Review: Don't Look For Me (by Wendy Walker)

My Rating: 4 stars

This is the third of Wendy Walker’s psychological thrillers that I’ve read and I feel like with each book, the way she crafts her stories gets better and better.  Oftentimes with this genre, it can be quite difficult to come up with a fresh story that doesn’t feel like it’s been done before, but with her books, Walker consistently manages to come up with a story that is not only unique, but also creative as well as intricately plotted.  What also stands out with her works is that there is substance to the story in the form of specific issues that are being grappled with in society or sometimes a moral dilemma that there is usually no resolution for.  A lot of thrillers simply entertain and end up being forgettable afterwards – but Walker’s books (the 3 I’ve read so far at least) all ended up giving me “food for thought” on certain issues, which is actually what I hope to get from all my reading experiences.

This time around, with Don’t Look For Me, Walker presents us with another strong but flawed female protagonist in Molly Clarke, whose family is still shattered by a tragedy that occurred 5 years ago.  After a particularly devastating argument with her eldest daughter Nichole, Molly decides to make the 4 hour drive across town to visit her son Evan at his school.  On her way home, she is caught in the middle of a storm with her car dangerously low on gas.  Hours later, her car would be found abandoned by the side of the road, with her cell phone left in the charging dock.  A few days later, a note would be found at a nearby hotel – a note signed by Molly, containing an apology to her family and requesting that they don’t look for her.  Based on this, the case is closed, with the assumption that Molly decided to “walk away” from the aftermath of a tragedy that made her life no longer worth living.  All efforts to find her are stopped and her family is advised that this type of thing happens all the time, and that they should find a way to move on with their lives.  But did Molly Clarke really just “walk away” to start a new life, not wanting to be found?  Or is there something more sinister at play?  

Through an alternating timeline -- starting with Molly on the day she disappeared, then 2 weeks later from her daughter Nichole’s perspective – the premise drew me in from the getgo and from there, I found this one hard to put down.  Of course, I don’t want to say too much, since the rule of thumb is always to go into these suspense / thriller novels knowing as little as possible.  With that in mind, this review will be deliberately brief and vague.  One thing I do want to mention is that this story was definitely well-plotted and suspenseful, but in more of a “slow-burn” rather than “action-packed” manner (though this didn’t prevent me from wanting to turn the pages and find out what was coming next).  Also, unlike many of the suspense / thrillers I’ve read lately, this one actually kept me guessing from beginning to end, which meant I wasn’t able to figure out the culprit or how things would pan out in the end – definitely a good thing, since a thriller that is “easy to figure out” takes all the “fun” out of reading it.  With all that said though, while the “big reveal” at the end was definitely surprising and not at all what I thought it would be, it wasn’t the “jaw-dropping, shocking twist” type of reveal that I had been expecting – in fact, it actually felt a bit anti-climactic for some reason, at least to me.  Regardless though, this was still overall a great read.  Wendy Walker is absolutely on my short list of “go-to” authors now in terms of psychological thrillers and I look forward to seeing what she has in store for us next.  Meanwhile though, I need to find time to squeeze in her backlist books at some point – hopefully sooner rather than later.

Received ARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley.

 

 

Review: The Night Before (by Wendy Walker)

 My Rating: 4 stars

The Night Before actually won’t be published until next year (May 2019) but due to having read Wendy Walker’s Emma in the Night last year, I was given the opportunity to read and review this, her newest work, super early (so early that the cover isn't even available yet!).  Of course, as with all psychological suspense / thrillers, I don’t want to reveal too much of the plot, but this book especially, it is necessary to go into it knowing as little as possible (I suspect the publisher left the summary extremely vague for this very reason). Having said this, the few “teasers” I will give is that there are some recurring elements, themes, that are also found in her previous books, however the execution is very different.  With this one, the story also revolves around two sisters (Laura and Rosie) and a significant event that happened in their past which plays a huge role in shaping their present lives – but that is only scratching the surface of the story.  This was a thrill ride with quite a few twists and turns that left me stunned and surprised at the end – just when I thought I had everything figured out, the rug was pulled out from under me and of course, once again I was completely wrong. 

The way the story was told I thought was interesting and engaging to the point that I felt like I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough!  Alternating between three different timelines – therapy sessions from several months ago, events from the night before, and events from the present day – the story also shifted between different viewpoints, with the “night before” chapters narrated by Laura in the first person while the “present day” was told from Rosie’s point of view in third person.  The format seems complex, but yet, not once did it feel confusing – in fact, only a few chapters in, it was easy to become so absorbed into the story that you stop noticing the shifts in format.  Of course, it also helped that the writing was excellent – as is to be expected from Walker – and the plot points were well thought-out as well as intricately woven into a captivating, twisty story. 

I will leave it at that and say only that this one comes highly recommended!  No doubt this book will generate a lot of buzz next year when it is released -- and deservedly so, in my opinion.  I definitely look forward to what Walker has in store for us next, though before that, I should probably make sure I go back and read her debut thriller (and probably her most famous book), All Is Not Forgotten (which I’m guessing I’m one of the few people left who hasn’t read yet). 

Received early copy / ARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley.

Review: Emma in the Night (by Wendy Walker)

 My Rating:  4 stars

Wow, this was an awesome read!   As far as psychological thrillers go, this one was absolutely top notch!  From the very first sentence, I was captivated by the story of the Tanner sisters: 17-year-old Emma and 15-year-old Cassandra (Cass), two teenagers from a dysfunctional family who suddenly disappeared one fateful night.  Three years later, one of the sisters returns – Cass, now an 18-year-old woman, shows up on the doorstep of her mother’s house with an urgent message: “Find Emma!”  From there, a three year old investigation is re-ignited and the FBI agents who were deeply involved in the case previously – special agent Leo Strauss and forensic psychologist Dr. Abby Winter -- are pulled back into the fray.  As they interview Cass – who spares no detail in recounting everything that happened the past 3 years in the hopes that they are able to save her sister – Leo and Abby once again become deeply entrenched in the story of these two sisters and the unconventional, oftentimes tumultuous, relationship they had with their narcissistic mother Judy Martin.  As the family history is slowly unraveled, secrets are discovered that all end up playing into the mystery of the sisters’ disappearance and Cass’s subsequent return.

Prior to reading this book, I had no idea what narcissistic personality disorder was.  Sure, I’m familiar with the term narcissism, but did not know that it was actually a diagnosable illness and that its real-life impact could be so devastating.  I was definitely impressed with the way author Wendy Walker was able to build such a compelling, gripping tale of suspense around a disorder that many of us either didn’t know about or if we did, probably misunderstood.  It was obvious that Walker did a thorough job with her research into narcissistic personality disorder – so much so in fact, that if I hadn’t read the Acknowledgment page at the beginning of the book, I honestly would have thought that Walker was able to be so detailed about the disorder due to personal experience with it in her family (she clarifies that this is not the case and the characters are not based on anyone in her family).  

The story itself was cleverly written and kept me guessing right up until its shocking and completely unexpected ending.  I don’t intend to write a detailed review on this book because I want people to read and experience it for themselves, as this is one of those books where it’s best to go in with as little information as possible.  After I finished the book, I was compelled to go back through and re-read some parts and it was then that I realized Walker actually did drop quite a few clues about the ending but it was hard to recognize at first due to the brilliant way the narrative was laid out.  The writing was also exceptional (very few mistakes despite my version being an uncorrected proof copy), which, in my opinion, definitely contributed to how absorbing the story was – I found this book hard to put down once I started reading it.  

Definitely recommend this book to those who enjoy well-written thrillers, though a word of warning that there are depictions of mental and emotional abuse and manipulation that are quite disturbing, in case that’s a deal-breaker for anyone trying to decide whether to read or not.  The book also isn’t without flaws, the main one being some repetitiveness with certain parts of the story (which it looks like other reviewers pointed out as well), but to me, this was a minor issue that didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book itself.  I am definitely interested in reading more works by this author!

Received ARC from MacMillan via NetGalley