Don’t Look for Me by Wendy Walker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Oh, hello, my new favorite Suspense novel of 2020.
I have always enjoyed Wendy Walker’s novels, but Don’t Look for Me takes it to a whole new level. Her best work yet!
It is clear from the very first pages that Molly Clarke is struggling in her life.
After a family tragedy, the remaining family members have drifted apart. Each consumed with grief and guilt, they rarely communicate and certainly not positively.
Molly’s daughter Nicole has told her she hates her, her husband won’t even look her in the eyes and her son publicly shuns her.
One night on a solo road trip, she becomes consumed with thoughts of leaving it all behind. The way she sees it, her family would be better off without her, happier.
With this storm of negative thoughts swirling in her head, she runs into a real life storm, literally. Just when it seems things can’t get any worse, they do. She runs out of gas.
Molly doesn’t return home.
Nicole, Molly’s daughter, has been spiraling out of control. She knows it. Hell, everyone knows it. Between the drinking, one-night stands and explosions at her mother, she’s not proud of herself.
After her Mom goes missing, Nicole is desperate to find her. The things she said to her on the very morning she disappeared. She can’t live with it. She has to make amends, and she can’t until her Mother is found.
The authorities seem to think that Molly walked away, but Nicole knows better than that. Her Mom would never leave her family, would she?
Nicole returns to Hastings, the place where her Mother’s car and belongings were found, to begin her own investigation. She will never give up on her Mom.
If the police won’t continue the search, she will. Even if Molly doesn’t want to be found.
This novel alternates perspectives between Molly and Nicole, starting off on different timelines and ultimately merging into one.
In Walker’s signature style, the chapters are short, with each one ending on a revelation or mini-cliffhanger, making this the epitome of a one-more-chapter type of story.
I thought this was brilliantly plotted the entire way through. From the very first chapter, I was hooked.
There are extremely intense moments, eerie moments, heart-breaking moments; this truly had it all.
In addition to being extremely suspenseful, I was so impressed with the examination of grief, guilt and depression.
The way in which Walker incorporated a family trauma into this story, and was able to tactfully explore how that one event had lasting, and unique repercussions, for each of the family members, was just so well done.
If you are a Reader who likes your Thrillers to have some substance, this one definitely fits the bill.
I loved both Nicole and Molly. Watching their stories unfold, learning the how and why of their circumstances, was just so powerful.
This will definitely make my Favorites List for 2020! Will it be on yours?
Don’t Look for Me is available tomorrow, Tuesday, September 15th, where ever books are sold. This may sound like a pitch, but really, I’m just trying to bring joy to your life.
Thank you so much to the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review.
I truly appreciate it and of course, cannot wait to see what Walker comes up with next!!!
