For the New Year I am trying to catch up on Net Galley titles from 2017 that I was given access to but never read. Watch Me Disappear started slowly and I wasn't sure where it was going, but once I committed, I had a hard time putting it down.

FIRST SENTENCE: "It's a good day, or maybe even a great one, although it will be impossible to know for sure later."

THE STORY: A year ago Billie Flanagan went hiking alone and never came home. Her family has not been able to move on since all that was ever found was a boot. Husband Jonathan is writing a memoir about his years with Billie, an charismatic woman, admired by many. But 'missing presumed dead' is taking its toll on the family. Jonathan needs Billie to be pronounced dead so he can access their money. Teenage daughter Olive suddenly starts having visions of her mother urging her to come find her. What does that mean? Will it lead to closure?

Jonathan has always been jealous of Olive's relationship with her mother. But both their stories about perfect Billie reveal troubling aspects. "Who you want people to be makes you blind to who they really are."

WHAT I THOUGHT: Alternating with what's going on with Olive and Jonathan, is the text of a memoir being written by Jonathan, Where the Mountain Meets the Sky: My Life with Billie Flanagan. Using this technique offers the reader layer after layer from different points of view. Things that didn't draw attention suddenly seem to have different meanings. Solving the mystery becomes fascinating as well as watching the problems caused between father and daughter and the missing Billie.

None of the characters were particularly likeable but that makes it more difficult to decide who and what to believe.

Eventually I started thinking I was near the end (it's harder to tell on an E-Reader), turned the page, and the story went on. I started skipping paragraphs to keep things moving wanting to know the final answer. With lots of twists and turns, the story comes to an unexpected ending.

BOTTOM LINE: If you liked Gone Girl, you will find this a compelling read. RECOMMENDED,

Disclaimer: An electronic copy of this book was provided to me by NetGalley/Spiegel & Grau for a fair review.

Janelle Brown is the New York Times bestselling author of the novels Watch Me Disappear, All We Ever Wanted Was Everything, and This Is Where We Live. A native of San Francisco and graduate of UC Berkeley, she has since defected to Los Angeles, where she lives with her husband Greg, their two children, and a geriatric lab mix named Guster. (from her website)

I loved this. I read it in a weekend. I found the characters to be mostly likable and the twists kept my interest.

Watch Me Disappear is a suspenseful thriller. Billie Flanagan goes on a hike one day, and she does not return. Only her boot is found - leaving her family behind to cope with some maladaptive coping skills. When her daughter Olive starts having hallucinations that her mom is still alive, the family goes on a quest for the truth that can bring them together or tear them apart. This is a riveting book by Janelle Brown.

A long, long setup leads to an only somewhat intriguing finale. If the book were 1/3 shorter, I probably would have liked it much more. I did enjoy the vivid descriptions of California, though!

Whip smart elegant version of familiar genre tale of family suspense.

This story’s description sounded good, but failed to deliver. For one, the story was so long that I kept saying to myself “alright already”. This is the story of the disappearance of Billie Flanagan and how her daughter kept hoping that she would come back. This would be ok if there was any emotional connection to Billie at the beginning of the story. Disappointing read.

It was a little difficult for me to get in to this book. I started reading it 3 different times, before I finally sat down and dove in to the story line. The pieces of the mystery around what happen to Billie drew me in as I wondered if she was dead, or alive, or missing. Billie's past becomes more clear to her husband and daughter and results in more questions. I appreciate how the book concludes and helps answer some questions.

Watch Me Disappear by Janelle Brown is a good book that suffers from multiple personality disorder and as of such, will leave the reader confounded and not really sure if they enjoyed a read that truly had great potential. Is this a mystery? Is this a paranormal tale? Is this a love story? While novels that dare to expand their horizons and refuse to be caged in one genre or the other should be applauded, they should also be good enough of a novel to earn such praise.

A year has passed since Jonathan Flanagan lost his wife Billie. Now it is only Jonathan and their daughter Olive who are left behind. Billie Flanagan was always a free spirit, a woman who was never really confined by the life of wife and mother. Her impulsiveness was one of the things that attracted Jonathan to her and now, one of the things that fills his heart with dread and grief.

Billie Flanagan, to most people's eyes, lived a charmed and exciting life. Her husband had a great career and her daughter went to a private school. Billie filled her days being a Berkeley mom and hiking in the wilderness surrounding her home. She decides to go on a solo hike in Desolation Wilderness and vanishes. No body was ever recovered.

Now Jonathan is writing a book about his wife and their love story, only he is also learning that the Billie he thought he knew is not the Billie of her past. Jonathan learns that his Billie was also a radical environmentalist who participated in domestic terrorism, and while this is startling, it is the sense that their love was not what he thought it was. That Billie may not have loved him at all and was only using him and his stability as a shield to the repercussions of her past life. That the book he is writing about their great love may all be a lie. That Billie may have been unfaithful.

Olive, Billie and Jonathan's teenage daughter, is struggling with her mother's disappearance. She was never part of the in crowd at her exclusive school but now she is the girl whose mother vanished into thin air. But that all changes into something far different when Olive begins to see her mother. She is having powerful visions of her mother calling to her and begging Olive to find her.

The disappearance of Billie has thrown Jonathan into a financial crisis. Having left his well paying job to write the book about their lives, he now finds himself close to being penniless and drinking heavily to cope with his grief. Olive is now obsessed with finding her mother and her visions are leading her to the possibility that Billie may have simply abandoned her family.

Billie herself is a very complicated character and as her husband and daughter begin to unravel her past, we find that what is left behind is a woman trapped between two worlds with no way out. What we are left is, is the question, who was Billie Flanagan.

Watch Me Disappear is a book that tries to be too many different kinds of books and fails at being good at any of them. What it fails at mostly is the suspension of belief that is required if you want your reader to invest so much of themselves into the story. The probability that Jonathan would be offered a book contract based on a you tube video of a speech that he made at Billie's funeral. Jonathan quitting his job to write the memoir of their lives and therefore placing himself and his child in dire financial straits. Jonathan spending more time drunk than actually writing. Then there is the teenage angst of Olive, whose visions of her mother take over her life. Her acceptance of the visions as her mother communicating with her from beyond the grave or through some kind of mental telepathy, also note that one of the greatest criticisms of Olive from her mother is her lack of imagination and unwillingness to break the rules. Add to this a supporting cast of characters that lack any true dimension. The hard line school representative that has the audacity to ask for tuition to be paid. The best friend of the dead spouse who becomes the love interest. The best friend of the young daughter who absolutely buys into the visions.

But what fails most is Billie herself. She is an enigma and through the telling of the tale, becomes an even bigger one. When does impulsiveness become irresponsibility? When does individuality become selfishness and more so, when does a mother and wife become a sociopath? The simple answer is that she always was one. She was always a sociopath. A daughter who would ruin her own family becomes a mother and wife who has not problem destroying the one she is a part of now. Yet somehow Watch Me Disappear would have us celebrate this.

Had it remained a mystery of lost love, it might of worked. Had it remained a paranormal search for a lost mother. It might of worked. Had it remained a discovery of a hidden past, it might of worked. But as it is Watch Me Disappear just does not. On any level.

A disappointing read.

Clearing this book from the dashboard. At the time of it's release, I unfortunately did not have room on my schedule. Sometimes when requests take a while to be approved, other books are accepted and the calendar fills up. My blog, BOLO Books, has become a desired review site, so many publishers are white-listing me so that I know immediately that I will have access to the books. These publishers will get priority. Sorry about that. i do my best not to request multiple titles for the same date, but without knowing if a request will be approved, that can be difficult.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2218669765
If you are looking for a heart pounding mystery, this is not it. There is mystery, mostly in study of the characters, delving into the past, puzzling over what is real in Olivia's mind and what is fantasy. I liked it. The ending leaves you wishing you knew more, but it was better the way it did end, with questions left.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC of this book.
Billie Flanagan goes for a weekend in the wilderness and never returns, leaving her husband and a teenage daughter to wonder if she is dead or alive. An interesting, well written novel that grabbed me at a visceral level despite the fact that dragged in some places and meandered in others. More about family relations than a mystery and I cannot say more for fear of giving too much away. Definitely a book worth reading. Almost 5 stars.

I thought this was going to be a thriller but it was much more a book about family relationships. Although it was a slow start, I'm glad I stuck with it because the ending was satisfying.

Billie has disappeared following a solo hike - does a woman on a solo hike ever seem like a good idea? I say that as a woman who just hiked alone yesterday, but on a well populated mountain, not one called Desolation Wilderness.

As her family struggles to move on without answers, her daughter begins seeing visions of her mother tell her to look for her.

As her father struggles to help her move on, they both begin discovering more about the woman that they loved......

Current Goodreads Rating 3.76

Adored this novel even though I don't usually read mysteries at all. Deftly drawn characters, well balanced flashbacks and points of views kept me engaged. Perfect read for a plane, weekend in bed, or bookclub!! or all 3....

I go to sucked into this read fairly quick, but it didn't keep me engaged. I could zone ou while readi and still feel like I didn't miss anything. Just an okay read because there wasn't much happening.

I loved this one. It just kept me guessing until the bitter end.

A slow and steady look back at the life of a mom and wife who disappeared while on a solo hike. Just before a hearing to declare Billie dead, her husband and daughter turn up clues that she might not be dead. What if everything you believed about someone was a lie. Filled with unreliable characters, a psychic, and a quest for the truth, Watch Me Disappear will have you turning the pages to find out the truth for yourself.

Copy provided by the Publisher and NetGalley

Ok this surprising thriller was an ABSOLUTE delight. You know when there's a point in every thriller where you feel A. Disappointed - not enough twists! B. Smug- haha I figured out all the twists! C. Satisfied - oh, I was surprised, that was a good one, the author really got me-- basically I'm saying that point where the "edge of your seat" ride is over? That never happens here. The structure of this book pushes and pushes that point back so that basically the entire book is exciting. You have to read it to see what I mean.

I also really appreciate some of the themes explored in this book - the exploration of family dynamics, how well do we really know the life partners we choose, and the difficulties of coming out even in a supportive environment are all really interesting and rich. The depth of character development was an unexpected surprise for a thriller! This would be a great book club pick or travel book -it reads very quickly!

A big thank you to Netgalley, Janelle Brown and Random House Publishing Group (Spiegel & Grau) for the opportunity to read and review.

READ IT! Janelle Brown's novel is suspenseful, well written (with well developed characters) and an interesting premise. Imagine not being completely certain a loved one has died. That's the premise of Watch Me Disappear. Olive and Jonathan have presumed for nearly a year that Billie (or Sybilla) died on a hiking trip. Jonathan has struggled to be a good father to Olive since his wife disappeared and has been hung up with the lack of finality as he awaits a hearing to receive a death certificate. Then, Olive begins to have visions of her mother - specific images of her mother in places Olive feels must be important and her mother speaks to her, telling Olive to look for her. In the course of writing a memoir about his late wife, Jonathan begins to look at old photos and Billie's laptop and begins to think his daughter's visions may not be entirely far fetched.

Are they both engaging in magical thinking to remain in denial or did Billie have secrets that could change Olive's and Jonathan's perceptions of the woman they thought they knew? And most importantly, is Billie still alive?

Believable characters and expertly woven details make this a terrific novel. I was anxious to see how the author would make every detail fit together and was not disappointed.

Many thanks to NetGalley for this free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.