This is a somewhat disappointing followup to Defending Jacob. The premise is promising but the execution, not so much. Th points of view are sometimes hard to pickup and the story bounces around too much between time periods. It might have been better for the story to flow in chronological order. I don’t feel most of the characters were fully developed or certainly didn’t reach their potential I expected better overall.

Wow!!! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!! I was so excited to get approved for this book and could not wait to start reading. The story was told from the POV of different characters. A missing mother, a grieving family, where is the mother and what happened to her?!?! This story had me guessing until the very end. I will definitely recommend!!

All That Is Mine I Carry With Me is an intense, gripping family drama. The book starts from the standpoint of an author writing a novel about a true story concerning the mother of his friend. In November 1975, a mother disappeared. Her 11 year old daughter, Miranda, returned home to an empty house. Days later her abandoned car is found at the train station. The father is viewed as a suspect by the detective investigating the case, but there’s no evidence.
Now years later, the daughter and her one older brother have told their story to the novelist. The eldest brother is not in favor of the book being released. The book changes POVs with each section. Parts of the book are just heart wrenching. We see how each child reacts differently to the loss of their mother and the suspicion that falls on their father. Miranda suffers from depression. Jeff hates his father and spends his life angry. Alex just pretends it never happened. Every time I thought I knew what was happening, Landay threw a wrench into the works. The father is definitely arrogant, but is he guilty?
The story covers family, how to deal with a situation where one parent might have killed another. Landay is spot on when he describes the hurt, doubt and anger. Where does one’s loyalty lie? At some point, is the right decision just to move on? I found myself highlighting multiple phrases. The ending is just perfect.
A heads up, the book does not include quotation marks around speech. If that bothers you, beware. It’s not my favorite style, but I can handle it.
My thanks to Netgalley and Random House - Ballantine Books for an advance copy of this book.

It has been a bit since we heard from Mr. Landay, but he is back with a story of murder and loyalty.

A mother vanished. A father presumed guilty. There is no proof. There are no witnesses. For the children, there is only doubt. From the New York Times bestselling author of Defending Jacob. . . .

November of 1975. Ten-year-old Miranda Larkin comes home from school to find a quiet house. Her mother, Jane, is missing. No signs of a struggle and her purse is still in its spot.

What happened to Jane? Did their father have something to do with it? Are they eating breakfast with a killer? He is, after all, a criminal defense lawyer. This is kind of his field.

But an entire lifetime will go by before they have any answers. The problem is that there is no evidence. None. As usually happens, the public forgets about the crime, and the police have nothing.

Until they do.

Twenty years go by before they find Jane Larkin. The police are back looking at motives and suspects. Have the children been living with the person who killed their mother the entire time?

A story about murder, loss, vengeance, and loyalty. How do you choose sides when it is your parents?

Winner!

NetGalley/ March 7th, 2023 by Bantam

I read this as an ARC from NetGalley.

This book is fantastic. It’s written from several points of view but the story is propelled further by each. I love the author’s previous books, especially “Defending Jacob” and “All that is Mine…” does not disappoint. Characters are well developed, I cared about them, especially Jeff and Miranda. The mystery isn’t solved until the end, and he keeps you guessing. As usual, and understandably, his writing about legal issues and courtroom drama is excellent. I wish he had more books available to read, but I look forward to continuing to read anything he writes. Just excellent!

William Landay has done it again! This intensely haunting, slow-burning mystery about a family tragedy is a brilliant portrayal of family dynamics that follow a violent crime. When Jane Larkin, a wife and mother, mysteriously disappears from the family home, Dan Larkin, the father, is presumed guilty despite lack of supportive evidence to link him to his wife's disappearance. Dan is a brilliant defense attorney who routinely defends criminals. Who better to outwit the deceives on the case? Is Dan guilty?

The mystery of Jane's disappearance follows the lives of Dan and their 3 children over the course of the next 20 years. The story is teeming with conflicting emotions of vengeance, heartbreak, guilt, loyalty, grief, depression, and more. The story is told through multiple points of view, including Phil, a writer who was a friend of the children growing up, who is the the author's alter voice, and Jane!

During the story's winding road, readers are compelled to predict what happened to Jane. The case eventually goes cold, but remains open for years. I was completely blindsided by the jaw-dropping conclusion! This is a perfect book for book club discussions and I predict that Mr. Landay has another best seller on his hands!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the digital advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review.

When I started this I thought I was reading a forward, so I started out disoriented. This was brilliantly pieced together. The second part was the best. I loved the writing and idea behind this. Story-wise it's more of a three for me, but the work as a whole is a 4.5-5

Free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

An excellent story told from several different characters perspectives about a woman who goes missing in 1975. Jane Larkin is a loving mother to three beautiful children, in a marriage that she felt was somewhat unhappy, but definitely not worth leaving. Dan Larkin comes from money, arrogant, egotistical And overall just gives off the feeling of not a very good person. You are left wondering throughout the book did he harm his wife? Did she just leave? What happened to her? I very much enjoyed the different perspectives from the characters as to what their portion of the story was viewed as. Definitely kept me wanting to know more! Very engaging and I would definitely recommend this book!

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for my advanced electronic reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was incredibly sloooooow. I just found it to be very disappointing and hard to read. Plus the chapters were super long. This might be better for someone else.

Landay is such a good writer! He has a keen eye for detail. This is a really good story and highly recommended. I also recommend Defending Jacob, one of my favorites.

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine and NetGalley for copy of this book. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This novel is due to be released on March 7. 2023.

Things I loved about the book:
1. William Landay doesn't disappoint with this coming of age story with a creepy, deadbeat dad!
2. Character development was strong - even the characters that I disliked were well developed - made me dislike them more!
3. Complex story which creates confusion and helps to build the suspense of the book.

Things I wished were different:
1. Telling the story from multiple perspectives was confusing at times.
2. Ending was a little predictable.
3. I thought the title was too long and hard to remember.

This is a story that’s like a nice glass of wine to be savored and enjoyed over time.

A famous author, Philip Solomon, was searching for his next story. His friend, Miranda said, “There’s a whole world to write about.” She directed his attention to her father with Alzheimer’s disease. “He gets to forget or pretend to.”

His wife, Jane Larkin, disappeared on November 12, 1975, in Boston. When her ’75 Ford Thunderbird coupe was found at a train station, there was no sign of any struggle. The detective couldn’t find any witnesses. She had no history of violence, abuse or anything which would give them a clue of what happened.

All suspicions were pointed towards her husband, Dan, and father of Alex, Jeff and Miranda. He was a powerful criminal attorney. Detective Glover said, “Most people are amateurs at murder. They make mistakes. Not you.” From that point on, Jeff and Miranda along with their Aunt Kate tagged him as mistrustful. They couldn’t put this to rest.

It’s skillfully written with all the pieces in place but a very slow burn. The chapters or what the author refers to as “books” are presented by a couple of POVs which keeps it intriguing. However, these sections are really long without giving the reader a break for food, rest or anything else.

All along, the reader is searching for clues. Was it the father that killed her? His girlfriend? The older son? The neighbor? I didn’t realize that there are thousands of unresolved missing person cases every year for all kinds of reasons. In this book, all the questions are revealed in a satisfactory ending.

My thanks to William Landay, Bantam Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read this advanced copy with an expected release date of March 7, 2023.

Full disclosure, I only made it about 8% into this book. The premise was really intriguing, but the chapters are LONG. The thing that made me DNF was that there would be PAAAGES with absolutely no indication of who was saying which line of dialogue. While I know that it alternates, it made it really difficult for my brain to parse.

Heartbreaking is the best word to describe this book. For the first 40%, I was confused and not sure where this book was going to go, but as it progressed and became clear I was engrossed. Miranda broke my heart. The story she wrote from her mom's perspective devastated me, especially when she wrote about the mom having to turn away, unable to look at her daughter's pain. I cannot imagine anything that cuts deeper. The final book, written from Dan's perspective as he tumbles deeper into dementia, had my heart racing. I felt deep sympathy for him and cherished the relationship he developed with Miranda. The final ending though...I was blown away. I was torn in two. Miranda will go down as one of the most gripping, authentic, and desperate characters I've ever read about. I will never forget her.

Thank you to Net Galley for an advance copy of this book. Defending Jacob was one of my favorites and I was excited to read this authors latest. It did not disappoint. books. The story kept me guessing until the last two pages. The characters were well drawn out. Another 5 star read.

William Landay's writing is just outstanding. His books are a portal for readers to disappear into his creative, intriguing stories. His characters are beautifully developed and stay real for me well after the last page. Suspense means far more in the hands of Mr. Landay. All That Is Mine I Carry With Me is original and intelligent. Focused on the Larkin family, parents, Dan, and Jane. And children, Alex, Jeff and Miranda. When Jane goes missing, Jeff and Miranda are thrown into turmoil. The pain and conflict they experience are poignantly and authentically written. They are rudderless and torn between the possibility of their father's guilt or innocence. The book is a page turner and a thoughtful examination of family loyalty, loss, and an emotional journey to find and live with the truth. This one goes in my excellent reads shelf. Five strong shining stars. Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for this ARC of All That Is Mine I Carry With Me.

This is the story of Jane Larkin, wife and mom of three. She goes missing on an otherwise uneventful day in 1975. Is her husband Dan involved? Is he responsible? William Landay is a favorite author of mine, and he does not disappoint. Each of the four “books” in this novel is told from a different perspective. This is an interesting and very effective way to tell this particular story.

I hesitate to say much more because I don’t want to spoil the experience for anyone. The story is propulsive and will keep you turning the pages.

I find the omission of quotation marks in the dialogue distracting and a bit awkward. This is the only thing keeping it from being a five-star read for me.

This book, and the characters in it, will stay with me for a long time. I highly recommend it!

Many thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this terrific novel in exchange for an honest review.

ALL THAT IS MINE I CARRY WITH ME
BY William Landy
Publisher Random House/Ballantine
Release date: 3/7/2023

This is the first book I have read of William Landy and now I'm a huge fan. The book has everything I love in it that makes it interesting to me. It contains family drama, mystery and courtroom drama. This book contains a lot of twist and turns that keeps your heads spinning.
The book starts out with a mother of three children that goes missing and everyone is suspicious of the husband. Is he responsible? Is it someone else? Or..is she still alive?
These questions will be thrown around many times and you will form an opinion and change your mind many times as you read. This book is very engaging and character development impressive.
I am looking forward to reading more books by this author.

I want to thank Netgalley and Random house / Ballantine Publishing for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

It’s been a long wait for another compelling and complex book by Landay but well worth the wait. Although I realty enjoyed this book, I felt it dragged on too much.

I was fortunate to read this mystery/realistic fiction novel as an ARC via Netgalley. I really liked this book. I would place it just below Defending Jacob. Landay presents the story via four different characters. So you get inside the mind of two siblings, their mom, and their dad. I couldn't wait to get home to continue reading it. This is one of those novels that keeps you guessing as to what exactly happened and who did it? Read it and be prepared to stay up past your bedtime for just one more chapter!