I’ve read a couple of Wendy Walker’s previous books - including All Is Not Forgotten which I loved - so I was excited to read What Remains and it didn’t disappoint! From the very beginning we are thrown into an intense and dangerous situation with main character, Elise, as she is forced to make a life altering and split second decision. The cat and mouse story that follows is a propulsive yet emotionally compelling rollercoaster that I found gripping. If you’re looking for an addictive summer thriller then I’d absolutely recommend What Remains!

Thank you @blackstonepublishing for my gifted eARC of What Remains by Wendy Walker. I am also so thankful that @nina_the_bookworm shared a physical copy with me!

My Thoughts:

🤓 I absolutely LOVED Don't Look For Me and was excited for another book by Wendy Walker!
🤩I wanted a quick read over the weekend before I left to go out of town. This book was perfect! I read it in less than two days and couldn't put it down!
✌🏻Two POVs - Elise and The Kill Room. Personally, I loved Elise POV the most but the Kill Room adds to the story.
😱 Like most thrillers, you definitely need to go in blind for this book!

I was super excited to be approved for this one because I was obsessed with Walker’s novel DON’T LOOK FOR ME.

What Remains is fast-paced and plot driven. I’ve heard before that if you’re writing a thriller or mystery, you should write it backwards because then you’ll understand all the loopholes and connections. What Remains plays with that a bit for the actual crime itself, and I found that fascinating. It also incorporates the psychology behind the crime, so I feel like true crime lovers will enjoy that as well.

I do think for me, the “thriller” part of this story started a little too abruptly. I wasn’t convinced by the cat and mouse chase. I think I just needed it to go a level deeper.
Also, the main character made some choices that made me absolutely irate, but that’s just my personal reaction.

Overall, it wasn’t a five-star read like the last book I read, but I think it is a good thriller beach read for the summer. I’ll still pick up whatever Walker writes next.

The book began with a heavy dark feel and even after reading 20% of it, it did not offer a glimmer of connection with the main character, prompting me to put it down.

This was an intense cat and mouse game that pulls you in from the first page. It was fast paced and suspenseful. My biggest compliant is that I felt it was very repetitive, and the main character, Elise, made a lot of questionable decision for her being a police officer. Other than that I did enjoy the ending and the twist!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this fabulous book!

Like one of those great thriller series we binge watch on Netflix, this book was that experience for me! I just kept craving more and more of it, so engrossed in the story and the twists that came with it, the pages kept turning.
Elise solves crimes as a detective, working for the police.
Because of a decision she makes, she has been named a hero, but what is in her heart and head scream otherwise. Roll into that the turmoil she is in due to her cheating husband. How does one separate a work life from personal life when there is so much mayhem??
This book is what the term "thriller" truly means. It is fictional, but reads so real, I had to remind myself that it did not happen..... or has it?! I do not want to give any spoilers here. What I would love to see is this book turned into a feature film on the big screen!

Wendy Walker is gifted and talented and I am grateful to have had the honor to read this book!

"What Remains" by Wendy Walker blew me away with an incredible array of sights, sounds, and action that intensified with each turn of the page.
What I thought would be a simple shot in the dark, turned into a whole slew of things, that escalated into rapid fire shots that could be heard far beyond the original location of the shooting.
In fact, there's so much to tell about this that I can't simpy do it justice by a mere book review.
Wendy Walker is the author of this amazing new read for 2023!
She brings us characters like Detective Elise Sutton who is the gal to beat in more ways than one. We also explore the minds of the insane with Wade Austin and those responsible or irreresponsible for their actions like Clay and Billy.
You either love 'em or hate 'em but either way someone will win and someone will lose.
Pick your battles here as we find that to save a life you may have to take one away.
Wade almost seemed likeable but came on to quick and too aggressive and in the end he wasn't all he was cracked up to be. He begins this awful nightmare for Elise and family and it's a fight or flight scenario right up till the end.
You know I tell it like I see it but this one was not a book you could simply invest and walk away. Oh, hell NO!! Once you start it's like the Pringles chips ... You ain't stoppin.'
Now, mind you while all this is going on after a deadly shooting we also have a situation with the marriage and the other victims.
Everything is piling up and there's not end in sight.
Now, Elise may not be fearing one life lost but possibly more...
A 'Kill Room' is in play with another assault and some stalking so squeamish folks may want out but this isn't too hard to manage for thrillers.
The thrill is in the chase! You bet your duppa on that one!
Thank you to Wendy Walker, Blackstone Publishing, Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for this honest review.

I loved Don't Look for Me so I was very excited to read this book even though I'm not usually a fan of detective thrillers. I really enjoyed this one and would give it 4 stars. I did question the main character's actions at time but I really liked the cat and mouse style back and forth. I look forward to more from this author!

This was okay, I remember loving her previous novel and have been waiting around for her next book but I was disappointed. Not my favorite from Walker but hopefully her next one is better.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book.

I loved the way this novel was set up. One POV from Elise and one from a case called the Kill Room. It was fast paced and there were some high adrenaline moments. I liked the connection between the class Elise taught and what was happening to her. She wasn’t necessarily a morally grey character but the secrets and not following protocol at times had me wondering what was going to happen next. Wade was so creepy and it amazed me how far he thought ahead. The twists weren’t big but I was on the edge of my seat for the majority of the book. The back and forth cat and mouse game and the stalking made it hard to put down. This is my first by this author but I love her psychological thriller writing style.

Thank you @wendywalkerauthor @netgalley @blackstonepublishing and @suzyapprovedbooktours for the gifted copy.

I have really enjoyed all of Wendy Walker's work and this book was no exception. What Remains is a fast-paced police procedural with great characters and a well-conceived plot. I was invested in the storyline and genuinely surprised by the wrap up at the end. I would recommend this book for all thriller/mystery readers but also for people who just enjoy well-developed character stories. I can't wait to read what comes next from Wendy Walker! Thank you to NetGalley, Blackstone Publishing and Wendy Walker for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

DON'T LOOK FOR ME by Wendy Walker was one of my favorite thrillers I read last year, so I was thrilled to get the opportunity to read WHAT REMAINS early.

This book starts with my #1 trigger in books and one of my biggest fears — a mass shooting — but thankfully, it wasn't too graphic and I was able to compartmentalize my world against the book. With that said, this book is much more centered on the psychology of criminal minds overall (stalkers, especially) and less so on the forces that drive people to commit heinous crimes such as mass shootings.

Where the narrative fell flat for me was the overuse of the telling device vs. showing. There was some redundancy throughout that led me to be disengaged from the story, and I questioned the main character's decision-making throughout, especially because she is a seasoned detective. I understand that trauma and psychological uncertainty leads people to do questionable things, but it was just one poor decision after another from someone who, I believe, should have known better.

I listened to some of this on audio and think the audio is well done (although there is kind of a spoiler in the narration if you listen to the audio, just FYI!).

Thank you so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this early!

I loved Do Not Look For Me, so I was especially excited to read Wendy Walker's latest book.

The book starts with a shooting in a Home Goods, and I was hooked from the beginning. Our main character Elise is able to stop the shooter before he hurts anyone, but she feels incredibly guilty for taking his life.

The action continues from there as Elise gains a stalker and struggles to find his connection to the shooter. The story is consistently fast-paced, so I was never bored and finished the book quickly. I thought the ending wrapped things up beautifully, and I loved how the story came together.

If you're a fan of stalker/obsession thrillers, this is a must-read.

What Remains by Wendy Walker
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Detective Elise Sutton is just trying to buy her daughters some towels when she hears shots fired in a department store. Now she is haunted by the event. She needs to find the man she saved that day to help her heal. But finding him will only be the start to a deadly chase.
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What I liked:
-I liked Elise. I liked that she was a cold case detective and so smart. The story of all the emotions she feels after the department store shooting made me really think about how awful that situation would be.
-I loved the cat-and-mouse feel to this book. She’s trying to catch someone but they are crafty, I enjoy this trope. And boy was our guy crafty!
-The “Kill Room” POV was a mystery to me for a good part of the book and it was great when things became clearer about that in the last third of the book.
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was an entertaining mystery thriller and a great chase! I think my favorite Wendy Walker is still Emma in the Night but I have a couple others I still need to read.

This one was a bit jarring, starting out with a shooting in a department store and flipping between multiple POV. Except you don’t know who the other POV really is. I liked it but was pretty frustrated with the main character. It felt like too much of the book took place in her head with her thoughts and they were fairly jumbled at times IMO. And the why behind what happened seemed a bit far fetched for me.

I really enjoyed this one. This book was action packed and full of unreliable characters. Everyone was a suspect and it felt like an episode of FBI. I was so irritated with the main characters decision making but it made the book so much more interesting. Overall i definitely recommend this book!

Wowsers. This was way different then the other two Walker books I’ve read. More police procedural with a lot internal monologue. It was a very intriguing concept and I enjoyed how the chapters were set up. I did find it hard to connect with the MC. She just seemed flat to me. But. The story was so damn clever and intricate. Little clues here and there. I did guess the one big twist at 50% but that didn’t take away from it. It was so well done.

This author's books are really twisty and you never quite know what she has planned until she makes it really obvious. This one has to mysteries running simultaneously in the narrative. A cold case detective stops a mass shooting in a department store and then has a run-in with one of the people she saved. A body is found burning in a cremation oven in a hunting shed. Are the two things even related other than proximity and some overlap in the minor characters? Both investigations are quite intriguing. And I don't want to spoil any of the fun for you.

I would recommend this to anyone that likes their thrillers with a bit of mystery.

A psychological thriller, police procedural full of secrets and family drama.
Elise, a cold case police detective in Connecticut, is the main character in the story. She stops at a department store to pick up towels for her daughters when a shooting occurs.
The plot is a great one but not one that overly kept me engaged.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

One afternoon, cold case detective Elise Sutton walks into a department store and finds herself faced with the worst choice: to save one life, she will have to take another. It’s the first time she’s ever had to pull a weapon on duty and it turns her perfectly ordered life upside down. Elise is called a hero, but she doesn’t feel like one. Instead, she’s struggles with horrible guilt and has to take a leave of absence from work. Finally, she connects with the man that she saved- hoping he will ease her guilt… Instead, she realizes he isn’t who he says he is and the two are soon playing a terrifying game of cat and mouse.

Overall, this book was fine, but I struggled with the timeline and Elise’s decisions. If she was given a choice between a logical response and something stupid, Elise made the wrong decision every single time. Plus- the plot was a little confusing and over complicated.

I have enjoyed some of Wendy Walker’s previous works (especially Don’t Look for Me) but this one just didn’t deliver. Three stars!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in return for my honest review.