This is a story of the forgotten women that no one seems to care about , or has forgotten. As a reader you notice right away a dark , eerie place and feeling.  We learn these women that gone missing we’re taking without their consent. 


We meet our main character who is a good psychic.   She tells us as she starts reading off the tarot cards one by one.  She seeing visions from these women.   Almost real life like images that makes us wonder if she is really seeing what is happening or what has happened to these women. 


She meets the other protagonist Lilly the two join forces , and team up to try to figure out what happened to the forgotten invisible women. The writer is extremely organized , and a gifted phenomenal storyteller and has exquisite narration 

She keeps you glued to the story page by page wondering “ what happens next “.  Job well done an exceptional book.

PLEASE SEE US by Caitlin Mullen was a difficult read. I was frequently frustrated with the Jane Does and the transition.  The writing was good and I will welcome another book by this author but this one did not work for me.

The book is dismal, so is Atlantic City which feels like a character in the book. This book manages to be compelling and disturbing at the same time which is an interesting concept.

This book is different than the new trend of unreliable narrator thrillers out there; read it for a change of pace and you will not be sorry.

I read this blurb.. i never read blurbs but the cover also had my attention. I began reading this book on my transatlantic flight and it did not hold my attention. I realized recently that this just released and i never finished the book so I popped it back into my ereader and once i picked it up i was hooked... this is a book that the begining is indeed slow but there are sooooo many different POVs happening that you need to devour this book... which i did in two days.. i think i started reading it in January but then casually picked it back up the 17th and murdered it in two days. I am just slow with my reviews i was stockpiling them since were in the end of times with COVID right now haha. I seriously read it then reread the last two chapters... I SERIOUSLY have no idea who dun it and its driving me madddddd loved it

What an amazing read. Hard to believe it is a debut! If this book is any indication, the author is going to have us all begging for more. 

Told from different points of view, Please See Us is completely engrossing. It kept me turning the pages eager to see what I would learn next.

Please See Us is a strong debut psychological thriller by Caitlin Mullen. The story takes place in Atlantic City which Clara is a sixteen-year-old girl who was abandoned by her mother and she lives with her prostitute addictive aunt. She scrapes money together as a psychic. Lily has returned home from New York City leaving a successful career after being betrayed by her boyfriend. A serial killer is at large. There are six Jane Does. Lily and Clara work together and the story is told by both of them. We also hear from the dead Jane’s. At times this novel moves a little too slowly but I liked the characters. Thanks to Gallery Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I look forward to reading a future Mullen novel.

3.5 stars

This story is quite interesting, but the author appeared to me to have gotten bogged down in too much detail. Clara, who reads Tarot and is psychic, and Lily, who works in an art gallery, become friends one summer in Atlantic City. Working together, the pair delve into the stories of a group of girls who have gone missing in the city. The author goes into the lives of the missing girls, presenting a lot of detail about their lives for the reader to absorb. I found it a bit confusing to switch between Clara and Lily and their lives/working together, not to mention going into the lives of the missing girls all along. The story does bring out the history and culture of Atlantic City, from its heyday with lively, well-known casinos and a thriving tourist season, to the current emptiness and dying of the city, as things close and tourists move on. The story is a great one and the writing well done, but the execution became muddied with so much about the lives of the two main characters intermixed with the lives of the missing girls. The story is a dark one. There are scenes in the book that are really not related to the murders, which only further muddied the waters. This is a good book for the reader who enjoys dark stories, with lots of things going on, who is not too interested in something very fast-paced, as it did not turn out to be fast-paced and, as I said, gets bogged down a lot. I received this from NetGalley to read and review.

From my blog: Always With a Book:

There is nothing I love more than finding a unique voice in a genre that at times feels over-saturated with the same-old. That's not to say that I don't love reading these books or that I will ever tire of these books, or at least not any time soon, but when one comes along that has that little something different, you definitely take notice.

This debut novel is certainly not going to be for everyone as it is dark and haunting, yet it is also completely captivating. It is the type of book where the setting absolutely works in favor of the story - Atlantic City is not what it used to be and this author was able to capture that in her writing and use it to full effect. The closed up shops, the empty board walks, dark hotels - it just lends itself to a dark, chilling setting and you already get that sense of foreboding and that stays with you throughout the story.

The book is told from many viewpoints and this can be confusing at first, but in the end it really comes together quite nicely. While all the characters are flawed and have dark pasts full of secrets, I found myself quite drawn to their stories, desperate to know more. I especially liked that we hear from the victims - the "Jane Does" and while this in and of itself is quite chilling, it is this unique angle that gives this book an edge over the usual serial killer story. 

There is also a small supernatural element to this story that I think worked perfectly. Normally, I am not a fan of this kind of thing, but here I found it to be just right. Having Clara be a clairvoyant teen just seemed to make sense, especially with the Atlantic City setting. It wasn't over the top and this supernatural element actually gives the book a bit of a creepy vibe, which just adds to the overall suspense in my opinion.

This is the type of book that sticks with you long after you have finished reading it. It's heartbreaking and dark, yet the writing is phenomenal. I am definitely going to be keeping an eye out for what Caitlin Mullen writes next!

I really wanted to like this book, but I just couldn't get into the writing - it didn't grab me the way I want a thriller to hook me.

This was an excellent read. Alot different than the other thrillers I've read. This was disturbing and hit close to home for me. A story about missing girls and drug addiction. The victims that no one cares about. The missing that no one really looks for. This was heartbreaking. A must read debut.

Dawnny-BookGypsy 
Novels N Latte 
Hudson Valley NY

Please See Us is a great debut novel. A great suspenseful story of Murdered girls in the setting of Atlantic City.
Characters were well developed. This was a twisty book that I really enjoyed.

Please See Us is a very well written book, with a complex and compelling storyline. That said, I don't greatly enjoy this type of serial crime book and had selected to read based on another reader's high recommendation. Genre is so personal, so I will certainly rate and review this book highly, but did find it a challenge to read. Thank you for the ARC.

I’m so conflicted on this one! This book had a lot going for it. The setting- Atlantic City, the casinos, and Claire’s fortune shop were definitely mysterious and interesting. I liked the slight supernatural undertones of Clare and her story. I’d say my favorite aspect was the characters. Our two main characters, Clare and Lily were complex and came with history and struggles. I felt invested in their stories. I also loved that the book gave a voice to the victims.

This is, however, a slow burn. It’s not an “edge of your seat”, “just one more chapter” kind of book. At times I found myself struggling to say interested. I should mention, though, that slow burn thrillers aren’t my thing, so while this may not have been for me, I think many people will enjoy this book. It is well written and the story telling is unique.

This story kept me interested from beginning to the very end. I had a hard time putting it down.  The Characters are well developed. The main character ‘Clara/Ava’ is a very young psychic whom doesn’t really know what her true powers are capable of. Loved how the story unfolds. I highly recommend this book. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

A pretty good debut novel. I really wanted to like this but found it rather slow. It took awhile for the friendship between Clara and Lily to develop. I did find the viewpoints from each murdered woman as it’s own chapter to be a good concept but sometimes these narratives went on too long.   The use of seedy Atlantic City was very well written and developed.

What a wonderful mystery/thriller read.  The many Jane Does want their stories to be told with all their flaws and secrets on display.  

Clara is my favorite character in this tale of mystery.  You want to find out what her future has in store for her.  Her unlikely friendship with Lily drew me into the story and made me want to know the ending, which was not what I expected.

What an amazing, spectacular debut novel!  Ms. Mullen has set an incredibly high bar for herself, and personally, I can't wait to read whatever she comes up with next.

The story is reminiscent of the discovery of the remains of 10-16 murdered women associated with prostitution along the south shore of Long Island.  In the case of Please See Us, we meet two murdered women in a marsh along the boardwalk of Atlantic City.  We're also told that although there are only two, there will soon be seven.  The novel is told from four POVs.  The first is of Clara, a 16-year old living with her aunt and trying to pay the rent by doing psychic readings.  Mostly it's theater, but Clara actually does have some random psychic experiences.  The second POV is Lily.  Lily has just moved back home with her mother after a devastating break-up.  She had been living in NYC and making a living as an art critic, hoping to start her own gallery, but now she's been reduced to working as a receptionist at an Atlantic City hotel spa.  The third is Luis, a deaf mute who works at places like Lily's hotel as a janitor and handyman.  And the final POV is from the murdered girls, beginning with "Janes 1 and 2," and growing as others are added to their midst.

The plotline of the novel is that Clara is sensing something very bad in the air.  She has suddenly started having alarming visions that she doesn't understand.  Clara eventually enlists Lily's help in helping her decipher the visions that she begins to fear are the last thoughts of dying women.  Caitlin Mullen does a phenomenal job of bringing tawdry Atlantic City to life so that the city is as much a character as Clara or Lily.  As a reader, you will feel immersed in the sights, sounds, and smells of a city in the throes of its own death.  Additionally, Clara and Lily are such beautifully layered characters.  I was at their side every step of the way.  One passage that caught me as the definition of what goes on in Please See Us is this:

"Above her, billboards show women in black lingerie, holding fans of cards with long, red nails.  That's the problem -- men are always promised this, no matter who they are."

I absolutely loved this book!  It is a wonderful murder/suspense/mystery, but it also a beautiful character study.

This book quickly took me to places I wasn't expecting. There are a handful of characters you just want to wrap and protect. You know that won't all, in the end. That's what makes this a great read. Back stories of each are brief, but build wonderfully as each journey unfolds. Be sure to pick this up and see how many survive after humiliation, or with what they have. I was fascinated to see 2 characters hot it off almost like soul sisters. Don't miss out on this great story.

Solid overall but a little too slow for me. A very good story and I enjoyed the writing but this is quite the slow burn. I would read her next novel, but this one wasn’t my favorite.

Please See Us is about all the invisible women of seedy, run-down Atlantic City. There is a killer stalking the boardwalk bars and motels, preying on women who are addicts, prostitutes, and just drifters in general, unlikely to be missed.

"Clara," a young boardwalk psychic is gifted with actual supernatural visions, when she's not pickpocketing or shoplifting. She lives with her aunt, Des, and they run small cons and try to drum up business for their fortunetelling booth. At first, they seem to be struggling together, but as the book goes on, imbalances begin to show.

Lily is back home after a terrible breakup with her boyfriend in New York. (Matthew is horrifically believable, turning their relationship into garbage performance art, and then refusing to acknowledge that this was anything other than pure genius branding.) She takes a job at what seems like a high-end salon. At first, this seems like a world away from Lily's fortune-telling stall, Des' boardwalk scams, and Georgia's street work. But there's a different, quieter exploitation of hourly workers, upselling fake luxury and bowing to a capricious, controlling manager.

There are some true moments of power imbalance highlighted in this novel. At one point, Matthew, Lily's obnoxious ex, is convinced that a waitress is into him. It's clear to Lily and every woman who's done service work, that smiling is just part of the waitress' job, and being harassed or pawed at by dudebros like Matthew is also an unspoken part of her job.

Emily, Lily's coworker, snaps into customer service voice for the rich ladies at the spa, and then snaps back into showing Lily a spot away from the security cameras, for secret phone-checking and snack-eating. (Because of course eating a snack or checking messages is forbidden at work.)

Georgia decides she wants a new life, and she makes it through rehab, only to have no money, no friends to help, and no place to go on release. There is a quiet desperation here, as she realizes she has one source of possible income left, back to the familiar streets.

The drama in Please See Us is not in discovering who the murderer is, or what his motivation is. We know, we know, he's just another man who hates women and wants to punish them. The drama is whether the girls of the city will survive. Will any of them make it out of Atlantic City? Will anyone ever pursue the murderer? Or are they all just washed-up girls with no one to care?

A dark thriller about a serial killer stalking Atlantic City, so full of lost souls that the victims are barely missed.

Teenaged Ava—calling herself Clara Voyant—supplements her aunt’s income by giving readings. But she is increasingly haunted by strange visions. 

Lily has fled what she thought was her dream life in the art scene in Manhattan following a public betrayal by her boyfriend. She gets a low paying job in a spa, drowning her sorrows in too much alcohol. Despite her despair, she feels compelled to try to help Clara, particularly when she realizes she’s supplementing her earnings by helping pedophiles fulfill their fantasies.

Luis, the deaf and mute spa employee, is hiding a secret, but not the one Clara suspects. 

This is one of those books you’ll remember long after you finish it, even if reading it is painful at times. So much pain and despair, and truly educational for those who are sheltered. It does end with a glimmer of hope (not so much for the victims of the killer).