Member Reviews

The Father She Went To Find by Carter Wilson was such a good and intriguing read. After a few chapters I was invested and I wanted to know what was going to happen next and I kept thinking I wonder how this is going to end. Well, I certainly wasn’t disappointed and I can say this was well worth reading. With thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my digital copy to read and review.

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Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book. This is hands down one of the best books I have read in a long time! I loved the suspenseful storyline and was hooked from the first page. Our main character Penny was so well done! This is a fantastic suspense thriller with this tons of twists, highly recommend

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4.5⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️



✨ Strong willed character
✨ Different but not less 🫶🏼



✨ Penny was a lovable in this story. This is the first time I have read a story from this author and this is certainly different.
✨ Penny has an ability since she got into accident when she was young . She has the talent to draw and can see people .
She also has the ability to talk to his dad as a form of comfort I guess.
✨ but she is now 21 and first time going out into the world of reality.
Can she make it out there finding what really is she looking for?


💯 Thankyou netgalley for the opportunity to have this arc to give a honest review . 🙏





❤️shaye.reads

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The Father She Went to Find by Carter Wilson was a brilliant book and I loved the main character Penny. When Penny was seven years old, she fell down the stairs and ended up in hospital in a coma. When she finally woke up, her work changed all around her. She discovered that her father left her whilst she was in the coma. To top it all, she now has acquired savant syndrome. She sees numbers as colours, has an eidetic memory and can draw photorealistic drawings in minutes. There is less than one hundred in the world with savant syndrome. But despite her photographic memory and super-powered intellect, there's one mystery Penny's life is she never been able to solve or understand:

Why did her father leave her, when she was in a coma at age seven, and where is he now? Is he still alive? She receives birthday cards from him every year but where is he? there is no address for him written on the envelope or inside the birthday card.

Years go by, Penny is now twenty-one years old, When she receives a card in the mail from him, just as she has every year since he left. But this birthday card is different.
For the first time ever, there's a return address. And a goodbye.

Strange!!!

Sadly Penny doesn't know the world beyond her mother's house and the special school she's attended since her unusual abilities revealed themselves, but the mystery of her father's disappearance becomes her new obsession.

For the first time ever she decides to leave home, to break free of everything that has kept her safe, and use her gifts to answer the questions that the only person can answer........Her Father!

However, what Penny doesn't realise is, she might not be able to outsmart a world that is far more complicated and dangerous than she'd ever imagined........But, she is determined to get the answers she has always wanted answered!

WoW this book is So good especially as it is set in the 1980's I loved it.

Big Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC!

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The premise of this book was so unique to me. I found this book to be intriguing. It was fast paced and full of action. What started as a road trip turned into so much more. The main character Penny was very interesting to me. I felt I watched her come into her own and grow up during the progression of this story. The plot was entertaining, and kept my interest from the beginning until the end. And that ending? It definitely was not what I was expecting at all! The author's writing style was twisty and suspenseful. A great road trip type thriller that will keep you engrossed in its pages.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC in exchange. for my honest review.

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didn’t know what to expect picking this book up as I had not read from Carter Wilson before but I was blown away! This is an incredible thriller and recommend to anyone who enjoys thrillers.

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Penny Bly (as her mother would say, named so because she’s pretty much worthless) fell down a flight of stairs when she was seven, and became a savant who has a photographic memory, synesthesia and an amazing artistic ability. While she was hospitalized, her father abandoned her and her mother - he now only sends her a birthday card each year. Penny voluntarily lives in an institution that examines her mind, and most of the time when she leaves, it’s to visit her mother. Unfortunately, her mom is not in a place to take care of her, so she was mostly raised in this place and by her doctor..
This book is way more intense than the synopsis would suggest. I’m not typically one to talk about trigger warnings, but I would advise checking them if you’re not already a hardcore thriller reader, or if there generally are some subjects you avoid.
I’m very much a fan of this authors twisty writing style, and he keeps up the twists in this read. Penny has been rather sheltered for the majority of her life, but now she’s embarking on a road trip to find her estranged father. She finds herself in rather sticky situations as she sets out on her own, finding a few friends along the way.
I would recommend this if you’re a fan of road trip style thrillers with an on the run element that may surprise you.

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The Father She Went To Find by Carter Wilson is a captivating blend of genres. Penny, a young woman with a special memory, embarks on a road trip to find her father, uncovering secrets and danger along the way. The fast-paced plot and unique protagonist keep the pages turning, though some may find the twists predictable and the writing style choppy. Overall, it's a thrilling character-driven story for those who enjoy mysteries with a dash of suspense.

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From the start, this book took me on a mind-blowing journey akin to Alice in Wonderland. Despite its oddities, the story quickly became engrossing, holding me captivated until the last page. Penny, an extraordinary 21-year-old on a quest to find her estranged father, leads readers on a thrilling cross-country escapade. Her exceptional intellect proves she's a force to be reckoned with, despite her limited real-world experience. The ending left me reeling, though the excessive use of a certain four-letter word was a minor setback. Overall, this captivating read easily earns my five stars. Grateful to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the ARC,

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Being a savant is rare but being a savant with an eidetic memory combined with hyperthymesia-the ability to recall life events in great detail is astronomical. Penny is one of only 75 in the world with this gift but was not born with it, she formed it after a tragic fall down the stairs when she was seven years old. As she says “the fall…could have killed me. Instead, it broke me open.”
Penny has been bound the last 14 years between home and the institute where she is missing out on life. It isn’t until her annual birthday card from her father, that she gets a sudden memory from the past about a road trip they took riddled with letters and possibly the clues she needs to find him. She soon sets out to find him or is she really in for a ride to find herself?

Overall rating 4 / 5

This book had my stomach in knots from beginning to end. I was just waiting for the world to chew up Penny and spit her out. At every twist and curve ball she was dealt I just thought this was the end for a poor unknowing girl, but I underestimated the sheer mental strength this character had and the effect she had on the world around her.
Thank you Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC.

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The Father She Went to Find was an intriguing read. I was lucky enough to attend an author talk with @carterwilsonauthor thanks to @kayepublicity and it really enhanced my reading of this. I wasn’t expecting much of what happened and the writing was so smooth that I was perfectly fine sitting back and enjoying the ride. The characters were able to elicit so many different emotions, the biggest being fear for Penny and her wellbeing. This was an enjoyable book and I’ll look for more books by Carter Wilson.

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I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and had no idea what to expect before reading it. I did enjoy the extremely short chapters since short chapters makes it easy for me to say “just one more chapter” while reading lol. I did not love the characters but was interested in them enough to want to find out what happened to them. Overall, this book had a lot of twists- some I was expecting and some I was not. I recommend reading this book if you enjoy short chapters and a book that keeps you guessing up until the very end!

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The Father She Went to Find was full of action. I really loved the setting and time period in which this book takes place. I enjoyed the characters and overall story line. The pacing was great. For me it was less "thriller" and more action/mystery driven. Overall a good read.

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I've been a Carter Wilson fan since his first book and I've read every book since. I've watched his progression as a writer from 'really good' to 'excellent' to one of the absolute very best mystery writers out there! One of the things that appeals to me about Carter's writing is that his books are not just mysteries, they're also character studies and detailed stories about people. His exquisite use of vocabulary makes the book come alive for me and makes me remember his detailed descriptions long after I've finished the book.
Some of his books are deliciously creepy while others are more true-to-life. In most cases, the books hit a perfect balance between the two. That's the case with this book. The characters are realistic and interesting, the story - though not something most of us would ever experience - is fast-paced and gripping. Carter manages to make the sometimes unbelievable totally believable. This one is another page-turner for sure!!!

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The father she went to find is a fast paced, action packed thriller. Since emerging from a coma, Penny—who is extraordinarily unique—has been residing in an institute for the intellectually bright. Beyond what is typically understood by the term, Penny possesses an idetic memory. She can recall every last detail of every incident in her life, as well as everything she has ever seen or heard. But not about the mishap that left her unconscious. The mishap, for which she holds her mother accountable, led to her father's disappearance

Penny is just aware of the institute. There, with her doctor, all is safe until one day he phones to tell her that he's got a new position. This is the starting point of a series of events where Penny chooses to escape from the institute, she finds herself just turning 21. The real world is very different from the institute and Penny finds herself lost. Day by day everything gets harder and more complicated for her outside of the institute.

This was my first book from this author and it did not disappoint. I will definitely be back for more books by this author. I just reviewed The Father She Went to Find by Carter Wilson. #carterwilson #NetGalley

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Penny is a 21 year old savant. She is not your usual savant. She received her abilities through an accident. She has also been raised in a facility. She has been studied because she is so rare. But now she has decided it is time to find her dad. He left after her accident and she needs him. This adventure does not go as planned.

I enjoyed Penny. She is tougher than you think. And she makes some pretty tough decisions, are they the right decisions??? Hmmm! But, I do admire her thought process and her tenacity. I love reading about savants. I have read some stuff before and it is still unique and interesting.

I did figure out part of the ending. However, that was probably the author’s intention. Then there is the part I didn’t figure out. A bit of a surprise but it fit perfectly with this tale.

Need a good cross country adventure…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

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I cant quite decide how I feel about this one. It definitely kept me interested, but it was also wildly far fetched? Especially the end was quite a bit wacky... but entertaining at the same time?

Regardless, it was a very quick, easy read! I do enjoy the authors writing style.

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Such an interesting protagonist in this one. She’s a savant. I wasn’t sure I would connect with her, but I did. I really like that she sees colors for numbers. I’d never heard of that. I was invested in the story, wanting to know what had happened with her father.

Action packed and full of mystery and suspense. It had moments that made me wonder a little if it had veered off course, but I was oddly drawn to it and had to know what happened.

And the nostalgia of the 80s jumped off the page at me. I’m such a sucker for remembering the times before always being connected.

Gina Rogers did a great job with the narration. Voicing Penny’s inner and outer thoughts.

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Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press, NetGalley, and Carter Wilson for the chance to review this book for an honest opinion. I have to admit I was quite intrigued by the main character in this book, Penny. She is a savant, not by birth but due to a tragic accident, and she cannot forget anything she reads or sees or hears. She also has a rather unique ability that she sees numbers as colors and that to me just made her such an amazing person. Penny has spent a majority of her life going to a special school that helps her develop her abilities and that studies her, although she doesn’t realize how important that role is supposed to be. On her 21st birthday she receives a birthday card from her long absent father that makes her remember a trip out west they made and she decides it’s time she looks for him. What follows is a rather unique journey as well as a coming of age story. As she travels, Penny has to learn who to trust and how to trust herself. The answers she finds are such a surprise that I really feel her emotions come through so easily. The author does a wonderful job in creating these characters and how they relate to each other. I will be looking forward to reading more books by Carter Wilson. Definitely I recommend this book.

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Review: What a thrill of a book. When I first started reading, I was a little confused because it didn’t read like a thriller. But then the more I got into it, the more thrilling it became. The things this poor girl had to go through when she just wanted to be free. My gosh. This is a non-stop heart racing read that will make you want to continue reading way past your bedtime! That’s what I did and how I was able to finish 350 pages in 4 days. Would 💯 recommend!! Thank you @netgalley and @poisonedpenpress for my ARC copy! This book is out now and I would definitely go get it now!!

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