This was a great book! A young boy disappears while on a walk with his mother in a local park. Many suspects with motives that kept me guessing. New clues kept popping up until the very end. It was set in England so sometimes the police procedural words are different and hard to follow but it didn’t bother me in this book. Would read more from this author.

Rachel lets her son Ben run ahead on a trail they take often through the park, but arrives at their meeting place to find the swing empty and no sign of her son. A gripping tale of the search for Ben, to its surprising ending.

Engrossing, riveting, questioning, gripping and definitely an incredible psychological thriller of a read!
The book captivated me from the first word and had me staying up all hours to find out what happened!!!
Definitely a must read-it will grab you and not let go!!! I could go on, but do not wish to reveal any outcomes!
Thank you for the opportunity to have read this book prior to publication--it was wonderful!!!

Suspenseful right from the start. Single mom Rachel is walking in the park with her eight year old son Ben and their dog, lets Ben run ahead, and the unthinkable happens - Ben disappears. The character development here is good, and we see the police work, the anguish of the policemen, particularly Jim Clemo, and the unbearable grief and anguish of Rachel and her ex husband. The cruelty of people who hide behind the anonymity of the internet. Then there’ s Rachel’s strained relationship with her sister, who appears to have a perfect life - but her life is NOT perfect, and she has been keeping a huge secret since she and Rachel were children. Lots of drama, lots of suspense. A really good read!

Very good book. Loved that it was told from each character’s viewpoint. I thought the ending would be predictable, but it wasn’t. It kept me guessing until the end. Definitely worth the read!

I like the way this story of child abduction is told. We get the view point of three different people. The poor mama and dad don’t know where to turn as is expected. The investigator spends sleepless nights going over every detail and his therapist tries to help him deal with the situation. A couple of twists made me gasp in shock. All in all, this was an enjoyable tension-filled story.

Thanks to Book Club Girl at Harper Collins/William Morrow & Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book!

This book is well written but not the topic for me. As a child advocate i can't spend time in this virtual world.

What a WONDERFUL book. Once I started I could not put it down.
The story is every parent's nightmare. How she described the characters feels you know them.
What an ending!!!
All I can say is Great Job Gilly! Can't wait to read anothef one of your books!!

I enjoyed this fast paced thriller. The characters were relatable in how I believe most families would act in the case of a missing child. “In the eyes of others, we’re often not who we imagine ourselves to be.” I like this quote and it is very true in many cases when something goes wrong.



I just reviewed What She Knew by Gilly Macmillan. #WhatSheKnew #NetGalley

Wow this is suspenseful & fast paced! MC Rachel goes walking with her eight year old son, Ben, runs up ahead and disappears. Omg this feeling of panic is very relatable for any mother so my heart sank. There’s so many parties involved, details that come up, it’s gripping and makes you suspect Rachel. Thanks to Book Club Girls, William Morrow and NetGalley. This is my honest review.

What She Knew tells the story of the disappearance of Ben Finch and the desperate days afterwards trying to find him. It offers unique perspective, being told from two viewpoints - Rachel, Ben's mother, and Jim Clemo, one of the detectives investigating Ben's abduction. This book does a great job of putting you into the state of mind of two people that have the most to lose, how they see each other, and how the public sees them. It also does a great job of integrating in how the public generally reacts to a sensational story like this. Even though I don't have a child, it makes me think about how I would react if someone I cared about was taken, if I could trust the people I surrounded myself with - friends, family, fellow parents, teachers and educators. There's so many people that touched Ben's life that the number of potential suspects is endless, and someone that's part of the investigation leaking details to the public only makes the situation more fraught. At points it feels like the books has almost too many details, goes on too long, has too many angles to investigate, so it did feel like it started to drag for me a little bit. There isn't really anything in the story that's completely unnecessary, but in spite of enjoying it, I felt like it could have been paced a little bit better, and been a little bit more compact in the storyline.

Eight-year-old Ben disappears while taking a walk in the woods with his mom. Readers are thrown into the investigation from the perspectives of Jim, the lead investigator, and Rachel, Ben's emotionally unstable mom. Chapters are narrated alternately by these two characters as well as a variety of emails, notes from psychotherapy sessions, press releases, and blog posts. Macmillan creates a splendid psychological thriller as the reader follows every lead and intuitive thought communicated by the characters. The author has developed intriguing characters, each unique through their voices, actions, and backstories. It's easy to get caught in their waves of emotion, from the frantic yet determined mother to the detective who finally has the opportunity to take the lead in a crucial case. Once begun, it's difficult to put this one down.

Gilly Macmillan has done a great job of making this an emotional book. You can feel the emotions of all of the characters. Rachel and her son Ben are out for a walk when Ben asks to run ahead with his dog, Skittles. Ben disappears and Skittles is found hours later with a broken leg. The author does a great job of developing the characters, and as I said before, you can feel the emotional upheaval everyone is going through during the search for Ben. The ending is a surprise, but very believable. Ms. Macmillan has a great career ahead of her if she continues to write at this level. Thank you to Net Galley for providing this copy for me to read.

A heartbreaking story of a parents worst nightmare. The story kicks right into the disappearance of 8 year old Ben and takes on the point of views of the parents and the detective who was on the case and haunted by the search and investigation details of the case.
Readers will be hooked as the story unfolds.

3.5 stars. Good storyline, as it kept me guessing until the end. It was not quite the page-turner I was hoping for, but I will read more by this author.

I really, really enjoyed this book. I liked seeing Rachel's perspective and Jim Clemo's perspective side by side. I was shocked at the ending, but I also loved the ending. I was really excited to find out that there is a 2nd book in this series!

What She Knew shows Gilly Macmillan’s ability to construct a well-written thriller. In this novel, she has set the scene for what would become a series based around Detective Jim Clemo, a complex character with struggles and feelings that resonate with many a reader. Towards the end, the actions of Rachel Jenner (the protagonist with the missing son) seemed a bit too fantastic—notwithstanding those, this book is Exhibit A as to why Macmillan is a standout in this genre.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion. Thanks to NetGalley, William Morrow/Harper Collins, and Gilly Macmillan for the opportunity..

Not one of my favorites, but certainly a solid thriller from a reliable author. Mystery and detective readers will enjoy this one. Kept me interested.

What She Knew is a psychological thriller about a young boy's abduction and how this affects all those in his world. There are so many possibilities of who may have done this. Each time you think you have it figured out, there is another possibility. Who did this, will he be found?