I was skeptical about this book from Wendy Walker because the cover wasn’t my favorite, but this book was definitely for me! Could not read it quickly enough and I loved the journey it took me on.

I have lovingly devoured all of Wendy Walker’s books, so it pains me to say that this was not my favorite. I’ll start off by saying that because I just had knee surgery, my brain was still foggy when I read this, so that could be part of the problem. But I got really confused with the alternating time frames and so many characters. The plot just seemed overly complicated and was frustrating at times. I will say that the ending was definitely better, although I still did not totally understand it. I think I’ll have to give this another read in the future to see if I feel the same.

I received an advanced readers copy of What Remains from NetGalley and what a book it is. Wendy Walker is one of my go to authors and What Remains maybe my favorite of all of her books. The trauma experienced by police officer Elise after shooting and killing a young man who brought a gun into a departing store. Her pain seemed so real and visceral. I wasn’t as invested in the alternative story being told about the investigation of the body parts found in The Kill Room. However, the way the author connected both stories at the end was masterful.

Whoa. The first chapter had me absolutely stomach clenched, sweating like I was there. I loved how on the surface it's a great twisty thriller, but the undercurrent of the impact of trauma was so realistic and well done, it gave the characters incredible dimension.

Tune in to the April 18th episode of the Thrillers By the Book podcast where I get to chat about this book with Olivia and Chelsea!

What Remains
By Wendy Walker
Pub Date June 13: 2023
Blackstone
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Splendid writing! Intelligent, mind capturing, riveting, keep you on your toes thriller.
I highly recommend this book to crime lovers and psychological thriller readers.

5 stars
Loved Detective Sutton.

Thank you for the ARC in exchange for my review.

This book immediately throws you into the thick of it. Super strong first half but about halfway through things were a bit slower and more confusing. Still a solid 4 star read!

Wow this one puts you right in the drama in the first chapter. It was so engaging, raw, emotional... I was hooked immediately. It even creeped me out as you got to see Wade become obsessed with Elise.

I was curious how the two storylines would connect. I didn't LOVE the kill room POV very much, and I sort of skimmed those scenes a bit, which turned out to be a bad idea because I lost some of the plot. My fault.

There were a few times I was annoyed with Elise and her choices. Even though it's explained away and justified in her eyes, I was like YOU'RE A COP! YOU KNOW BETTER.

But the ending was good and I liked how the two POVs connected. I had an inkling about the shooting and I was glad I was partially correct. There were a few tiny things I wish were different, which prevented this from making it a five star read. But those were small, I think my biggest issue was I skimmed too much because I wanted to get to the end to find out what happened. But still a really good story.

Elise has been a cop for nearly 12 years. Never once has she felt the need to pull the trigger. Until the day she meets a man inside Nichols department store. He's shot a weapon several times. People are in danger. She has no choice. It's her job. What follows takes Elise down into the dark. She will have to reckon with a witness who may cause more harm than good. When Elise begins to question everything around her, what will she find she's guilty of? Did she really have to pull the trigger or is she a cold blooded murderer?

Wendy Walker did a fantastic job on this book. Her characters are raw and real. They have demons that they not only face internally but have to see past in order to find out the truth of what happened in that store. Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy.

What Remains started off really strong and I was hooked; could not put the book down. I literally read the first 1/2 of this book in one sitting but then things got confusing and I lost my focus towards the end and found I had to reread chapters to understand what was going on. It did come together in the end and turned into a more complex story which is clever but I feel the end of the book could have been executed better. Regardless, I am a Wendy Walker fan and will continue to read her books. The Night Before is still my favorite by her.

Elise Sutton is a police officer who has her partner drop her off at a department store one afternoon to grab some towels for her daughters but ends up coming face to face with a shooter. She had to act fast and do what she feels is the right thing. Elise is racked with guilt afterwards and a she wants is to know she did the right thing. She finally comes face to face with the man she saved but he’s not necessarily the person she thought he was and Elise takes it upon herself to find out the truth.
I’ve enjoyed Wendy Walker’s previous books but this one felt different. It was short and I feel like the character development was not there. I still have unanswered questions and I think other people will too. There is a lot of action right out the gate and that always help keep your attention when reading. This one was just ok for me. 3 ⭐️ thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for an arc copy of this book.

A dark twisty and unsettling psychological thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seats as you try to predict how the situation will resolve. Wendy Walker chills the temperature and brings out the monsters hidden inside us with this crafty narrative.

Full review to be posted on https://www.bestthrillerbooks.com/kashif-hussain

💫 What Remains 💫
By Wendy Walker
Publisher: Blackstone (June 13.2023)
Genre: Thriller

It’s that split second decision a police officer faces when they are faced with a big box store of shoppers and a lone man shooting. That instant that flashes when fear gets replaced with instinct and training but the ramifications last with the ever creepy game of .. cat and mouse

Police Officer Elise saves one man by killing another; and now the one she saved is the who’s trying to hunt her down. This book was one I couldn’t put down even if I equally was double checking the locks on my doors and turning my lights on brighter.

All the pieces point to a thriller with a chase and the drops of why speckled throughout.

It was clever. Haunting. And the creepiest type of thriller… where you feel your own pulse flickering in reference to the words you’re reading.

Pretty sure I’m going to be looking over my shoulder for the next month 😂👌🏻

This is such a well-written police procedural. Fast paced, thrilling and just really hard to put down. It’s filled with unlikable characters and utterly jaw-dropping with its completely unpredictable ending.

Overall a thoroughly entertaining read.

My thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I can honestly say I’ve not picked up a Wendy Walker book I didn’t like.
All her stories are solid with fantastic, compelling, complicated characters.
Our main character is a cold case detective who is put in a life or death situation by chance one day.
And this chance encounter sends our main characters life into total chaos.
The book heavily dives into themes of PTSD and mental health after trauma and I thought it did a great job.
Our character makes a lot of questionable choices in the book but I thought it was really pretty accurate to how someone in her position would act.
This book was more action focused than Walkers previous books. I’d call this a crime thriller where as I’d call her previous books psychological thrillers. I still could not put it down though. I read it basically in one sitting.
This is definitely a book you will want to pick up this summer!

Thank you so much to Blackstone Publishing and Wendy Walker for my copy of What Remains. It is about Elise, a police officer shopping for towels, when a shooter enters the store. She is forced to make a choice of what to do in the moment, and what follows is PTSD and Elise questions if she made the right decision. She is used to working with cold cases and can’t accept that everyone is calling her a hero. She takes a leave from work, and eventually she finds her way to Wade, the man she saved in the shooting. While at first her ability to talk with him brings her comfort, she quickly realizes that he isn’t who he says he is. Wade is a ghost, and what begins is a terrifying game of cat and mouse where Elise becomes the victim.

Thoughts: The premise of this book was SO good. I know public shootings and gun violence can be a big trigger, so at first I was worried, but the story was interesting and dynamic and complex. The complicated feelings Elise has about having to take down a shooter are understandable and sad. Once you realize that Wade isn’t who he says he is, the story takes a big turn and I couldn’t put it down.

At the same time as the current story is being told, there are also alternating chapters that are set in a kill room in the woods. That was terrifying and interesting and the story was just wild. I love the way Walker writes, and I tore through this book. She teaches the reader more about the system and about “how to commit a perfect murder” which was very intriguing. There wasn’t any real big twist, but I loved this story. 4-stars!

I did not really care for this book. I have loved other titles by Wendy Walker but this just didn't do it for me. I found the main character unlikable and unbalanced (even before the shooting). The bad guy in the story was more believable in his actions than Elise, who is also a detective. So that was a little concerning. There were events in the story that just didn't make sense to me or seem feasible. I gave the book 3 stars because I did like the idea of the story.

What Remains by Wendy Walker revolves around cold case detective, Elise Sutton, whose life is turned upside down when her casual errands become the scene of where she had to take a life to save another. Haunted by this event as well as the man whose life she saved, her life slowly begins to unravel. This puzzling story is full of a complicated mystery that will slowly untangle itself as the story unfolds.

This book is full of a lot intrusive, racing thoughts as the main character tried to deduce her way to answers. While understandable, it happened so often that it began to feel repetitive. The middle, especially, lost my interest due to the repetitive nature of Elise’s thoughts. Thankfully I kept reading thought because the ending was worth it:

The epic ending redeemed the slower middle for me. I love when endings fully explain & go into the intricate details that make up the incredible puzzles that are mysteries & this one did a fantastic job of it.


Massive thanks to NetGalley & Blackstone Publishing for the free arc, which I voluntarily read & reviewed.


Trigger Warnings: This book mentions &/or contains violence, murder, gun violence, physical abuse, cheating spouse, kidnapping & gore.

This book had me at the edge of my seat. Reader’s will want to know if Wendy will come out the other side of her story okay. The dual stories reveal the layers of the story little by little, keeping the pages turning. The characters are masterfully written, creating a dichotomy of love and disgust for many of the characters.

I really enjoyed this book, even though it deals with some pretty heavy stuff, I am usually a psychological suspense reader more than crime fiction, but this was a departure for this author as well. It was very compelling, and well-written. I enjoyed seeing how the two threads in the novel came together, and it was a satisfying ending.

I fell in love with Wendy Walkers books when I first read Don’t Look For Me, over two and a half years ago. It was brilliant and probably my favourite psychological suspense book at the time. However, I was worried that if I read another book by Wendy Walker that it wouldn’t live up to the greatness of Don’t Look For Me. But after reading What Remains (my third Walker book) I can honestly say that Wendy Walker is still the Queen of Psychological Suspense. What Remains kept me up all night and into the wee hours of the morning. I could not put it down. It was fast paced, creepy, fear inducing and gave me the chills reading it. Wendy Walker writes in such a vivid descriptive way that I felt like I was watching the plot unfold in front of me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Blackstone Publishing and Wendy Walker for my digital advanced readers copy of What Remains in exchange for my honest review.