't a horrible way to wrap everything up but I can't say I was amazed by it either. I think I needed something spectacular to happen to match the level of enthusiasm I had while I was reading the rest of the book.

I might not have loved the last few chapters of the book but I overall enjoyed this one. Definitely put this one on your to be read list.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for providing me with an advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

Molly seemed to have it all from what we can tell until one of her children died five years ago. She has a husband and two kids remaining and it appears that the family has been torn apart by this tragedy. Molly feels that they don't really want her around and she irritates them. She leaves the house and runs out of gas and that is where this story begins within the first couple of chapters. Molly is gone!

What I like about this book from the beginning is that it starts off with action so there is so down time. As the story progresses people's feelings begin to change while Molly is gone. Maybe the family could have gotten through things together had they tried harder. I thought I had the mystery figured out but the story curved and moved in all different directions causing me to stay up late several nights longing to see what would happen next.

Great book and great writing. Never a dull moment in this book and I highly recommend it to psychological thriller and mystery lovers.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC and trusting in me to give an honest review.

A big thank you to Net Galley & St. Martin's Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
**
To say this book will put you through a roller coaster of emotions would be an understatement.
You first meet Molly Clarke, driving home from 'visiting' her son at school . Molly is driving home is what could be classified as a category 4 hurricane/storm. In reality you could say it was the perfect storm for Molly. You see Molly never made it home that night. When her family finally alerted the police, they started their search. They knew what route she would be coming home from visiting Evan. However, when they got to the small town of Hastings they found Molly's car, dead with no gas left, and her phone still on the charger. 4 days after searching with no results, the cops find a letter in a casino close by. It's basically a goodbye letter; stating she had to leave and not cause her family any more harm.
The heart wrenching twist? The day Molly disappeared what the 5 year anniversary for her youngest, Annie's, death. How Annie died? Worst scenario. Molly was rushing home when Nicole, her oldest who was babysitting, didn't answer. As she was pulling into their driveway, from a blind turn, she ran over and killing Annie.. who was only 5 at the time. Another heart wrenching aspect, Nicole blamed herself for her mother leaving. Why you may ask. All the horrible things Nicole said to her mother on that last morning.
If you think all of that is crazy, just you wait. Read this tale of Hastings and its inhabitants. Read about the search Nicole went on for her mother. I can promise you this, it. gets. crazier.

My hats are off to you Wendy Walker. You grabbed my attention and held on tight!

This twisted, scary, gripping book fits into multiple genres. It is a thriller, psychological suspense and mystery all rolled into the pages of a book that grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. The story is a complicated one about a family that has suffered a tragedy and lost themselves in the midst of it. Molly Clarke’s daughter Annie was killed in a terrible accident, and Molly and Nicole both blame themselves. Molly’s husband becomes distant, her son ignores her and Nicole withdraws. One night, Molly leaves her son’s football game and goes for a drive. Like in all of the Snoopy novels, “it was a dark and stormy night.” It is unimaginable what happens to Molly! She runs out of gas and gets a ride with a truck driver and his daughter Alice. Then, she just disappears. There is a note left in a hotel that she booked and the note tells her family, “Don’t look for me.” Nicole is not satisfied with that and is determined to find her mom, thus endangering her own life since Molly was actually kidnapped by a seriously deranged man. The emotions that I felt as I read this creepy book were terror, hatred, hope, and awe. I think that these were the same emotions that the narrators, Molly and Nicole, were feeling as they traversed the journey to find each other again. Action packed and filled with family drama, this was a really original look at what happens when you decide to walk away from your old life and try to start a new one. The surprising twists kept me absorbed in the stories of Nicole and Molly as I gasped at each new turn in this strange roller coaster ride. Fans of psychological suspense, mystery and thrillers will really enjoy this book but will need to set aside time to read it in one setting because it will be hard to put down!
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

"Woman goes missing" is the premise of so many thrillers these days but this book sets itself apart from the rest. At its core, it's the story of a mother and daughter dealing with grief and guilt. It's also filled with supporting characters who can't stop lying and lots of twists and turns along the way.

Within the first few chapters I was on edge and so nervous for everyone. I got sucked into this fast-paced story and couldn't put it down until all of my questions for answered.

What happened to Molly Clarke? Don't Look for me is told in alternating views by Molly herself and her daughter Nicole. Both are dealing with a past trauma that has pushed them (and the entire family) apart. But did Molly leave her family on her own accord?
This is a clever, creepy suspense story that will keep you guessing. Each chapter ends in a cliff-hanger that makes you want to keep reading. While I thought the ending was a little far-fetched, I really enjoyed the book. And Alice is one creepy little girl! Highly recommend!

Don't Look For Me is an exceptional psychological thriller! Captivating and suspenseful, I was hooked from start to finish. Fast paced and unpredictable, it will keep you guessing until the very end. Definitely recommend.

I have become a big fan of Wendy Walker over the years. Her novels grab a reader right from the first pages, and don’t allow for you to let go until the end. Don’t Look for Me fits right in, full speed ahead this book takes a reader on a ride.
In Don’t Look for Me, Molly Clarke has been trying for years to pull her family back together after the accident that killed her youngest child. In an attempt to bridge relationships, Molly dutifully drives hours each week to attend her son’s football games. Upon returning from a game, Molly’s car runs out of gas, and she is stranded outside in the approaching storm. Fourteen days later, Molly’s family is wondering what happened to her. There was a note at a local hotel which appeared to be written by Molly stating, “Don’t look for me.” Molly’s daughter can’t let that rest, would her mother truly abandon her car and her cell phone and take off to start over? Or is there something suspicious going on? What happened to Molly and where is she?

This novel bounced between the present time with Molly’s daughter searching for her, trying to find the truth and Molly’s perspective of the after her car stalls. Wendy Walker flawlessly created a suspenseful tale while still showing multiple perspectives of the events. It was quite literally impossible to put down. A definite must read!