Cover Image: Please See Us

Please See Us

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Member Reviews

I really wanted to like this book, but while I understand that the author wanted to convey a depressing, dreary setting, it was almost too much so. I didn't feel like I wanted to pick the book up again to continue reading ..... unfortunate, but will keep an eye out for future books by this author to see if future books are worth checking out.

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3.5 stars out of 5

The setting of Atlantic City is a bleak wasteland and the inhabitants are doing what they can to find work and survive. Sometimes that means having to do things you normally would not do.
Clara, a clairvoyant, has visions of things she can't understand. Unaware that there is a serial killer in their midst, closer than they realize, Clara's unusual friendship with a woman named Lily leads her to the meaning of the visions.
The author does a credible job making the feel of this book disquieting and dreary. There is a cold and saddening feel to the book which gives the story more depth.
Although I felt the narrative was a little slow at the beginning, I did like the story. I love the originality of the storyline and I love characters with psychic abilities. Especially when characters like Clara bring a story to life.
Thank you Gallery Books and Caitlin Mullen for the advanced reader's copy.

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Rating: 4/5
Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Suspense

Summary: A young psychic is doing whatever it takes to make enough money to leave Atlantic City when she starts having visions she suspects may be related to recent cases of women gone missing. She befriends an ex art gallery girl from NYC who believes in her gift and asks her for help.

What I liked: The writing style, suspense, and descriptions in this book were impressive! For example “Then, walking lazily through the rows of slot machines while I waited for the drifty, buzzed feeling to wear off, I watched men in VFW hats and women wearing fanny packs that bulged like exterior organs smoke Marlboro reds and sigh at their bad luck.”

What I didn’t like:
So the entire book is about Clara’s visions linked to the missing girls. Naturally, I want to find out what happened to the missing girls!! So in the end, they find the bodies in the marsh but the killer was never identified. I feel the ending could have been slightly better if we would have gotten the answers to the murders.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the ARC!

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Thanks to Gallery Books, NetGalley, and Caitlin Mullen for the opportunity to review this book for an honest review and it was quite exciting. Lily has moved back to Atlantic City after a terrible breakup with her artist boyfriend who was rather heartless in humiliating in shaming her in front of all the art world that they associated with. So, with her tail tucked between her legs she runs home to her mother in search of a new life.
She finds that life after getting hired at a local spa and meeting young Clara, a psychic that is having visions of dead girls being killed behind the boardwalk. If these two ladies are not careful they may just end up on the killers’ list and be the next victims laid out in the marsh.
I definitely recommend this book to anyone that loves their thrillers with all the creepy factors that will keep you up late at night. Well worth the 5 stars I gave it—it’s fantastic and I am a new fan🥰

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This was a great book. I loved every paragraph, every sentence and every word of this masterpiece! I read it in 12 hours, which is a lot for me to do! It had everything and more laid out in the novel! I sure hope There is more to come from this author! I am totally hooked!

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This well-crafted book is set in Atlantic City and follows Clara, a psychic, and Lily, an art gallery worker. Clara has visions about missing women and enlists Lily's help to solve the case. The story jumps between different perspectives, making it a bit hard to follow. Clara is a well-developed character, and her story is heart-wrenching. The setting of Atlantic City adds to the somber tone of the story. Although this is not an uplifting story, I recommend it to those who enjoy fiction books that deal with crimes against women. It took me until the end to fully appreciate what the author did in this book. The reading experience was uneven, and I found the transitions between characters frustrating, particularly the Jane Does. However, after some time to think, I believe the writing style actually enhanced the story, even if it took me a while to realize it.

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The book follows three characters and goes by chapters which at the beginning was difficult but as I got further along became easier/ Story takes place in Atlantic City during summer and the people who want to be seen are the ones that have been killed. A very good story that will keep you going until the end. Good book with good characters.

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Many times novels written with chapters from different character's viewpoints are difficult to follow but in this book I think it gave you a chance to learn about the main characters Lily, Clara (Ava) and Luis in greater depth and to feel empathy for all three of these characters. There were also chapters written from the victim's viewpoints which added to the feeling of mystery and the wish to capture the "bad guy".

Lily has moved back to Atlantic city after failed relationships and career in New York City. Clara is a young woman living in poverty with her Aunt and trying to make ends meet with her "psychic abilities" Luis is a young custodian at the casino where Lily also works who because of his deaf/mutemess has been bullied all of his life. Their lives will eventually collide as Clara wants help from Lily to try and solve the visions she keeps seeing. Meanwhile an unknown killer is strangling young woman and living them in the swamps behind the casinos.

I read this book non-stop once I started it and really felt for all the characters. It was fast paces, suspenseful and well written.

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Please See Us by Caitlin Mullen was an engrossing mystery that will keep any reader on the edge of their seat from start to finish.
Mullen’s writing skills are truly remarkable. The author's gripping plot that immediately grabbed my attention and kept me engaged throughout.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Gallery Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

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A griping page turner filled with mystery and intrigue that will have you on the edge of your seat. Desperate for the next clue to get closer to the ending.

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Its summer in Atlantic City. The once vibrant city is slowly dying, and there are 4 dead women in the marsh near the casinos. This is the story of those women, and the others who have come to AC for a variety of reasons from heartbreak to abandonment to a restrictive home life. Told in alternating chapters in the voices of those women and others around them, the plot unfolds slowly filling in details about the past and present. This is a book you can't put down.

The good -- Lily's story is compelling and I really liked the character. Clara (a teen clairvoyant) is also a great character and her experiences were gut-wrenching and sometimes terrifying. Honestly, though, there were parts of the story that were disturbing and difficult to read, and I found one bit downright annoying. There are several passages that are pretty graphic -- both sexual and violent. A couple of chapters are written in second person -- chapters about the dead girls and how they died told with "you think this", "you did that" and so on. While I realize that is an author's choice, but I find it annoying to read. It took me out of the story in a way that writing in third person does not.

This was a well crafted mystery with social issue implications. The reader is left with so many questions and points for discussion. This would be a great book club book if you can get past the caveats mentioned above.

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Another book that I grabbed for a beach trip, thinking that a mystery would be a perfect companion to my toes in the sand, but this one was so hard to read - not for the faint of heart. Switching between POVs, one by one young women go missing in Atlantic City and unfortunately most of these young women do not have people looking for them. Before I go further, let me say I can enjoy some gore and love the mystery/thriller, but this one just felt over the top and too much from my point of view.

While saying all of that, I did love this author's writing and would love to read more from her because I feel as though she can write and can put together an intricate plot, so this book was published three years ago at the time of reading and I wish she would write and publish another one.

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"Please See Us" could have been more interesting than it actually was and that's a shame. I read the reviews before getting a copy of this and I feel like it wound up falling flat for me in a few too many areas. It was also far more predictable than I thought it would be after reading the good reviews of this book. Maybe Caitlin Mullen's writing just isn't for me because this book really fell flat.

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If you’re looking for a thriller or suspense novel to keep you intrigued until the last page, to keep you guessing the plot, and to twist the story enough to just confuse you, this is a book for you. The story was fascinating and the way the author wrote the characters and the descriptions of the places was perfect. If you’re into thrillers I would highly recommend this book for a good story that will keep you on your toes.

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Please See Us, by Caitlin Mullen, is an excellent debut novel that stands apart from other thrillers and mysteries currently out there! Told in multiple viewpoints - we get to know Lily, who has just come home from New York and is trying to land back on her feet; Clara, a young psychic tarot card reader who is seeing increasingly scary visions; Luis, a deaf mute who works at the local spa and while everyone misses him, he misses nothing; and then there's the Jane Does, quietly stacking up in the marsh behind a run down motel and no one is noticing them -- they're just waiting to be found. So how do all of these seemingly opposite characters add up? You don't know until the final 10%! Mullen does an excellent job of keeping your interest, having side plots, and weaving together several different strands until the very end. I do wish there was an extra chapter or so to really tidy things up, but that's just because I hate guessing things and like a nice, tidy bow at the end of my novels. Very realistic, very heartbreaking - I was stunned that this was a debut! 4 solid stars.

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Review coming soon. Fell behind due to illness, amd working on all of the old ones now.

This one will not be forgotten. Creepy! Exactly what girls are afraid of! Wow! Very good!
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC; opinions are mine.


Pub Date was March 30, 2020
#PleaseSeeUs #CaitlinMullen #NetGalley

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Please See Us was a pretty solid debut for this author. The writing was good and the story was hauntingly sad, at best. It took me a few chapters to actually get into this story but once I did I didn’t want to put it down. I liked the different points of view throughout the book, it helped the reader with the back stories of the women that were killed and left for dead. Overall I think you have to prepare yourself that this isn’t going to be a rosey read, but it was a good book and I would recommend it.

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Lord. This book is a lot. It's so damn extra. I read the mediocre reviews beforehand and still picked it up because I tend to feel opposite than the mainstream does when it comes to books (I HATED Gone Girl and Girl On A Train). This book was such a miss for me, and that chaps my hide because I feel like it had such good bones. This story had to have been an easy 60 pages too long. Told from multiple points of view, so much of it wasn't necessary to the story. What could have been told in one page, took 5. It's a slllllllooooooooooowwwwwwwwwww burn. And then suddenly it's over. I stuck it out because I wanted to see how it ended, then it ended, and I felt like I just lost the hours spent reading, and I won't get them back.

It's 3 1/2 stars rounded down. Hopefully you like it better than I did.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4771764456

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I don't know what I was getting into when I blindly went into Please See Us, and I'm glad I blindly went in! I loved the characters and the concept of the book. I liked the "gut instincts" from Clara Voiance. Each chapter was narrated by a different perspective, all l.inked to the evil lurking in Atlantic City.

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So excited to read this book since I grew up 15 minutes from Atlantic City!

Loved this book! Right now my go to genre is psychological thrillers and this did not disappear.

Twisty and turning, it keep me guessing till the end.

Thanks to the author and Netgally for the ARC.

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