This is the first book I've read by this author and I thoroughly enjoyed this read! The plot was addictive and it was a quick read!

**3.5 stars**

I Am Not Who You Think I Am by Eric Rickstad is a tense and dark thriller about a young man who saw his father commit suicide when he was a child….or did he?

Kudos to the author for writing a book I did not figure out the ending of beforehand. If you like dark and twisted stories then I think you will like this one. Steven Weber does an excellent job on the audiobook as well.

This was my first book I have read by Mr Rickstad and I liked it enough I will definitely look for more of his books.

**Thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the e-arc I received in exchange for my honest review.**

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience

WOAH! My first book by this author and he nailed the weaving of a great storyline that had me shaking my head throughout the ending of the story with some rockin' twists! Never saw it coming. If you start with anything by this author, START WITH THIS BOOK! This definitely will not be my last by him.

Shout out of thanks to the publisher and author for this truly fun read. I have recommended it NUMEROUS times!

A first person narrated psychological thriller that draws you in instantly. The detail rendered to characters and story only make the story shine that much more. This title reminded me a little of film noir and 'Citizen Cane' meets Miss Marple in that the story revolves around a mysterious note with a phrase that sends the main character down a spiraling maze of investigation, introspection, and reflection while the reader first ponders one theory, then another, and then doubles back to repeat the process. A suspenseful read I'll be recommending to others.

Thanks to Eric Rickstad, Blackstone Publishing, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review “I Am Not Who You Think I Am” The title is what really caught my eye, and as it turns out the entire novel hinges on that phrase! Wayland Maynard is just eight years old when he sees his father kill himself, finds a note that reads I am not who you think I am, and is left reeling with grief and shock. Who was his father if not the loving man Wayland knew? Terrified, Wayland keeps the note a secret, but his reasons for being afraid are just beginning. I have never read any of the author’s previous works, and that will be rectified in the future after this novel. I really enjoyed the author’s writing style and particular his pacing. A slow noir burn at first, and then the pacing quickens as the story ramps up! Plenty of suspense and a very interesting twist! Thanks for reading, and thanks for your time! “I Am Not Who You Think I Am” is out now!

I wasn’t expecting this to be a young adult gothic novel, but that’s what it is. Wayland was 8 when his father shot himself in the head, but the book takes place when Wayland is 16. He is convinced that his father did not commit suicide, despite the fact that he left behind a rather cryptic note saying “I am not who you think I am”. Wayland spends most of the book creeping around investigating, like something out of the Hardy Boys, or mooning over a girl. There is a lot of teenaged angst.

If you enjoy reading this genre you will probably like this book more than I did. You will have to believe that people in this small Vermont town are extremely stupid and unobservant. I would have expected them to at least be nosier. You will also have to believe <spoiler>that not one, but two, supposedly dead people can be successfully hidden away for decades, two teenaged boys can go missing and everyone just says “oh well” and an incest plot that will make your eyes roll. </spoiler> Steven Weber did an adequate job narrating the audiobook, including the overwrought parts.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from the publisher.

My husband read this book and enjoyed it, despite not really being a thriller reader as a general rule.

🔥Thank you #NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for my complimentary copy of I Am Not Who You Think I Am by Eric Rickstad.

🔥Goodreads Synopsis🔥
One secret. Eight cryptic words. Lifetimes of ruin.

Wayland Maynard is just eight years old when he sees his father kill himself, finds a note that reads I am not who you think I am, and is left reeling with grief and shock. Who was his father if not the loving man Wayland knew? Terrified, Wayland keeps the note a secret, but his reasons for being afraid are just beginning.

Eight years later, Wayland makes a shocking discovery and becomes certain the note is the key to unlocking a past his mother and others in his town want to keep buried.

With the help of two friends, Wayland searches for the truth. Together they uncover strange messages scribbled in his father's old books, a sinister history behind the town's most powerful family, and a bizarre tragedy possibly linked to Wayland's birth. Each revelation raises more questions and deepens Wayland's suspicions of everyone around him. Soon, he'll regret he ever found the note, trusted his friends, or believed in such a thing as the truth.

🔥I really enjoyed this one. It grabbed me from the very beginning and just continued to get more intense the further I got into it. I was completely glued as the end approached and was left shocked and saddened. I truly felt for Wayland. I could not imagine his trauma, witnessing what he had, especially not at 8 years old in addition to everything else that happened. This whole book was filled with devastation and I will be thinking about it for a while. It was a solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

He is not who you think he is and this book is not what you think it is. Just read it! So good and dark and twisted!

I Am Not Who You Think I Am is the first novel I've read by the author Eric Rickstad.

An exquisitely poignant, coming-of-age story that will keep you turning the page until the end. It will pull at your heartstrings for this boy turned teenager. Someone who wants to protect his sister and to have his love and affection reciprocated by a girl at school whom he thought never even knew he existed.

An eight-year-old boy witnessed a suicide in his parents' bedroom when he went home from school early one day. On the floor, the boy picked up a square slip of paper. Written were eight words that he will keep as a secret eight years later: I AM NOT WHO YOU THINK I AM. Printed on the back were the initials SFL.

When the boy became sixteen, there are a lot of things that he is trying to make sense of: the note, the dangling legs, why his mother has banished everything that reminded them of their father, the annulment papers, the adoption papers, and birth certificate.

He will stop at nothing until he finds the answers to who is the man in his parents' bed that shot himself. And if it's not his father, then where is his father now?

The story will hook you from the beginning and you won't stop reading until you find out what happened until the end. Who is this mysterious Tall Man and who is this screaming woman? Who is the man that shot himself in his parents' bed? I can actually feel Wayland's frustration myself. The story will make you empathize with the main character.

The story is rich in vocabulary and references to the 80s. It is told from Wayland's point of view. Gracefully written with characters trying to overcome their past.

This book is something that would become a classic. A book that students will read in Lit class.

*I received a copy of this book via NetGalley from Blackstone Publishing and I’m reviewing it voluntarily.

This thriller (really a mystery-slash-family-saga) felt very 1940s or 50s to me. As such there were some stereotyped gender roles (the wealthy, mentally ill woman hidden away but long in love with the family lawyer...) but part of the mystery hinged on the working single mom and where she went on her "bowling" nights.

Also came across as noir, feeling like The Postman Rings Twice though in Postman the plot is much more complicated

The structure was interesting-first person narrator, some epistolary. I liked the parts told from the POV of him as a boy better than as an alienated adult, condemned by himself.

This was a "likable" read but it did feel kind of anticlimactic at the end. I like a good mystery/thriller as much as the next person but where is our next really, really twisted thriller writer? The mystery itself was interesting but...

An eight-year-old boy witnesses his father’s suicide, but questions arise and secrets surrounding his death abound as he searches for the truth in this complex mystery. Trigger warnings all around here, so go in knowing you may be offended by some of the dark content.

I can’t say I highly recommend this, but it was a quick read that kept me interested straight through.

When 8 year old Wayland sees his father commit suicide, his world and family are torn apart. Wayland finds a note at his father's feet but for some reason he decides to keep it secret because he has a hard time trusting people. When he reaches his teen years he begins to question what he saw and believes his father might not be the man he witnesses killing himself thus an adventure begins to find out.
This story is a dark look at a dysfunctional family and the secrets kept to protect themselves and others. It will stay with you after you turn the last page.

Thank you Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for this eARC! I found this book had a bit of a slow start for about the first third of the book, but I was invested in finding out what happened to Wayland's father. As it went on, it got darker and sadder and had me feeling very emotional. I loved Wayland as a main character and really felt for him. Overall this was a great book and I can't wait to read more from the author!

<i>I am not who you think I am</i> is a fictional and fascinating look at a dysfunctional family and how its actions can impact family members for generations to come. Waylon Maynard is a shy awkward boy who is tormented by his memories as a young child and fights to ensure that he is not permanently damaged by them. <i>I am not who you think I am</i> was written by best-selling and prolific author Eric Rickstad.

The local police department receives a manuscript from one of their previous citizens. Waylon Menard, a shy boy who no one really knows, writes and publishs a manuscript that explains mysterious events that have occurred in the town. Wayland begins his manuscript by talking about how his father was a good man and then he goes on to talk about how he witnesses his father shooting himself in his bedroom at their home. Waylon doubts that this is something that his father does on purpose because he finds a note that says “I am not who you think I am”. This note sends Wayland on a journey to understand his father and to uncover some of the mysteries associated with him and his death. He solicits the help of two of his friends. One is a girl he likes from school and the other is a jock who has taken him on as one of his buddies. The search takes them to an old mansion on a hill, as well as, to the graveyard where Waylon’s father is buried. He then locates one of his old teachers who leaves the school under mysterious circumstances. All of these things lead to an involved or convoluted story describing what really happens to Maynard’s family and what makes him who he becomes after the death of his father.

Rickstad does a phenomenal job of character development particularly with the character of Wayland who is initially a very shy and reserved boy and who with time is revealed as an innately angry and vengeful person. This detailed character development helps explain some of what Wayland has done and what he is about to do.

The story itself is very compelling because it starts off to explain one thing and leads you down another path to a completely different result. The novel is a very quick read and it has several significant twists which make it difficult to put down put down. Linkages between the people in the family are slow too evolve but by the end you understand exactly what has happened making the story very compelling and interesting.

I recommend this book to people who enjoy stories about relationships and stories that are full twists. I give it a five on five. I would like to think NetGalley and Blackstone publishing for providing me with a digital copy of this book. I provide this review voluntarily.

Woah! This book had me from the very first sentence. I absolutely could not put it down. I highly recommend it! The writing is easy to follow, and the characters are well developed. I enjoyed every second, and look forward to reading (hopefully) sooo much more by this author.

This was a quick and easy read. I really felt bad for the character, but this thriller was so fun. I enjoyed the book overall.

Wow. Definitely one of the best books I have read this year.
So lyrical and rich language. This book pulled me and wrung me out. Massive book hangover. Emotional. Family history. Tragedy. A child's realization his parents are human
At the age of eight, Wayland leaves school early - to find his father's truck idling in the driveway, his mother no where to be found and his dad sitting on the edge of the bed. With a shotgun between his knees. Wayland calls out to him but his father shoots himself. He finds the note his father left - and it sits for eight years.
Wayland looks at his feet - and it triggers a memory. His father was very tall - taller than Wayland. But his feet were dangling off the bed. Wayland becomes obsessed with his father's suicide - desperate to confirm it was a different man and discover what really happened.
Amazing writing, addictive read.

The story is about a boy who when was eight witnessed the death of his father and years later he suspects maybe the person is not his father but somebody else and starts investigating his parent ancests to know what really happenes. I liked its pace. The character is not very likable and his actions to get what he wants are questionable and he has to live with the consecuences of what he has done.