This is the first Mary Kubica book i've read, and for real, where the heck have i been! This book had me sucked in from the very beginning and I needed to read this story. There were different groups of characters to keep straight which did take me a little while to keep straight but i do love when books do that! all in all a great read and i definitely have to get caught up on the authors earlier works!

This book was an excellent thriller in a sea of what's been mediocre thrillers for me lately. I absolutely did not guess the twist until the last second, which, in my mind, is the hallmark of a good thrill read.

Mary Kubica continues to be a must-read/autobuy author for me and I look forward to her next release.

Ok...I LOVE Mary Kubica...LOVE!!!! This new book of hers does not disappoint!! A local woman (Shelby) goes missing, then a short time later, another woman (Meredith) and her daughter also go missing. Are these incidents related? Do we have a serial killer on our hands? Shortly after Meredith goes missing, they find Shelby's body. Then, they find Meredith's. One obviously a crime, one ruled a suicide. They never find the girl. But then, 11 years later, she shows up. She's escaped her captors. She spent 11 years in a basement. She's home now. But nothing is familiar. She remembers no one. Her younger brother Leo is struggling almost as much as she is. Why is it so difficult? Why don't they have the connection they used to? And who is really to blame for everything that happened and all the lives it altered?

One thing for sure, you can't go wrong with a thriller by Mary Kubica. There are twists and turns and gasps. Always.

When one woman goes missing in a neighborhood, that is news. Then another woman and her young child go missing, something is up. The second woman is found dead in a hotel room, by her own hand but where is her daughter? The beginning of the book gives us a girl escaping her captors. She claims to be Delilah, the young girl who has been missing for 11 years. The story takes us through her reunion with the family and the events that happened all those years ago.

I was very surprised by what plays out. Good on you, Ms. Kubica. I loved the twists. The characters that tell their stories are all very well written. You feel for them completely. It is hard to put down and worth every minute of it. I read this book very quickly, always a good thing. It is one of those stories that you just have to know how it ends and fast!

Thanks to Netgalley and Park Row for an advance copy of this book.

Thanks to the publisher for the free copy of this one.

I started this one and had a hard time picking it back up each time. Got to 50% and confused about the people and plot and realized I didn’t care so I gave up. Just not for me.

Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica is a highly recommended domestic thriller/mystery.

This thriller grabs your attention right at the start. First, young mother Shelby Tebow goes missing. Then Meredith Dickey and her six-year-old daughter, Delilah, disappear in the same neighborhood. The narrative then jumps to eleven years later and follows the thoughts of a girl who has been trapped in a dark basement for years who is planning her escape. At this point the novel begins to alternate between the present day where Delilah’s younger brother, Leo, now 15, narrates the chapters. Chapters set in the past following Meredith, before she disappears, and the search for her after she disappeared. The chapters act together to create a complex, complete picture of what happened to the two missing women and ultimately who was responsible.

As the plot unfolds you will see the characters making a lot of assumptions and you will realize that you have also made assumptions while reading. Kubica uses this to her advantage as she introduces various characters who could be suspects. There are several very believable, appealing characters and several suspects. The reliability of any of her characters is never questioned - unless she wants you to. Let's be honest, Kubica is a pro at manipulating what you think as you read. As the narrative alternates back and forth in time it develops the story line, and this writing device also assists in controlling who you suspect.

The writing is very clever, complex, and the end will likely be shocking to most readers. I didn't find the denouement completely believable, but it certainly did surprise me. My dissatisfaction with the ending is because the guilty person really left no clues that they were suspect and the actions didn't seem realistic in terms of what we know about the character. This certainly makes the ending a surprise, but it does not necessarily mean a completely satisfying conclusion.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Park Row Books in exchange for my honest opinion.
The review will be submitted for publication on Amazon, Google Books, and Barnes & Noble.

Whenever a customer asks me for a psychological thriller recommendation, Mary Kubica is one of my "go tos". I feel like a book written by Kubica is like taking a dive into a warm ocean. You know you will be taken for a ride and you know it's going to be good. I've never met a book by this author that I haven't enjoyed. LOCAL WOMAN MISSING was chilling, on edge, and brilliant. I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys psychological thrillers.

Mary Kubica knows how to write an an amazing, twisty thriller that completely pulls the reader in - and this latest book is no exception. It takes places along three timelines: One is the months leading up to Meredith and Delilah’s disappearance; one immediately following their disappearance; and one in the present day, when Delilah has escaped from a hellish imprisonment after 11 years of imprisonment.

The main characters are all incredibly interesting, because they each have their own point of view on the disappearance and the events surrounding it, which gives us a really good picture of events: we hear from Meredith herself, her son Leo and her neighbor and good friend, Kate. The supporting characters are also all strong personalities that pepper in drama and extra layers. The story is plenty deep and I really enjoyed sinking into it.

The ending was really intense and I didn’t see it coming at all. I wish we could have gotten a little bit more of a picture of the aftermath, but overall, I was really satisfied with how things turned out. It’s intense. I really was surprised, to say the least. That’s the thing about authors like Kubica: you can’t assume that anything is safe. Anything can happen and it might. So keep your guard up!

This is another winner from a great author, and suspense and thriller fans should make sure to pick it up. I know I’ll continue to purchase her novels!

I had no idea what kind of a ride Kubica was going to take me on but it was a wild one. I was not expecting all the twists and turns that this story took and it is a very clever thriller. As we crept closer to the ending I did figure a few things out but I still had no idea how it all happened. I was not disappointed by the conclusion and in a creepy way I can almost see this being a true story in a very twisted way.

The way this story is told is exceptionally smart because we see things from 11 years prior in both Meredith and her neighbor, Kate's, perspective and everything in the present is being told to us through Delilah's brother, Leo. This was the perfect way to tell this story and showcases Kubica's brilliance as a writer. Meredith is a doula and for that reason I would caution anyone who is pregnant, has a newborn, or is triggered by infant loss or traumatic births to think twice about reading this book. Kubica does a great job of informing the reader of various things related to a woman's right to consent when it comes to birth and labor which is incredibly important but the level of detail she goes into could be too much for some.

There were a few moments where I felt bogged down by the minutiae of Meredith and Kate's lives and if I were to nitpick there are definitely things that could have been cut from the story to streamline things. I also didn't find the characters all that likable which I'm not sure was intentional or not. I did really enjoy how there were a few subtle reveals in the story where Kubica let us know some information but didn't feel the need to make a big deal about it.

This is a fantastic domestic thriller and another one that is perfect for summer reading. It would be so easy to get lost into this world that Kubica has created. Plus it is very atmospheric with a lot of rain storms and flooding which would be a great distraction from the hot sunny days. I highly recommend this one if you want an enthralling and chilling book about the secrets people will keep and what happens when they are about to be revealed.

I've been meaning to try Mary Kubica's books for years now, and I'm still not sure why I haven't done so before... I was intrigued by the blurb of Local Woman Missing as soon as I first read it, and I've been looking forward to read it ever since. And I most definitely wasn't disappointed! Local Woman Missing turned out to be an excellent introduction to her work that had me turning those pages like there was no tomorrow.

This story can be seen as a psychological thriller with an edge, although it also has hints of a domestic and crime thriller. It's a story that doesn't 100% fit in a neat little genre box, and I think I like it even more because of that... Local Woman Missing offers a wide range of different elements and multiple storylines, resulting in a rich and multi-faceted plot that will keep you on your toes. Not only do we have the present and flashbacks to eleven years ago, but we also have multiple POVs in each timeline to juggle along the way. I loved that the author changed the tone and writing style according to the character changes (especially when it comes to Delilah and Joe). True, I wasn't a fan of the second person POV in Joe's chapters, but there is no denying that they add a little something original to the story with him speaking to his sister that way.

The plot itself is without doubt fascinating, and it is very well built up. The switching back and forth between past and present and the different characters can be a bit of a juggle initially, but this technique is used to give the plot twists maximum impact. Trust me, this story will have more than one plot twist bomb for you in store before you reach that final page! And most of them came as a total surprise for me as well. I mentioned before that Local Woman Missing includes a range of different elements in its plot, and this includes cheating, family issues, child birth, child abuse, kidnapping and death among other things. Lots of different elements, but they are well incorporated into the plot. Of course I'm never a fan of the whole cheating angle, but I guess I do understand why the author incorporated it into the plot here.

As for the characters: I'm not sure I actually liked some of them, but there is no denying that their development is realistic in general and I always like it when characters are less than perfect and have their flaws. My heart broke for Delilah and Joe of course, and especially Delilah's chapters were hard to read... Think Room and you have an idea of what you have to face. Kate is also quite easy to like and it was interesting to see the events unfold through her eyes... I'm not sure I was a fan of Meredith though, but it was fascinating to slowly learn more about her life and what happened to her all those years ago.

In short, Local Woman Missing turned out to be a fascinating story that will have more than one plot twist bomb for you in store. Engaging, suspenseful, sometimes harrowing, and without doubt worth reading if you enjoy the genre and like being surprised.

Mary Kubica does it again. Plenty of twist and turns, keeps you guessing .Her characters are both likable and yet hate able at the same time. You find yourself rooting for the under dog. She is quickly becoming a favorite of mine.

Mary Kubica has done it again! Loved this wild ride full of “wait what?” Moments and turning the pages as fast as I can to see what was going to be revealed next!
The story takes place in small town America where everyone always feels safe. Until one day a new mom goes missing while out on her run and as the town works with the police to hunt for her, all fingers point to her husband as the main suspect. Shortly thereafter, another woman and her daughter go missing and the police try to see if they are connected or not-then her body is found-of apparent suicide leaving a note saying her daughter is fine, but they’ll never find her.
There are several different POV and two timelines to keep up with, and at first it seems like it is a bit overwhelming, but by 1/4 of the way into the story all the bits fell into place and I was scrambling to figure out what happened-Meredith (the 2nd woman to go missing) was Shelby’s (the first woman) doula. Did the kidnapper take them knowing this? Then one day the daughter manages to escape her captors and the police bring her home! Yay! But wait! Was that too easy? There are so many questions that need answers that I can’t stop reading and right until the very end I was sucked in. There are some triggers for sure and this won’t be for everyone. This is a dark and sensitive subject matter but it is handled well and it will grip you like a vice and not let you go!!
Thanks to Park Row and Netgalley for this Arc in exchange for my review.

Wow, what a wonderful read! I loved that this story was told from multiple perspectives while alternating between past and present. This was book was very well plotted. There were many unexpected twists which made the finale even more satisfying. Very well done!

I was captivated by this book right from its very first page. I was expecting a run-of-the-mill missing persons mystery with some thrills and maybe even chills along the way. But this book is far from run of the mill. Mary Kubica has taken an old story and made it new again. 

Told in three different timelines with first-person POV scenes from four separate characters, Local Woman Missing should theoretically be hard to follow. But Kubica pulls this off masterfully. The first chapter was just long enough to get me invested in the storyline before she introduced new timelines and characters. 

Local Woman Missing is nail-bitingly suspenseful.  There are so many surprising twists throughout, which truly made this book a refreshing take on an old “woman goes missing” trope. While I kind of saw one or two of the twists coming, others blew me out of the water. As any skilled writer strives to do, Kubica has carefully laid out clues all along the way, hinting at the truth, and I definitely berated myself over not recognizing these clues until after a major twist had me shook. 

It’s hard to talk about the characters without spoiling anything about the sheer brilliance of how they are portrayed and how they evolve throughout the story. I will say that the characters are well developed, and I found I genuinely cared about what would happen to some of them. As the story progresses, it becomes obvious that very few of them are how they initially seemed, and everyone has their own motivations and secrets guiding their decisions. The present day timeline is gut-wrenching and I was wholeheartedly invested in finding out just how the story would unfold. 

There was one thing that pulled me out of the story a little bit. There are some first-person scenes written from the perspective of a fifteen year-old boy, and I thought that his chapters are written a little too immaturely. I see what the author was doing, but honestly most fifteen year olds would have a bit of a better grasp of the English language. I had thought that there might be a reason for this (ex. developmental issues), but if this was explained I missed it.  That said, the significant difference in writing style for each of the characters makes the point of view jumps that much easier to follow.

I also did find that the novel wraps up a little too quickly for my liking. Everything is explained and all the loose ends are tied up nicely, but I would have liked for a little bit more at the end of such an emotionally-charged book.

All in all, I highly recommend this book to those who want to read a suspenseful and intelligent mystery that is refreshingly unique in both its storyline and approach.

Ah, I had been reading some books lately that I struggled to get invested in or struggled to finish, but as usual Mark Kubica does not disappoint. I finished this one in about two days. I loved the very atmospheric descriptions of the stormy, rainy weather that is happening in much of the story. It really set the tone for this dark, domestic thriller. The suspense literally hummed.. I could hardly turn the pages fast enough. The neighborhood is like one many of us live in, in the suburbs of an urban area. Meredith, Josh, Kate, Bea, and their friends and neighbors could be my neighbors or your neighbors. We go to work, our kids play together, we have barbecues. What do we really know about our neighbors? First new mom Shelby Tebow goes missing, then Meredith Dickey and her daughter Delilah. Everyone is on edge. Then a young girl escapes from a horrible hostage situation. Could it be Delilah Dickey after 11 years missing? Told from the viewpoints of several characters and includes present day and 11 years before. The way the story unfolds you will be surprised. Things are not always what they seem. #NetGalley #LocalWomanMissing

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The book begins 11 years ago when an unfaithful wife is meeting her lover. Then a child who has been held captive escapes and is believed to me the daughter of a woman who committed suicide 11 years ago and has been missing since. The intertwining stories are told through multiple POVs and timelines, and we truly get to know all of the characters. I loved this book! What a ride! This book was very fast paced - I finished it in a few hours (I couldn't put it down)!

What an amazing book! The book is about a woman and her child after they go missing not that long after another woman. Eleven years later the daughter is found but she is severely traumatized by her capture. The book switches from the present to eleven year ago and has multiple narrators. We hear the story of Meredith, the missing mother, Leo, Meredith’s son, and several others. I love this type of book because you learn more about the story. I loved the book and all the twists.

What a wild ride!! Local Woman Missing had so many fun twists and turns. All the pieces kept me guessing right until end. I wasn't certain the ending worked, but it was definitely a surprise!

Premise: told from multiple points of view and time frames, this is story of a girl who shows up after going missing a decade ago. Is she the missing girl? What happened?
This was a super suspenseful read and I loved every minute of it. The opening escape scence was terrifying and there was a twisty, surprise ending. Perfect psychological thriller. Recommended.

4.5 stars

This was a page-turner with enough twists and turns to keep me engaged and guessing, and a number of the twists were quite unexpected! I liked the fact the story is told from multiple POV's in dual timeframes. I had a hard time putting this one down, and it reminded me of how I feel reading a Riley Sager book, where I say, "Just one more chapter!" There were a few parts that dragged a bit, but it wasn't enough to change my mind on this being one of my favorite reads so far in 2021.