This psychological thriller has all the makings of a best-seller. Heartache and heartbreak leads a mother, Molly Clarke, to doubt whether her family really needs her. The loss of her youngest child, and her two older children seemingly pulling away from her, her husband's disinterest.....would they miss her if she was gone? Are they better off without her? These thoughts are rolling through her brain as she walks away from her disabled car during a violent storm. The man and child that pick her up seem harmless enough......but never get in cars with strangers! And this begins Molly's journey into the unknown where she discovers strength she thought she had lost and emotions that she cannot trust. Meanwhile her daughter Nicole cannot believe her mother would just leave them. and she refuses to believe she may be dead. Her own self-discovery makes her set out on her own to find out what really happened to her mother. Her own "snoopmanship" brings her close to her own danger and into a web of deceit that has been woven around a child. The peripheral characters of the story all add to it in their own ways. The twists and turns in this book lead to discoveries, drama and violence before an ending that is unpredictable. I received and ARC of this book in return for an honest review, which this has been. #NetGalley #Don'tLookForMe

The Clarke family is overwhelmed by grief, initiated by the accidental death of their youngest child.
Molly is at the center of a family that can't get out of their past; can't live in the present, can't build a future.

"Molly Clarke reminded her husband of his dead child. Molly Clarke reminded Nic of the way Annie died, and the role she'd played in the series of events that led to her death. And wrapped up the horrible memories of that horrible day were the sweet memories of sweet moments, and there was no way to untangle them."

Counselling has helped but the family can't move forward. Molly lives her life in a trance.
Her eldest daughter Nicole rebels, placing blame on her mother and herself.
Her middle son Evan tries to distance himself from her as he enters adolescence.
Her husband John chooses grief of loss over the love of his wife.
And beautiful Annie haunts always with happy remembrance and utter despair.

Molly tries to compensate for loss, making an effort to be attentive to her children,
but every action she takes seems to result in further rejection, and a feeling that everything is coming apart.

She takes a cross-state drive to attend to her son's school football game, but he doesn't want her there.
Feeling rejected again, she takes her long drive home. She's not deterred by warnings of a coming tornado,
runs out of gas, then starts to walk to the nearest town.

She walks in torrential rain and wind, until she's offered a ride.
A ride that she shouldn't have taken.

On the surface, it looks like Molly has finally run away; away from her life, her dysfunctional family.
After only three days of searching, the police give up the search.

Molly is now a prisoner, confined to a room.

This is a story of this family's search for their mother.
This a story of never giving up.
This is a story about a family healing old wounds.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I'm a fan of good character development, and this certainly has it.
The reading style is easy to read, the intrigue and story-line is great.

Thank you to Wendy Walker, St. Martin's Press, and Net Galley, for the opportunity to provide this unbiased review.

The death of a child is a tragedy a parent should never have to experience. What if the death was the parents fault? Molly was a successful woman with three children and a husband. One day a terrible accident left her child Annie dead. Molly was responsible. It was an accident but Molly felt devastated and full of guilt. She felt so disconnected from her family even five years after Annie’s death. The whole family was still grieving. Molly made a decision on a dark stormy night when driving home from her sons football game. The decision she makes has chilling consequences. What a great story. A few twists that will have you on edge trying to untangle truth from lies.

This book! Yes this book! This has to be one of the best psychological thrillers I have read in 2020! This storyline had me on edge and guessing every minute! Did Molly Clarke walk away? This book is so deliciously thrilling that I didn't want it to end! If I could give this book a thousand stars, I would. It is simply that good!!!!

Molly feels guilty after a terrible accident. Her children hate her and she thinks her husband is having an affair. So one night, when her car runs out of gas, she begins walking away from her life. This novel is slow and steady but builds up to an intense resolution. I appreciate the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to be an early reader.

This was really, really great...until the ending. I haven’t felt so let down and disappointed in a while.

It doesn’t take away from the book completely, but the ridiculousness/absurdity and far fetched circumstances were too much for me to buy.

But I did enjoy most of the book. Molly never gave up. And that was a nice change of pace.

And Nic’s storyline was equal parts creepy and smart. And telling. This is where we uncovered all the truths.

I felt the captor was too obvious as well. I know we are being led to see a few suspects and the truth is supposed to be shocking. I didn’t feel that way. I guessed it early on. For a couple reasons. The biggest reason was that I tend to choose the least obvious suspect.

I think I’d have loved this book entirely had Daisy not been alive at the end. For some reason, I just didn’t love the twist of her being a part of things. Choosing to live that life. Not after how she grew up and how desperate she’d been to leave. It didn’t fit. Just my opinion, of course.

Overall, I liked it, though. It was definitely nice to see women fighting back and not waiting for rescue.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
All opinions are my own.

I've read several of Wendy Walker's previous books and enjoyed them (Emma in the Night being my favorite), so I was excited to read this one.
It did not disappoint.
The plot was so intricate, at times reminding me of Where'd You Go, Bernadette and at other times reminding me of Room, which makes for quite the contrast! I'm normally someone who figures out the ending right away, but I didn't put all the pieces together until the author started to do so near the end.
I could not put this one down - I read a third of it in one sitting and then finished it up in less than a day. It was fun to read!
It's twisty and creepy and really dark, which is everything I am looking for in a thriller.
I highly recommend this one to others.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martins press and the Author Wendy Walker for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
WOW!! I couldn't read this book fast enough!
Every time I thought I had it figured out, I got surprised again.
A most definite fast paced exciting thriller one of the best I've read so far this year.
I got to meet Wendy at a Thriller-fest event in 2019. I definitely HAVE to read all her other books!

I finished this book a few hours ago and am still thinking about it. A family in turmoil. alternate chapters between the daughter as she searches for answers about her mother and her mother. while it was mystery, in a town with lots of potentially untrustworthy members as we race towards the identity of the master manipulator. a story, also of healing, of resilence and how do we live with unthinkable things

Soooo good! I read this book in 24 hours!

Full of suspense, psychological drama, and "what the heck is happening?" moments, this book grabbed me from page one and didn't let me go!

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I couldn’t put this one down! So many twists and turns. This was an awesome read! Thank you! Wendy Walker is one of my favorite authors because she keeps the readers engaged! Love it!

Wow! It’s been a while since I started a book I didn’t want to put down, and this one kept me glued to my Kindle. The dual narrators provide constant evolution of a story with enough twists and turns to keep you wondering even when you think maybe, just maybe, you know who the perp is. A great read with a satisfying, realistic ending.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. A
Don't Lok for Me is a solid, suspenseful and well-paced Thriller--Wendy Walker does it again!

My favorite part of the book was the pacing--the story is told from Molly Clarke's timeline the night she decides to walk away from her life after running out of gas in the midst of a bad storm, and from the perspective of her daughter Nicole who isn't convinced her mom vanished on her own accord and is determined to figure out what happened after the police have given up. Each chapter, either working forward from the day Molly disappeared, or from the day Nicole started investigating on her own after receiving a new tip flows together perfectly---building suspense and making it very hard to put down.

This book is gritty, the backstories aren't easy and the characters make some really bad decisions and have lived some tough lives. I was continuously guessing who did it and had it wrong throughout a good portion of the book. There's curve balls to throw you off the trail too. If you're looking for thrillers where the females are gusty and strong (but flawed), this is a solid choice. If you want a thriller you can race through in a day, this is a solid choice. It'll also make you think twice about having your gas tank full!

This was a thrilling and fast paced book. The character development was impressive and I really enjoyed being in the minds of Nic and Molly. The alternate point of views made me antsy in a good way! I was peeling my eyes open late into the morning hours needing to know the truth and what would happen to creepy sad little Alice! Sometimes these fast paced intense reads have me flipping and skimming because my desire to know what the hell is happening to slow my heart rate is greater than the words themselves. But! I prevailed and stuck with the words and I am glad I did. Wendy Walker did a great job with the build up and settings and making me feel like I was a part of the minds of all involved and yet it was internal whiplash.

I did enjoy the twists and turns and the ending which tied everything up nicely for me. I had a hunch it would play out a certain way halfway through and I was right but I still enjoyed it!

Thank you netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I finished this one in one day. I have to say, it took me a lot longer to read it than I expected. It started out really strong and pulled me in but the middle ..... I found myself skimming sections. Of course, by then, I had already figured part of it out. I did find some of the characters creepy - especially Alice. The twist at the end was good

I would recommend this book to fellow readers.

Thank you #netgalley and #stmartinspress for the eARC.

This is a story about malevolent forces weaselling into the cracks left by grief, guilt, and self-loathing.

This is a story about all the ways we hate and love and hurt the people we call family.

And this is a story about AMBIVALENCE.

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It's been five years since the death of Molly Clarke's youngest daughter, and she and her eldest Nicole are still reeling with soul-crushing guilt: they played a part in it, after all.

Expelled and adrift, Nic throws herself into vodka shots and one-night-stands, waking up hungover and reeking of regret. Meanwhile, her mother, lonely and desperate, clings to a family whose love for her died the same day Annie did.

Is it enough for Molly to disappear and never look back?

Don't Look for Me explores what happened to her on the day she vanishes, and how her story dovetails with another missing woman from ten years past. It alternates chapters between Molly's first-person POV and also Nic's third-person hunt for her mother—and my GOD this was such a brilliant technical move on Wendy Walker's part!

Just as you’ve settled into Nic’s story, you fall into Molly’s. Each chapter ends on a cliffhanger that won’t be resolved until two chapters later, when we cycle back to the right narrator. At first this was disorienting—and then it became utterly GRIPPING. (Like, holy shit—when Nic and Molly's narratives finally converge, I had the heebiejeebies it was so icky and good.)

I became insanely paranoid while reading this book. I constantly questioned which character to trust. And it turns out I was right to do so: just when you think you know how it'll end, you'll be proven wrong. And that twist—

By the end, no character is truly blameless; not five years ago, not now. Who is the victim? Who is the real villain? How is it possible for someone, a child, to be the source of revulsion and agony—but also love and redemption?

Don't Look for Me sucks you in and won't spit you back out until you have answers to these questions.

From the point of view of a writing teacher, this book is noteworthy for its characterization and superior writing style. As a reader, the plot is fast-paced, and the popular alternating points of view technique keeps you reading well past your bedtime!

I was given the opportunity to read this book before it was published, I haven’t read any thing by this author before but after reading this book I will definitely be putting her on, one of my favorite author. I was also given a short time to read it. There was no problem there, it had me at the first page and I couldn’t put it down til the very end. The characters gripped you with theirs stories right away. Molly Clarke, the mother who killed her youngest child, and the grief and guilt that she feels. The lost love of her other children and her husband. Did she leave on her own or was it something else? The story is fast paced and it has you guessing right to the very end. Many issues in this book, child abuse, drinking, children out of control,, police officers who are telling the true or not. I have a book club and I can’t wait to share this with them, when the book comes out. I know we will have a very good discussion over this book.. If you like a fast paced thriller, this is the book for you

This book was so fast paced and so intriguing , I read it in two settings. I loved it. I’m going to search for all of Wendy Walkers books now. I highly recommend it for all mystery lovers.

Wow. Wow. Wow. I finished this novel in the span of 24 hours and immediately thought, why is this only the second Wendy Walker book I’ve read?!? She is pure genius with her psychological thrillers!

Molly Clarke is a mother with the kind of guilt most people can only imagine. When she disappears one night on the way back from her son’s football game, it is determined that she just ‘walked away.’

While Nic has not always liked her mother, she has always loved her. They haven’t been close these last few years since the accident, but she would never leave her family like this. A new tip leads Nic back to the town of Hastings, where they found her mother’s abandoned car nearly two weeks ago.

As Nic moves from one tip to the next, she learns that Hastings has more than a few secrets…