I was expecting a completely different story and I was happy to be wrong. This book gave me the creeps! I love a good suspense and this one didn't disappoint. I thought the story was easy to follow and I would have given it 4 had I not figured out the ending almost half way through the book.

Many thanks go to Wendy Heard, MIRA Books, and Netgalley for the free copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review. Sean hangs out at his local amusement park and creates art in his sketchbook. There he meets Annabelle. He finds her captivating. They make a date to hang out another day, and sat the end of that day she is abducted. Sean spends the rest of the book looking for her because everyone thinks he's crazy. Oh did I tell you that? Yeah he hasn't been out of a mental institution long. So I realize the story I just spun for you doesn't sound too exciting, and honestly there were many moments when I wasn't too excited either. I was far more interested in the relationship between him and his mother. Don't get me wrong! This book was good, just goofy. Yeah goofy that's what I'd call it.

Hunting Annabelle is a smart, tightly plotted, and trippy-ass thriller with an unreliable narrator who's also believable and sympathetic. Set against the backdrop of 1980s Texas, HA also acts as a period piece, allowing us to step into the good and bad of the 1980s while taking the journey with Sean Suh on his quest to discover the truth behind Annabelle's disappearance. Writing such a complex character is tricky, but Wendy Heard walks this tightrope smartly while integrating intense set pieces and one hell of a final act.

This was a great debut novel by Wendy Heard! I’d say it was a light mystery which made it an easy read. It’s 1986 and Sean Suh has been released from the mental institution and his family moves to Texas. While Sean is out he meets Annabelle. They hit it off immediately and spend the day together. Sean is intrigued and likes that Annabelle doesn’t seem to be judging him. Then Annabel gets kidnapped.

Sean decides to go to the police even after having a very troubled past. Of course, they don’t believe him and are looking at Sean. He decides then he is the best person to find what happened to Annabelle.

Again, great debut novel a bit of a slow burn for the first 75%. Solid 4 Stars.

Loved the premise and storytelling on this one. I also loved the main character... for most of the book.

Sean is a mentally ill kid living in the 80s with his neurosurgeon, rockstar single mother. Unfortunately, Sean’s at home because of something bad he was institutionalized for. He’s schizophrenic and hallucinates... he also harms girls. So when he falls for a girl he just met at the local theme park he visits daily and he partially witnessed her abduction, it’s no wonder the police suspect Sean.

I loved the setting and Sean’s character. I was thinking a million ways this story would go, each idea better than the other, but the turn it ended up taking just fell really flat for me. It started off so strong, then turned a little kooky.

I wanted so badly to love Hunting Annabelle, it had been on my watch list for ages and I had been saving it. Sadly, it just didn’t work for me. Maybe I’m not in the right frame of mind for it, because the plot and writing is great. But I just couldn’t get on with it!

Sean is recently released from a mental institution, living with his mother and taking lots of antipsychotic drugs. One day he meets Annabelle and is smitten with her, determined to fight his own demons and not hurt her. But when she is kidnapped, Sean is the prime suspect for the police, even as he tries to uncover the culprit, sometimes doubting himself.

A gripping novel, with surprising and genius twists. Startling how the author manages to make one feel sympathetic towards mentally ill and murderous people :))

This dark thriller takes you inside the tortured mind of a young man who has killed before - and fears he will kill again. There are so many twists that you don't know if you are coming or going. It pulls you in and your just can't stop reading it until you get to the last page and even then you want more.

I am so happy to say I really enjoyed this book. Incredible writhing skills by this wonderful author!! On top of that, she,was so sweet to correspond with me. Her book is very intriguing and set in the 80's. Fast paced, I read it in 2 sittings!!!!

While I thoroughly enjoyed the story, and found some to be predictable, there were definitely some surprises. I enjoyed getting to know Sean and Annabelle.

This book ticked so many boxes for me – dark, violent, gritty romance with the ultimate unreliable narrator.

This book has some nice quirks to it that adds depth to the story; being set in the 80s and having a Korean protagonist based in Texas. This means the author adds in a few details of the casual racism Sean has to deal with every day, as well as adding a bit of background to his home life.

The setting and writing in this book are fantastic, I found myself being drawn in to all the places being described and hearing the voices of the people Sean talks to. Being inside his head is a terrifying experience, he has a history of violence and the overwhelming desire to hurt people but he’s trying not to give in to the feeling – of course, when the first girl he’s spoken to in years disappears, nobody believes anything he has to say.


Sean begins his own investigation into Annabelle’s disappearance and traces back into her past, doing so makes him look as guilty as hell to the police and as he’s on some hefty medication, he’s the epitome of an unreliable narrator and it’s impossible to tell how innocent he is in this situation.


One of my favourite threads throughout this story was Sean’s relationship with his mother – it forces you to form an opinion of her, through the eyes of a mentally ill and resentful son. Trying to understand her through that lens is really compelling.
This book is full of twists and turns, most of which I never saw coming – the best bit is that the suspense doesn’t just deflate once things are revealed, it keeps on going and going until the bitter end.


As mysteriously as I can put it… if the depiction of schizophrenia in the first part of the book bothers you as it did me, roll with it, it all becomes clear later on.

This is a great read that kept the pages turning until the end. I really enjoyed this book and look forward to any potential sequels. It is the story of Sean Suh, a man diagnosed with schizophrenia who sees an abduction and will do whatever it takes to find Annabelle, a girl whom he had a short lived relationship with at an amusement park. Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin Mira for the ARC for my review.

Sean Suh is drawn to Four Corners, a small amusement park in South Texas, each day returning to sketch the people who visit the park. Sean can see their auras, a condition he attributes to his medication along with the lost time he experiences, he watches them but never approaches them...it's not safe...he doesn't want to hurt anyone again. After spending three years in a psychiatric prison, he is determined to stay away from any temptation that might send him back but when he sees Annabelle, the girl with the copper metallic aura, he is unable to resist. Annabelle, a pre-med student at the university, doesn't see Sean as a monster but she doesn't know what he's capable of...and then she disappears.
Sean tells the police that he saw Annabelle get abducted by a man in a white truck, her screams haunt him, but his medical condition and violent history makes him an unreliable witness and the prime suspect in her disappearance. Determined to find Annabelle and clear his name, he must let the monster loose to find the answers before it’s too late for both of them.

Hunting Annabelle is a dark psychological mystery in which our anti-hero Sean, a killer, finds himself searching for a girl he is almost certain has been abducted. This novel is a unique mystery in which the protagonist is not the typical hero nothing is what it appears to be. This novel explores mental illness, murder, violence, and sexual abuse. As the novel progresses we are shown the true nature of the characters in a dark and violent revelation of events. Each of the characters true natures in the novel are obscured only to be fully revealed as the plot progresses. What initially appears to be random events ties the plot together perfectly for a twisty ending you won't see coming.

Love, love, loved this book! I loved the depth of the characters and the conflicts outside of the main plot that came about. Amazing mystery/spooky book!

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

TBH... unfortunately, I had to put this book into my DNF bookshelf. I feel a bit guilty because of it, but I am not a big fan of forced reading so, yeah.

The beginning was really promising. It was terrifying, different... and very interesting. But then... i got bored. The plot was too fast, the characters weren't impressive enough (except for Sean and Annabelle).
I did enjoy Sean's character, however. Also, the aura thing... was an amazing idea.

I fell like I am not really in the position to write a complete review, bc of the fact that i did not finish it, so I will just say that it did not click with me and that would be why i had no other interest to continue with the story.

Really enjoyed this book! Interesting, well developed storyline & characters. I couldn't put it down. Would definitely recommend this book to others.

Five stars for Hunting Annabelle by Wendy Heard. This story was a great read that was interesting and kept me guessing until the view end. Thank you for the opportunity to review.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book and I could not put it down. Not what I expected but well written and I really enjoyed it

Well, this was an interesting and definitely different read. It took and weird turn the last few chapters of the book, but i still enjoyed it. Just not how i imagined the story going at all. I do think you have to be an open minded reader to enjoy this book.

This novel is gripping, suspenseful and wonderfully twisty. I finished this in one night!
Sean has been out of the psychiatric prison for three years. He has been trying to learn to deal with schizophrenia and keep to himself. He has isolated himself from relationships in fear that he will kill someone again. He spends his days at a local amusement park in Texas drawing people he sees filling his day with his art and burying the monster that lives in his mental illness. Then he meets Annabelle and things change. Even though he knows not to get involved with her, he can't help it as he truly does want a human connection. When he witnesses her abduction, he must deal with his own demons as well as the local police and he tries desperately to find her.
I love books about killer's and their psychology and this novel runs the gambit. I cheered Sean on every step of the way. These days I can see most twists coming but not in this one and I give Wendy HEard kudos for not going the obvious and stereotypical path with this. The end is emotional and keeps you thinking for hours after reading the book. There is so much great material to ponder and think about.
I loved Hunting Annabelle; I couldn't go to bed until I had finished Sean's journey.