I will never say no to a thriller but, I won't always recommend them. I will absolutely be telling people to read The Necklace. I got about 40% of the way through it and then I could not read it fast enough.
Amy's necklace is obviously an important part of this story. The whole time reading you will be guessing how it's going to come into play. Where is it? Why is it so important?
The back and forth between past and present day really helped push this story along. I am not one to give full synopses or spoilers in reviews so I will just say if you enjoy murder mystery thrillers that keep you on edge until the very end when justice is served then this one is for you.
Thank you Netgalley, the author, and publisher for the free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

If you’re looking for a book that’s so good you’ll read it in two days, this is it! The main character pulls you into her pain and won’t let you go. This is an exciting ride!

Blown away! This is absolutely a must read. I could NOT put this book down.

The beginning half of the book is admittedly a slower burn, but the last half picks up and is so fast paced! Your heart will literally be beating outside your chest, You really feel for the main character and Matt Witten does such an incredible job connecting you to her. It's not one of those books with the wild twist at the end, but that doesn't at all take away from the incredible story.

Thank you so much to author Matt Witten & Netgalley for my eARC copy of this book! Highly recommended and cannot wait to share this with my followers when we get closer to the pub date.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book! The review is my own.

This was a gripping yet disturbing read. I cannot imagine being a mother to a small child who goes missing, with the only clue being a beaded, crafted necklace. Now, add in driving cross country to witness the murderer’s execution to get peace once and for all.

I felt the protagonist’s pain while trying to figure out the culprit, and I actively sympathized when she was out of money for meals, lodging, etc. (although, that situation was glossed over and it seemed like the main character ate only a bowl of Cheerios and 2 burgers, and some nuts and cranberries in a week period , yet she threw away 2 slices of pepperoni pizza while broke and hungry).

Regardless, I enjoyed the book but given the lack of possible suspects, it was relatively easy to figure out the perpetrator.

I can describe this book with one word...intense. It's hard for me to review this book without spoiling anything but it was a heart pounding ride. This was the fastest I've ever read a book to figure out the answers. It's simple. Read it and you won't be disappointed.

Thanks NetGalley for allowing me to read this in advance.

Thank you, Oceanview Publishing via NetGalley for my ARC!

Prefacing the review with: I read A LOT of fiction in this genre, so I might be unreasonably difficult to please.

In this thriller, a small-town waitress decides to be present for the execution of a man who murdered her child a decade ago. While she makes her way to the jail, through a chain of events, she finds out that the murderer might actually be innocent and the killer is actually still out there. It's then a race against time to find proof and convince everyone else before an innocent man is punished.

The premise was solid and I was rooting for the mother to catch a frikkin' break.

The story definitely needs to be shorter, there is too much ado about not much. The misdirection was also ineffective (for me) - I guessed who it was in the first 50 pages, after which it was frustrating. The end was quite abrupt, I'd have liked a little more of a wrap up. Also, some parts of it were impractical, even when offered leeway for creative license.

For me, personally it was a 2/5 but I definitely think that other people would enjoy it. I also see that its been optioned; if done right, this could definitely be a brilliant movie.

3.5/4 stars. This was a rollercoaster of a ride. The first few chapters were a little slow but then it picked up and didn’t stop till the end of the book
Susan was the lead female role and was a great lead character that you can really context with. Trying to figure out who murdered her daughter years ago in the present day in the book. The ride this book takes you on is great. I figured it out quickly but I still really enjoyed it. Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy.

As it has been pointed out elsewhere, the beginning of the book is kind of slow. Fortunately, the 2nd and 3rd thirds of it change that, and the narrative develops in higher octane.
Interesting concept, about how our inner voice can be, and in most of the times is, right about the situations we face. And even though the main character questions herself multiple times throughout the story, she ends up believing in this voice and acting accordingly and appropriately..
There are some parts of the book that are much less credible than others, so much so that I found myself repeating “now the author is pushing it!” more than a couple of times .But apart from these, a good plot.
Kudos to the description of the execution process – very detailed and convincing!
All in all a good captivating read.

The Necklace is about a woman whose child was murdered 20 years ago and she is awaiting the execution of the murderer. It was a quick read, flipping between the past and present but a bit disjointed, shifting between 1st and 3rd person, sometimes in the same paragraph.

I would like to say right-off that The Necklace is a good thriller with solid emotional backdrop. The book begins at a small town and just reading through the first 30% of the book, I feel that I have visited the place myself. The author did a splendid job of transporting me there.

The story is about a mother who is trying to find out the real identity of her daughters killer. Though she has believed for many years that it is the man who is facing death sentence for it, she starts doubting his guilt once she finds out a missing piece of the puzzle in an unexpected place. The story follows her struggles while she is trying to do it.

The author has managed to put the reader in the mother's place and empathize her plight. We go through the emotional turmoil she is going through. We feel confused along with her. That is a mark of a well written story.

But the same thing actually reduced the joy I was getting out of the story. I would have preferred for there to have been a bigger mystery, than the almost simplistic way it has been solved. Otherwise, I actually liked the book to some extent. And for this reason I give this book 4 stars.

Thanks a lot to Netgalley for the ARC .

This was an awesome book I had a slew of books this month that were just so boring - I loved this book from start to finish I would love to purchase and add it to my growing collection.

I received this book as an ARC from Netgalley.
When Susan's daughter Amy is murdered as child. Her life and marriage end.
But at least the man who did it is behind bars and facing execution.
Or is the right man behind bars?
The book alternates between the time period around when Amy was murdered to the present as Susan prepares to watch her daughters killer get executed. Susan is the only POV. She faces hardship after hardship during her trek and still keeps going. She's a likable protagonist. Human and realistic.
Her search for the truth is a ride. Not such a wild one. But a adventure.
The last few chapters had me tearing through the pages. Was the person she thought it was REALLY the murderer?
Looking forward to reading whatever this author writes next.

Amy is going n a trip to North Dakota. Specifically, to the prison. There, to witness the murderer of her child (Amy) be put to death. Susan relates this to the bar patrons who are funding her trip. She says that this will put Amy's soul to rest...

Anything more would be a spoiler !

Do not miss this read!

SUPERB!

Many Thanks to Oceanview Publishing and NetGalley for an amazing story.

A missing child, a parents worst nightmare. The search for truth and the heartbreak that follows.

This is such a gripping novel. It puts you right in the shoes of the mother. The pain, the unanswered questions.

This was by far the best thriller I have read in a long time. Once I started reading I couldn’t stop. Such a well written story.

4.5 stars. The Necklace is a fast-paced thriller that you won’t be able to put down! Alternating between the details of the crime 20 years ago and then present day as we follow Susan Lentigo as she plans to travel from New York to North Dakota to attend the execution of the man found guilty of the rape and murder of her daughter 20 years ago.

This book was everything you want a thriller to be - gripping, suspenseful, and satisfying. It was a one day read for me, as I just had to know what happened! I recommend this book for thriller fans and I will definitely look for more Matt Witten books in the future!

Thanks to NetGalley, Oceanview Publishing, and Matt Witten for the chance to read and review this advanced reader copy.

I'm a bit conflicted about this book.

The premise is original and it's very easy to get affected by the tragedy Susan lived.
The story is told by a Now & Then point of view which offer the reader an insight in the weeks and months that followed Amy's murder.

However there's some flashbacks that are told in present tense during the now perspective and it's sounded a bit strange to me. Also it felt all of sudden quite impersonal and detached, at odds with the rest of it.

The ending, while expected, in my opinion was a bit anticlimactic.
There's no real explanation of HIS motives (except the obvious); all we get are the strange feelings Susan had, feelings she wasn't sure she believed herself.
Also, was Amy HIS first and only crime? 'Cause it was implied otherwise but we don't get any follow-up info about it.

I admit this annoyed me quite a bit and it's mostly why I didn't rate this book as a full 4 stars.

At last, I'd like to thank the author for the chance to read his book through NetGalley and I hope he appreciates my honest review.

I read The Necklace in two days. It was fast paced and even though it went back and forth in time I stuck with it.
Susan is about to attend the execution of the man who murdered her daughter 20 years ago. Her travels there are as twisty and turning as the plot.

Just a side note: A lot of f-bombs are dropped (which I don't usually mind) but it made Susan's character less likable for me.

I look forward to more Matt Witten's books and thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

The Necklace was a really interesting read. I raced through the book in two nights. The characters were likable and relatable, and I wasn't surprised when the author revealed at the end of the book that he had based many of them on real life acquaintances. The story begins in a bar where the patrons take up money to send Susan Lentigo to the execution of the killer of her 7 year old daughter Amy, a terrible crime that had taken place 20 years earlier. The book alternates between the past and the present as Susan seeks closure and justice on the long road trip to the North Dakota prison.

This one is dark, gritty and a rough topic dealing with rape and murder of a child. You have to compartmentalize a lot of emotions to get through it

Thank you, NetGalley and author Matt Witten, for the opportunity to read an early electronic copy of this book in return for an honest review.

I had difficulty at first relating to the characters, but I am glad I kept reading. I understood Susan's anger and anguish on an intellectual level. She appears to be in continuous turmoil due to the horrific, vile rape and murder of her 7-year-old daughter, Amy, twenty years earlier. Her ever-simmering rage has prevented her from moving along in life. However, I regret I failed to engage emotionally with her well-deserved feelings until close to the conclusion. Frequent outbursts of swearing and vile language were a distraction. It seemed much of the bad language was for effect, to emphasize her rage at the condemned man she calls "The Monster."

The time has come for her to witness the execution of "The Monster" almost 1,500 miles distant. She hopes to finally get some sense of closure and revenge. The man on death row was sentenced to die by lethal injection, demanded by Susan at his trial 20 years ago. He confessed to the crime after intense interrogation but then recanted. This was his first charge as a pedophile. He stated that he was attracted to Amy when seeing her at a distance wearing a cheap homemade necklace. This attraction and motive seemed preposterous, even from a psychopathic pedophile. Susan and Amy crafted the necklace with coloured animal-shaped beads shortly before her murder. This necklace was believed to be taken as a trophy and hidden by her killer after the murder. It was never found.

Susan's husband left her shortly after the tragedy, saying he could no longer cope with her profound depression. He now has a new wife and family.

Susan must travel cross-country on buses with many stops and transfers along the way. She has little financial means, and friends staged fundraising to help her on the long journey to the execution. She displayed a tendency to be rude to people when things did not go her way. She also makes snap judgements about people and lay blame where it may not be deserved.
She had already accused one of her mother's boyfriends of being a pedophile and the murderer, but then the man soon to receive the death penalty was caught and charged with the crime.

As she travels, Susan begins to show an inner reserve of strength, resourcefulness, and resilience. Her cash is lost or stolen, causing her to be tired and hungry for most of her journey. She receives many acts of kindness and helpfulness along the way and meets some interesting and supportive people.

She obtains a clue that makes her doubt the guilt of the man soon to be executed. She is in shock that she may have played a part in sending an innocent man to prison for 20 years, and now his death is imminent. Also, she is shattered by the identity of the person she believes is truly guilty.

Susan contacts a retired FBI agent who was sympathetic to her tragedy when Amy was murdered. He is also travelling to attend the execution of the man he helped send to prison years before. Amy's clue makes him doubt the conviction. The ex-FBI agent sends it for DNA analysis, but the testing is unsuccessful.

When they arrive at the prison to view the execution, the pace and suspense had me emotional and riveted to the page. The conclusion was gripping and satisfying.