When I Disappear by A. McKinney, published by Storm Publishing was previously published as The Stone Secret under her pen name.
When I Disappear by A. McKinney is a full-length, stand-alone thriller.
A story full of unexpectedbtwists and turns that had me guessing til the last page. And that end I didn't see coming, not in 10 years.
Sylvia Stone recives a letter telling the murderer of her mother is innocent. Sitting in prison for 20 years, Rhett Cohen is driven by revenge. He needs to know who framed him. But when Sylvia disappears he's in the spotlight again and has to find her.
A fast paced, complex read that had me in suspense from start til the end.

This book was full of suspense and twists. I feel like it was different than other thrillers I have read which made me enjoy it a lot more. The man accused of killing Sylvia`s mother is let of jail and comes back to town and shows up at her house. He wants to find out who really was the murderer and then Sylvia starts getting letters with bits of information. This was a one day read for me and I highly recommend!

Rhett Cohen spent 20 years in prison but he always claimed he was innocent. Now, Sylvia is getting threatening letter at her door and revealing details no one else would know but the killer. Could she have sent an innocent man away for a crime he didn't commit?

Rhett gets released and he shows up at Sylvia's door as he wants to find out who framed him and why? The town thinks he is guilty and he must prove his innocence or he will be sent back to prison. Sylvia is helping him put the pieces together.

Hang, on to your seat as this one twisty psychological thriller. It has many of moving parts to keep you guessing until the end.

3.5⭐️s

I want to thank NetGalley for sending me this arc read.

The story had a lot of potential, the mystery of it was very intriguing and I was invested early on.

The multiple POVs was nice, it’s always great having different perspectives as the story unfolds.

Where it fell flat for me was the quality. I thought there was too much going on, the story felt very busy. Also, it was a little confusing when the flashbacks occurred because I didn’t realize it was a flashback until I got into the chapter.

Not sure if that’ll be labeled better when the book releases. The chapters were labeled towards the end but not for a good chunk.

Some grammatical errors but not enough to impact the rating.

Overall, decent read.

A shocking murder that captivated the country. Now 20 years later, it’s back in the headlines!
Twenty years ago Sylvia’s mother Marjorie was brutally murdered in her home. All fingers pointed to Rhett Cohen, renovating Marjorie’s kitchen at the time. He has been serving time for the murder, but always claimed to be innocent.

Right now, Sylvia has her own concerns. She’s been receiving disturbing notes on her doorstep referring to her mother’s murder. The latest of which includes threatening her life! Why now? It’s been twenty years. What a handy coincidence that Rhett was just released from prison…hmmmm.🤔

I was so anxious to jump into this latest book by one of my new favorite authors!
Amanda McKinney delivers once again! A quick read with short chapters. You won’t be able to put it down! Though I had most of it figured out early, I still devoured this book in just a couple sittings. Now I’m already looking forward to her next thriller!

Thank you to Storm Publishing via NetGalley

Rhett Cohen is released from prison after serving 20 years for the murder of Marjorie Stone although he claims his innocence. At the same time Marjorie's daughter Sylvia begins to receive enigmatic letters from the real killer.
Narrated alternately from the point of view of Rhett and Sylvia, there are also chapters from Marjorie's diary that draw us into the story.
This is a book that I enjoyed trying to figure out who the culprit was. There are some twists that make it more intriguing although at the end you begin to suspect the truth.
An interesting read for fans of the genre.

This book started off great for me, the man who killed Sylvia's mother is out from prison and she starts getting letters at 2am relating to her mothers murder. and one that says she's next She starts investigating with the man accused of murdering her mother as they both now think he was framed. I liked the plot and was intrigued with the story, Sylvia got on my nerves a little as I thought her lustful thoughts of this man didn't add anything to the story for me. I skimmed those parts as I'm not a fan. The book had some twists but for the me the ending was lacklustre. It was great until about 90% and then I could see where it was heading and not what I was hoping for. the writing was good but I was disappointed by the ending.

5 stars. I've seen this author's books on Goodreads, but have never read one. This book hit in a way most books don't. At least not for me. This book earned its stars by being like a warm, comforting, old blanket. I started reading and was just wrapped up snuggly, totally immersed. I mean totally. This doesn't happen a lot to me. I have ADHD and some books I struggle with if they're too slow paced. Others, I like but I rip through them anticipating the ending. I kind of figured out the ending about half way through, but for this book, that was ok with me.

Rhett is a carpenter working on Marjorie's kitchen. He meets Marjorie's daughter, Sylvia. They chat a little, but that's about all. A few nights later, Marjorie is found dead by Sylvia when she came by to check on her mother on her way to work. Marjorie had been brutally stabbed. Rhett is accused of the crime and with Sylvia's testimony is sent to jail for 20 years.

20 years later, Sylvia begins receiving strange letters on her doorstep. 4 letters in total. The last letter simply says you are next. She takes these to the police but not much is done. In the meantime, she runs into Rhett and they try to solve the real mystery of who stabbed Sylvia's mother 20 years ago. Sylvia has had a change of heart and doesn't believe that Rhett was the murderer. I loved the characters. Rhett was such a grateful laid back guy. He didn't say a lot but wanted a life of simple things. Sylvia was funny and relatable. The characters really made the book for me. There's a lot more to the book and about Marjorie and Sylvia as a child. I found it immersive, intriguing, and very well written.

Thank you to Netgalley and Storm Publishing for this ARC. I greatly appreciate it. I highly recommend this book.

This is the first book I’ve read from this author and I really enjoyed it. The storyline involves the 20yr old case of a murdered woman and the man convicted of the crime who has just been released on parole. He finds himself back in his hometown and face to face with the deceased’s daughter. The pace of the book was really good - and I enjoyed how the author draws in other characters to throw the reader off the scent. I’d definitely recommend this book and look forward to reading other titles from the author. Thanks to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the ARC

This book started out strong and I was enjoying it but about a third of the way through I realised that I had worked out who was committing these crimes which took the shine off the book as it turned out I was right. Areas of the book became quite slow.

This is a shame as the book had the potential to be much better than it was.

There were some twists along the way but unfortunately not strong enough that they did not become predictable. This is only my personal opinion, and other readers may receive more enjoyment from the book than I did.

In saying that I would give this author another try in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an advanced copy of the book, all opinions expressed are my own.

TBR alert with this one !! Mcfadden fans,of which there are many, this is one for you all! Absolutely loved this book the twists and turns definitely kept me on my toes and certainly did not disappoint. Very well written edge of the seat thriller. Anonymous letters, a released murder convict and a missing person make for one hell of a read.

When I Disappeared had a solid premise but ultimately fell a little short. Some parts dragged. The twists were clever but sometimes felt predictable. Overall, I couldn’t put it down and it was an easy read.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to Netgallery and the publisher for this ARC. The publication date is 24th Jan 2025. I really like the authors writing style she creates suspense throughout which makes you want to eagerly turn the pages which I did!

This book was full of lies, and evidence with many twists and turns! What a showstopper the ending was O.M.G. I did not expect it!

I’d highly recommend this book!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟stars

This book was SO good!!! If Rhett didn't kill Sylvia's mom 20 years ago then who did? From the very first chapters this author takes you on a mind binding ride that every time you think this is a simple mystery turns out that your wrong. Is Sylvia who you think she? So many questions need to be answered! The end OMG let's just say you can't help but not hurry to finish! Definitely would recommend if your looking for a book to literally start and not want to put down. 100% would recommend.

I had a difficult time getting invested in When I Disappear by Amanda McKinney. The synopsis sounded really good, but there were a lot of extraneous descriptions that had me skimming some of the scenes.

Overall, the themes of memory and belonging resonate throughout, with moments of profound loss balanced by glimmers of hope and healing, but When I Disappear, while a thought-provoking read, had moments where I just wanted to get to the end to finish the book.

This book was just an okay read for me.

#WhenIDisappear #NetGalley @Stormbooks_co

I was really looking forward to this book, the blurb drew me in as soon as I read it. It took me a little longer to read this book because I just couldn't get into it. The first few paragraphs seemed to be more descriptive to surroundings rather than getting to the story. Once you're a few paragraphs in it starts to pick up more. There are plenty of clues throughout as to who the murder is which is pretty obvious from early on I thought. It was a good storyline but I feel the bones were there but no body.

If you're into mysteries and thrillers I would still give this a go

This one didn’t work well for me. Three stars for the plot, and 2 stars for the writing style. It was a quick read and I did want to see what happened at the end.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Sometimes things are so obvious we will not see the answer.
Sometimes the forest and the trees will bring us the answer.
The story of Rhett, wrongly imprisoned for decades will
collide with bits of information dropped about with dubious
intentions. Sometimes, mental illness creates the perfect
cover for people. The book pulled me in and had me running
scenes in my head (on behalf of one character) as we see
that while Sylvia’s Mother was murdered by Rhett, he’s no
longer in Prison, and the arrows just do not point at him.
Stories like this are just brilliant and complicated and
I love them, but they can be hard to review!
Readers will be completely captivated and will
appreciate the well written and well sequenced storyline.
And, remember, it’s not over until it’s over.
My thanks to Storm Publisher via NetGalley, for
the download copy of this book for review purposes.

A good thriller!! However, I guessed rather quickly who the murderer was, but definitely wanted to read till the end to make sure I was right! Gripping thriller!
I received a digital copy of this novel from NetGalley and I have voluntarily written an honest review.

Sylvia Stone’s life is rapidly unravelling. Since losing her job at the local paper, she spends her time drinking and watching daytime television, ruminating on the past, in particular the murder of her mother, Marjorie, some twenty years earlier.

Broke and friendless, the only companion Sylvia has is her adopted cat, Shirley, and her only visitor Gloria the home hairstylist.

When Sylvia starts to receive anonymous letters, which she believes are related to the death of her mother, she makes every effort to get the police interested in the case again, convinced the murderer is still out there. This is despite the conviction of Rhett Cohen, a local carpenter, for the murder. When Rhett is released on parole, their two worlds collide.

I enjoyed this book. Not a mind blowing read, with the culprit obvious from quite early on despite the red herrings thrown in the mix (the clues are there!), though this didn’t spoil the plot for me, and I was interested in how it would pan out.

A good, easy read, with one character you will love to hate!

3.5*

Thank you NetGalley and Storm Publishing.