EXCERPT: 'Hang on,' Evan said, sounding frazzled. There was a fuzz of activity from the othr end of the line and then: 'There's someone in the road.'
It took Melody a moment to realise what he meant. 'Someone walking?'
She'd noticed the day before that there was little in the way of pavements around the lake. Most people seemed to drive everywhere, though there had been the odd person walking on the verge.
There was no reply at first, but Evan's voice sounded confused when he next spoke. 'I think it's a little girl. Hold on.'
Melody realised she'd sat up a little straighter as her sister turned to take her in, suddenly interested. From the other end of the phone there were muffled scratchings of what sounded like tyres on gravel - and then the unmistakable thunk of an opening car door.
'Are you okay?' Evan said, although his voice wasn't as clear as it had been seconds before.
'Are you talking to me?' Melody asked.
'There's a girl here,' Evan replied, and the phone was seemingly back to his mouth. 'I don't think there's anyone else around. She's covered in mud, or . . .' he tailed off, before adding a whispered: 'blood . . .?'

ABOUT 'THE CALL': Your fiancé calls. ‘A little girl needs help.’ Then they both disappear…

Melody gazes across the rippling lake to the trees on the shore, waiting for her fiancé Evan to arrive so their family holiday can begin. Here in this cabin in a small Canadian island town, there’s so much space for their son to play. It’s going to be perfect – just like the first time Melody visited as a child. But then a call from Evan shatters her world.

‘There’s someone in the road. I think it’s a little girl. She’s covered in mud. Or… is it blood?’ His voice becomes distant. ‘Are you OK? What’s your name?’ Then there’s a thud.

Evan never arrives to the holiday cabin. Melody, and her son, are terrified and desperate for answers. But with miles of endless, empty forest, and no reports of a missing girl, what hope is there of finding Evan?

The more questions Melody asks of the locals, the more she fears a terrible secret hides just out of sight. And the closer she gets to the truth, the more danger she is in……………………

MY THOUGHTS: My feelings about The Call are mixed . . . the characters are not at all relatable, especially Melody. I can understand her wanting to protect Sam from the news that his father is missing, but really, just how long did she think she was going to be able to keep it from him?

If I had to describe The Call in one word, it would be 'emotionless'. I wanted someone to root for, to empathise with. No one seems to care that Evan is missing. Melody does dumb things, and I don't mean her trying to protect Sam, but had I been the investigating officer, I would have been looking very closely at her as a suspect! Melody's family just continue with their normal lives, going out and sightseeing in her sister's case, and her father walking and doing crosswords. Even Sam, once he learned his father was missing, was remarkedly unconcerned.

There are a lot of dead ends - I can't even call them red herrings because they just weren't that interesting or weren't developed at all. Sometimes I felt quite bored because the plot wasn't moving anywhere. And the ending? 🤷‍♀️Again, it was emotionless. I didn't guess who was behind Evan's disappearance, and I did come up with a lot of theories, so that is a point in favor of The Call.

Definitely not the best book I have read by this author. I did enjoy the setting of Vancouver Island.

⭐⭐.5

#TheCall #NetGalley

THE AUTHOR: Originally from the county of Somerset, Kerry spent way too long living in the north of England, picking up words like 'barm' and 'ginnel'.

When he's short of ideas, he rides his bike, hikes up something, or bakes cakes. When he's not, he writes it all down.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Bookouture via NetGalley for providing a digital ARC of The Call by Kerry Wilkinson for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Another solid read from a favorite author, Kerry Wilkinson! An interesting and twisty story with surprises coming at every turn and an ending you won't see coming!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

This book had me addicted from the start! It was so intense that I could not wait to see the twist. Authot knows how to deliver the breath taking, draw dropping twist that we all know and love and never expect the ending. I believe this book is her best one yet but I say that everytime I read one of her books. Thank you for allowing me to read your book in advance.

First, I want to thank Kerry Wilkinson, Bookouture and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I may bring you this review.

WOW!! The Call is Kerry Wilkinson’s best written psychological thriller to date!! It is fast paced, addicting, you will be glued to your kindle, it is thrilling, suspenseful, with deep dark secrets and explosive revelations.

Kudos to the graphic designers who created this cool looking cover! It was so colorful and drew my curiosity to what the book was about.

Having spent many years traveling back and forth to Toronto for medical reasons I grew a soft spot for the area. So, when Kerry placed his storyline in Canada I just had to smile. I loved Melody compared the differences from living in England to her surroundings in Canada. Having never been to England I liked this aspect of the book.

I kept laughing every time people asked if they had camps in England. Why did Melody’s son have to travel all the way to Canada to go to camp? Funny is my niece who lives in San Fran and the other one from Pittsburgh comes to Buffalo to attend a Girl Scout Camp at 7 Hills.

My heart went out to Melody who’s fiancé went missing out of the blue on his way to see her! This investigation was so different from any of the other ones you read about. There were so many wicked twists, turns, deep dark secrets, scammers, and shocking revelations that will blow your mind.

One life lesson I got from this book is that things may not seem exactly as they appear.

This book deserves more than 5 stars!! You need to put this on your TBR list.

Kerry Wilkinson - 👏👏👏👏
I loved the Sleepover books - and was thrilled to get my hands on The Call.
Melody arranges for a family vacation - eager to return to a place holding happy summer memories. Her father, sister and husband as well as Melody's fiancé and son join - making an epic family holiday.
But Evan calls - and vanishes.
Melody discovers her partner is not the first to vanish. Lack of police. Lack of public concern.
And Melody's sister starts unraveling the truth of that summer.
Chilling.

Another gripping, shocking, and hard to put down book by Kerry Wilkinson! It starts with a phone call and ends with a disappearance! The Call kept me on my toes, turning the pages, and trying to figure out what might have happened to Evan.

It was meant to be a family holiday. Melody and her son arrived first joining her father, her sister, and her brother-in-law. Evan, Melody's fiancé, called to inform her that he had landed and was on the way, but a little girl was in the road, and he believed she needed his help. When Evan never arrives, Melody is distraught and calls in the authorities. No one has seen Evan, no one has reported a missing child, no one can answer Melody's questions. What happened to Evan?????

I found this book to be a fast read which did not disappoint. I enjoyed the mystery of what happened to Evan and read this in one day. This book had a nice number of secrets, twists, turns, and revelations.

Well written, well thought out, and gripping!

A pretty good read but not what I was expecting. It seemed to be missing the suspense I have come to expect from this author. The reveal was surprising but confusing. Overall it's more of a drama then a thriller.

The Call by Kerry Wilkinson was a tense and suspenseful thriller.
With its intricate plot and complex characters, this novel will keep readers guessing until the very end.
Very well thought out storyline and very good writing style, this story grabbed from the first chapter and had me intrigued till the very end, lots of suspenseful twists in this story which held my interest through out.

Thank You NetGalley and Bookouture for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Creepy story.
Melody’s fiance Evan goes missing and no one can find him.
I thought everyone had a nonchalant air about Evan being missing.
All the locals just seems a bit off. Nina and Tom seemed oblivious to the pain Melody was in.
Some of the secrets I didn’t see coming and I had no clue about the real culprit’s identity.
It was surprising to discover when it was revealed.
I wouldn’t return to Vancouver Island if I was a member of that family.

I couldn't get into this book. I found the story quite flat and boring. I will try another book from this author but this one wasn't for me!

This is a real heart pounder of a book. You will be on the edge of your seat reading this as everything starts to unravel. Frightening with plenty of twists that will be sure to capture your attention and keep you reading.

The Call was my first experience reading anything by Kerry Wilkinson. While it started off with the excitement of "the call", introducing us to the disappearance of the main character's fiance and a small child, things slowed down rather quickly. Unfortunately the author never succeeded in building the tension back up enough to keep me engaged. There were small twists, but in a thriller like this one, I kept waiting for a jaw dropping moment that never came.

Thank you Bookouture for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #Bookouture for the book #TheCall by #KerryWilkinson. This book takes place during a vacation that is meant to be a re-do from a childhood vacation. Melody wants her son to have the same experience she had years ago. But is she remembering it right? And why has her finance turned up missing? I felt sucked in this book and read it on one sitting.

This is a great thriller.
When Melody receives a phone call from her fiancé Evan, she’s excited to find out when he’s due to arrive at the cabin. However, the call is interrupted when he says he can see a little girl at the side of the road so goes to help. He keeps the line open while he goes to check but soon Melody can no longer hear him.
When Evan doesn’t arrive at the cabin Melody calls the Police and explains about the phone call. When they all go out to search for him, they find the car, but there’s no sign of Evan.
As the story develops we learn that Melody is familiar with the area from spending time here as a child and her and her sister talk about their time here.
With more time passing Melody becomes more and more worried about Evan and starts her own search for him, but she’s not prepared for what she finds.
This is a gripping thriller that I enjoyed.
Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Thank You NetGalley for the ARC of The Call by Kerry Wilkinson in return for my honest review.
I’m a big fan of Kerry Wilkinsons’ Jessica Daniels series but have found his standalone books can be a bit hit and miss, well this one did not miss, once I started reading I was hooked till the end. There’s plenty of twists and turns that you will not see coming its a real page turner that I highly recommend reading.

This is a real edge of your seat thriller. It holds your interest from start to finish. The twists are dynamic. There is a mystery to solve, a missing person and lots of clues that lead nowhere. It's a quick read, hard to put down and full of surprises. I really enjoyed it and happily recommend it.

Melody and her fiancé Evan have booked a holiday in Canada, whilst on his way Evan calls Melody to tell her he’s about 10 minutes away, however after coming across a child in the road Evan stops to help her, a bang is heard and that’s the last Evan is heard of, it’s as though he has vanished into thin air.

Desperate for answers Melody calls the police who in my opinion seemed less than helpful, however a search for Evan begins. Melody and her son Sam are desperate for answers. Melody visited Canada as a child herself and had hoped to recreate the same perfect holiday for her fiancé and son, but it turns out to be anything but.

When Melody dropped Sam off to a camp out there she met one of the other parents who’s husband had also gone missing in similar circumstances to Evan’s but for some reason I just didn’t find this flowed or worked.

I really struggled to get on with the call, I found it quite slow paced, although that being said it did pick up just before the half way point, but then I found the ending slowed right down again and then finished a bit to abruptly. I also really couldn’t get to like any of the characters. Melodys father, sister and brother in law didn’t seem to care much that Evan was missing. Melodys attitude towards her missing fiancé was no where near as urgent as I’d have expected it to be, I’d have expected her to be frantic but sadly it just didn’t come across as that, it was almost as though she just shrugged it all off and just hoped for the best. She seemed more interested in continuously correcting the fact that Evan was her fiancé not her husband which after a while started to get a bit repetitive and really annoyed me.

Sadly I just couldn’t get on with this book but hopefully other readers will. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an advance copy of this book in exchange for this review.

This was one of those books that you tell yourself 'just one more chapter' and are not able to out it down. The shocking twists and turns in this book is my favorite part! You will for sure fall in love with the main characters, and want to keep turning the pages to see what happens next!

Melody, her fiancée Evan, and their son Sam have left their home in the UK for a lake vacation in Canada. Joining them are Melody’s father, sister, and brother-in-law. When Melody was nine, her parents took her to this area for summer camp and she remembers the time so fondly, she decides that Sam needs to get the same experience.

Evan had to work and was arriving a day late. As Melody is waiting for him, she gets a call from him - he’s almost to the Air B&B they’ve rented, but he saw a little girl walking down the road alone. Melody can hear him get out of the car and ask the child if she was okay, then the call disconnected. Evan never showed up, so Melody goes to find him. She finds his car right where he said he saw the child, but he is nowhere to be seen. The police are called, and the search begins.

This book started very slowly, with things ramping up about a third of the way through. Unfortunately, the book then got slow again, and stayed that way until the ending, which I thought was completely unbelievable and contrived. I hate giving bad reviews, but I rarely have to because I’m usually good at picking out books I know I’ll enjoy. Let’s just say I was wrong with this one; I really didn’t like the plot, the characters or the ending. From looking at other reviews, I’m glad to see it wasn’t just me! 2.5 stars.

(Thank you to Bookouture, Kerry Wilkinson and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review. This book is slated to be released on April 16, 2024.)

This is another great read by Kerry Wilkinson. Everyone in this book seemed to have their own secrets so they all seem pre[ty shifty.. I thought it was so strange that with one of their party missing everyone but Melody carried on with their holiday as if nothing had happened.. It's not easy to review this story without spoilers but suffice to say it's one of those books where you won't notice the passing of time, you will be totally absorbed in the story until the.very last page. And if you are hoping for the kind of shocks that this author has become famous for you will not be disappointed. I had no idea the ending was going to be as shocking as it was so I was stunned but delighted at the same house.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book