What a great novel!
A man and his wife along with their children go on vacation to New York. He runs out to get pizza and when he returns…the family is gone, their luggage etc. , all gone…
As he explores what has happened to them, we begin learning the whole story.
His wife begins telling her story and as it unfolds we see things we did not know and learn what has happened is only a tiny portion of what is going on here.
Wonderfully twisty and quite the surprise ending that you won’t see coming.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me this ARC in exchange for my unbiased opinion.
I highly recommend.

5 Stars. This book was without a doubt a page turner. Grabbed me from page 1.

One of the best books of this year. The ending was shocking!

My Wife Is Missing by D.J. Palmer is an edge of your seat thriller that will keep you guessing at every turn. I knew, while reading, that things were probably not as simple as they seemed and people weren't as transparent as they were portrayed, but I was continuously surprised by each twist and turn. When Michael Hart's wife and children disappear on a family trip to NYC he has several thoughts on what might have happened. His wife willingly walking away, is not one that he contemplated. Natalie, who suffers from extreme insomnia, is beginning to also suffer from delusions. While I sometimes questioned her reliability, I did not question her instincts. Michael definitely was hiding something. But who to believe? In an exciting search and chase, as the story unfolds, the unease continues to grow.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. My Wife is Missing will be released on May 10, 2022!

OMG!!!! This book is great! The twists are fantastic! I didn't know who the bad person was until the end! Just the kind of book I like! I have read other books by this author and all of them are great!

Another win for @djpalmerauthor ! I absolutely loved The Perfect Daughter and was so excited when I was offered an E-Arc of My Wife is Missing from @netgalley @stmartinspress!

Unreliable narrator ✅
Twists and unexpected turns ✅
Lies and a secret past ✅
Domestic turmoil ✅

All my boxes are checked! So this was definitely a win for me. I loved the dual narrators and that I didn’t know who or what to trust. I was sucked into their domestic issues and couldn’t put it down! I also loved that a portion of the book takes place in Massachusetts. While I love when I book takes me someplace I’ve never been but there is something comforting in reading about places that are familiar.

I’m going to file this one in the ‘just not for me’ bin. There was nothing inherently wrong with this book, but I just couldn’t get into it or invested in the story. I wasn’t on the edge of my chair or turning the pages like crazy to find out what happened next. I also had a hunch about the big twist from the very beginning. And I found the way it all ended to just be very sad.

I’ve seen a couple people post about disliking the ‘unreliable narrator’ lately, and I think that might have been part of my problem with the one as well. Again, it wasn’t horrible but it wasn’t for me.

I was drawn to this book after seeing the author’s post about what inspired him. I thought that glimpse into writing was really special. Unfortunately, just didn’t end up loving the book.

A propulsive and engaging surprise of a thriller, definitely makes me want to check out more of Palmer’s books. my only issue with this was that it took a bit too long to get to the ending ‘reveals’ and the way Nat kept running away just in time was very irritating to this reader (although i guess that was the point of the story!)

Palmer has written a fantastic book that I almost finished in one sitting (hey, I had to work early the next day!). Two unreliable narrators, skillfull plotting , and lots of twists make this my first fun, suspenseful beach/lake read recommendation of the summer. I will also recommend it to readers who enjoy Harlan Coben's novels, it is that good.

Hello Book Friends! He did it again 👀

Natalie and Michael head off to New York with their kids for some much needed family fun in the city. This is a great opportunity to smooth over the tension between them. New York was always their special “getaway place”, and now they can share it with the kids.

Natalie’s insomnia has made her paranoid. Its causing memory problems, she is experiencing tremors, and she’s convinced that Michael is having an affair.

After the long car ride from Massachusetts, Michael runs out for pizza and returns to a dark and empty hotel room. Natalie and the kids are gone, along with their things.

The truths is that Natalie is terrified of Michael and will do anything for the safety of her children. Her journey takes her across the country in a desperate attempt to leave him behind.

Michael is desperate to find his family. He feels guilty and is fearful that the truth will get out. Luckily, he has the help of NYPD Detective Sergeant Amos Kennett who is using his personal vacation time to help him track Natalie and the children. Soon, Michael comes to the realization that Kennett may know the truth that he has been hiding all along.

I absolutely did not see coming.

Fans of @djpalmerauthor who loved  and  will enjoy this one!

Thank you @netgalley @stmartinspress

I have read a few books by this author and was happy to receive an advanced copy of it. The story revolves around Natalie and Michael Hart and their two kids. They take a trip from their home in Boston to New York City. After picking up a pizza for dinner, Michael discovers his wife and kids are gone, along with all of their belongings, after returning to their hotel. The only thing left is his son’s beloved teddy bear. Were they kidnapped? Why did they go? We soon discover that each spouse has secrets. Oh, and by the way, the wife has insomnia, so is she hallucinating? Does she imagine things?

The book started slowly for me and continued like that for about two-thirds of the way through. It wasn’t until the NYC detective joined up with Michael that things got interesting with more twists and turns. I liked this character and wished we knew a little more about him. Also, I would have liked a little more closure with this character, but felt like they tossed aside him as the book wrapped up. This is purely my preference. There was an epilogue, which I love in books, so that was a good way for everything to wrap up in the end.

Overall, there was a lot of smoke and mirrors, and while I did figure out part of the ending, it was all a surprise, mostly. Based on this ending and the book’s last third, I would recommend it to others who l like the author and reading thrillers.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my unsolicited opinion.

This is the third book I have read from this author and sadly my least favorite. Right out of the gate with this one, I felt a kind of Gone Girl vibe that just did not work for me at first. The back and forth between characters just started becoming tiresome very quickly, It made it seem that the story was going one way and then the plot line retracted when it moved to the next character. I thought that the back and forth in time seemed selective right out of the gate. I could tell that I was being led to feel one way.. The insomnia and the revelations out of nowhere were kind of out there for me. The addition of the detective was the straw that broke the camel's back and the fact that the resolution was a barely known character was the icing on this mess. Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley.

A family vacation that turns into a nightmare..... sign me up! A thrilling story of deception and secrets. A page turning thriller that I couldn't put down. Well written, mystery/ thriller that grabbed me from the first chapter.

3.5 STARS

This was my first book by D.J. Palmer.

Michael and Natalie's marriage is on the rocks and he is desperate to fix it. They take their two young kids and check into a hotel for a little vacation time in New York. Michael goes out to pick up dinner and when he returns the hotel room is empty. Natalie and the children are gone.

The beginning had me hooked, but about a third of the way, things got pretty repetitive. Natalie suffers from insomnia, I get it already. This was repeated time after time. She has insomnia. She is confused, forgetful, panicky, paranoid and has hallucinations. She has insomnia!!!! Got it?

Michael also has his issues. No wonder Natalie can't sleep. They were both acting all sorts of slippery. I'm not sure I liked either one of them. Some of their escapades made me laugh, but may not have meant to be funny (if you know what I mean). Someone needs an intervention (me at this point)!

I did overall enjoy it, but it needed to be shorter. There was also so much going on , the chase lasted too long and made my head swim. I would like to try the author again, but I'll choose something around 300 pages.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for my gifted advance review copy!

Natalie and Michael have a great life with a nice house in the suburbs and two beautiful children. On a family trip to NYC, Michael leaves the hotel to pick up pizza and returns to find that his wife and children have vanished.

Brace yourself for my unpopular opinion. I thought this book was ok. The premise was interesting, and it definitely was engaging in the sense that I was constantly trying to suss out the truth before it was revealed in the book, but this was a super slow book (it took me a whopping nine days to finish this one). The story is told in alternating viewpoints: Michael’s, Natalie’s, and Natalie’s before she disappears. Rather than moving the plot along, I felt that all the switching back and forth really bogged the story down. Some chapters felt redundant and annoyingly vague (yes, we get Natalie’s insomnia may be affecting her mental capacity, yes, we get that Michael has a ~past~).

I kept reading because I wanted to know how it ended, but overall I felt meh about the reveals. The first one, I saw coming. The second, I didn’t predict but also didn’t care about.

I am definitely the outlier here, as several of my friends have already given this one glowing reviews! It just wasn’t for me.

I'm always looking for a good thriller that will keep my attention, and My Wife is Missing did just that. Layer after layer of unraveling what was happening kept me reading. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

3.0 Stars
Unpopular Opinion! And there are vague spoilers...

I would like to thank St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the e ARC of My Wife Is Missing by D.J. Palmer. I am very sorry to say that this book was a big disappointment to me. Almost 400 pages and here is the story: 1) Main characters = Unreliable Narrators, 2) Wife has Insomnia and is Paranoid. 3) Takes Kids and Leaves Husband. 4) VERY Long Car Chase with Questionable Detective. 5) Jail, violence, 1 mystery solved. 6) Detective disappears and very Obscure character solves? second murder. The End.
I'm sorry, I don't mean to be flip about an author's hard work, but this story was not a thriller or even exciting to me. To many, many others, it was a 5 star read. Maybe plots of stories are just becoming too similar? Maybe editing of this novel could have added some sparks and interest for me? #NetGalley

<i>Thank you, Netgalley, for the ARC!</i>

So I binged and loved D.J. Palmer’s other books when I listened to them, so I was extremely excited to get the arc for this book. And let me tell you, it's not my favourite out of the bunch but I still really enjoyed it. If you're looking for good and thrilling mysteries, I highly recommend his books.

Michael and Natalie were both very compelling narrators with their secrets and flaws. I love how this book was a dual POV, even exploring the before and present in Natalie’s. I would even say they were both unreliable since I didn't know who to believe as the book progressed and more info and secrets were revealed.

I do think this book could’ve been shorter and more compact, and revelations at the end could've been expanded and further explored. It did feel rushed in comparison to Natalie's long escape and a lot of the beginning didn't feel necessary, in my opinion. But once the pace picked up, it was so thrilling to read and I could not put it down. I even felt scared for Natalie and the kids at some points.

D.J. Palmer does it again. Is Michael guilty or is Kate sleep deprived and crazy? Is Michael sleeping with Audrey or is Kate sleep deprived and crazy? Who killed Audrey Adler? So many questions run through your brain at all times. At one point you'll think you have it figured out, you'll realize you're wrong and guess again. But you won't know the truth until the end. Such an amazing book! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book to me was a little bizarre as there were so many things that were added in and weren't explained. Then in the end the killer was revealed and it seemed to have been just tossed in as an afterthought.. Just didn't seem to flow and just fell flat for me.

Outlier alert!🙋🏻‍♀️

2.5*

Don’t you sometimes wonder if you just read the same book as everyone else? Like maybe you’re in some parallel universe? You notice all the glowing reviews, all the high praise but you just couldn’t connect from page one. Well this is definitely one of those times!

Natalie has horrible insomnia, eventually starting to effect all aspects of her life. She’s now at the point of wondering whether she’s being gas-lighted by her husband, or is she truly delusional?

What she is certain of is that she must escape before it’s too late. (I’m sorry, but this made little sense to me even after all was said and done at the end).

This book was much too long and really didn’t take hold until the final 25%. I struggled for the better part of two weeks to finish, only to be thoroughly disappointed by the ending. Really!? Seriously!? After all of that…over 400 pages!? Nope, that’s just not going to cut it for me.

I’ve read multiple books by this author and I have to say this was by far my least favorite. But…. everyone else absolutely loved it! This is just one (unpopular) opinion. Happy reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press.