I had such high expectations for this book based on the description, but the story line fell very flat for me. There were many forms of abuse and neglect, as well as a lot of violence in the book that I had a hard time stomaching. The attention to detail was pretty impressive as I was able to easily visualize every scene setting in this book. I would have liked to see more of that detail to go into the plot, which I felt was really lacking. I listened to the audiobook version and while I liked the narrator and felt he did a great job, I had to speed up the book to 2x the speed in order to get through the book. By the time the big reveal/plot twist came around I was so very bored with the book that I just could not care about it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the audiobook version of this book in exchange for my honest review.

At eight-years-old Wayland witness his dad shot himself in the face. Near the body was a note with a message "I am not who you think I am." At 16 years old not a day goes by without him thinking about that day and it has shaped his life wonder why and what did the note mean. So the story is about him looking into what happen that day. He is convinced there's more to the story.

There is more to the story there's a lot of twists and turns throughout. A lot of family secrets. Like why did his mom get rid of everything his dad owned. Why wasn't she home that day. Why does she never talk about him.

I was really into what happen but I didn't like any of the charterers I think that was the point. but the mystery to me I didn't enjoy then the twist happens and by that point I was un interested.

It wasn't a hit with me. I enjoyed the audio narration

Thank you Blackstone Publishing and Netgalley for this audio in exchange for my honest review.

That is always the question when someone suffers from suicide but in the compulsive reading (and listening) in one night of I Am Not Who You Think I Am by brilliant writer Eric Rickstad you slowly realize that might be the wrong question.

Wayland is only 8 years old when he witnesses his father shoot himself. At 16 he is haunted by that day and the aftermath of it. His mother gets rid of any trace of his father from their home and never talks about it. His sister is living life on the edge with no self worth. Wayland is riddled with unanswered questions but the one he needs answered is about the note his Dad left. The note he has hidden from everyone that has only 8 words on it: I Am Not Who You Think I Am. Wayland is determined to find out exactly who his father was even if it kills him and it just might.

I stayed up all night reading this and then I had the joy of listening to the talented actor Steven Weber narrate the audiobook. I was truly dumbfounded by the heartbreaking performance he gives as an angst ridden, depressed, confused, PTSD suffering teenager. It is truly an award winning role.

This novel is about the repercussions of greed and power. How the fear of losing it will destroy innocent lives. I often get giddy when reading a thriller where everyone is just a villain you love to hate and gets what they deserve in the end. This story, despite the gob smacked twists, left me sad. Maybe because Wayland is so young I could not fault him for his actions. I needed to hug him. This author is an amazing writer that I can't even compare to anyone else. It is worth your time to listen and read his story. That noted, I will be reading a HEA romance after this one to lift my spirits.

I received a free copy of this book and audiobook from the publisher via #Netgalley
for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

This book grips you from the very beginning. The note "I am not who you think I am" is the driving force behind the novel. It keeps you guessing- trying to pick up any clues along the way, as Wayland also delves through the records to figure out what's going on. This book provoked so much emotion and complexities of what it's like to be a teenager trying to navigate life, and trying to deal with an emotional trauma early in his life. This ending completely threw me for a loop. I wasn't expecting that at all, and that is seriously all I can ask for in a thriller of this kind. Well done.

Ultimately I found the book to be underwhelming. The description fascinated me, the actuality fell rather flat.

I had no sense of the interior age of the narrator at any point. I felt he was telling how he felt rather than demonstrating it and the characters around him felt like cardboard cutouts rather than real people.

From my blog: Always With a Book:

I have been a fan of Eric Rickstad’s books for a while now and have been patiently waiting for his next book…so as soon as I saw this latest book coming out, I immediately requested it and I was not disappointed!

This is a dark and gritty book, yet I was captivated from the very start. It’s one that really kept me guessing all the way through and I loved the unique way it was presented – as a letter in the local newspaper. And then we get the full backstory to fill us in on just what transpired. And what a story it is…full of twists and turns that ends up taking us in a direction I did not see coming.

This is the type of book that each time we learn something, more questions arise. And I love that because it keeps me invested in the story and desperate to figure things out, though in this case, I never saw things playing out the way they did. A young boy is traumatized by an incident he witnesses when he is eight years old and has never quite gotten over. Years later, something comes to light that makes him question what he really saw that night and sends him on a mission to discover more about who his father really was.

One of the aspects I love about Eric Rickstad’s writing is his sense of place, and in this case, it’s really his sense of time. This book is set in the mid 1980’s and so Wayland must rely on public records and the library to aid his search efforts. There was no internet or cell phones back then. I also loved that the messages that Wayland finds from his dad were in library books. This story really does a great job showing just how important the library is.

This book is such a layered, complex story that delves into secrets and grief and how that impacts a family. It takes an emotional toll on you at times, yet it’s also full of teenage angst. It’s raw and uncomfortable and quite the intense reading experience – the anxiety I felt at times throughout the book is unreal! Having the story told from a teenage point of view makes for a interesting perspective, yet it really works here. It quite clearly shows this author is a master of his craft and able to spin a story that keeps you invested no matter that protagonist. And this is one I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.


Audio thoughts: This was narrated by Steven Weber and he did such a great job bringing this book to life. Even with the young protagonist, he was able to make the story sound believable. He got the teenage angst and he had an age-appropriate voice for Wayland and his friends – not too old and not too young. The story really translated well onto audio and I enjoyed listening to it.

Wayland has just discovered that his dad might not be dead. But! How can this be! His father shot himself in front of Wayland when Wayland was just 8 years old. This sets him on a course of disaster and despair.

Wayland is a character which tore out my heart. There were times I wanted to reach out and hug him. Then there were times I wanted to pinch his head off. His life is a struggle and there are definitely ways in which he makes it worse.

This is a story you will not soon forget. I have read a couple of Eric Rickstad novels. And they have all been 5 star reads. He hit it out of the park with this one. This is unique, captivating and the intensity it over the top! And the narrator, Steven Weber is fantastic. His portrayal of Wayland could not have been better.

Need an intense family mystery…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today!

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

It’s in the title, we know this will be a mystery concerning identity. But the identity of whom? The story starts with a statement from the police department of a Vermont town concerning a manuscript they’ve recently received in the post. We’re given scant detail but warned that some of the content is disturbing. What follows is the story contained in the document. It takes us back to the mid-nineteen-eighties and introduces us to Wayland Maynard, a boy who at the age of eight witnessed the suicide of his father. At age sixteen he started to have doubts concerning what he actually saw that day. What follows is his account of what transpired.

Wayland lived with his often absent mother and his wayward younger sister. The small group of support characters we meet include his best friend Clay, his sister’s <i>scumbag</i> boyfriend and Juliette, a girl that Wayland fancies from afar but is afraid to approach. Wayland and Clay do what teenagers do, which includes snooping around and catching glimpses of events that titillate and disturb in equal measure. But Wayland’s real focus is in delving back into the events of that fateful day, armed with a piece of evidence he removed from the scene and has kept to himself ever since.

Having been furnished with the background we are now treated to a fairly detailed account of events which occur over a short period of time. Wayland, Juliette (who he is now at least engaging with) and Clay are all involved, though there seems to be little discernible structure to their efforts. By now the author is adopting a tone which is part gothic horror, with his recurrent use of grandiose and hyperbolic language, but tempered with intermittent sections which have a softer coming-of-age feel. It’s an interesting mix of moods we’re being we’re being teased to adopt. The story is well paced throughout but as pieces of the jigsaw start to fall into place it’s suddenly full speed toward a final reckoning. A big finish seems likely – and that’s exactly what we get.

There are some jaw dropping moments in this story, scenes that are truly shocking and at least one which is likely to prompt a double take from readers. But is it possible that there are just too many surprise revelations to fully process and accept? Perhaps, for some, but I think most readers will simply roll with the punches and soak it all up. At its heart it’s an old story, but it’s told in a way that feels fresh and new. It worked for me and managed to hold me in its grip throughout

Wow! What a book! This was different than i expected. This was a great mystery with some thriller moments. It definitely had me turning the pages and so curious what was happening and who was he?! What happened and why!

I definitely did not guess how this was going to go or what would happen. It was a good story. I felt like it was deeper than i anticipated. This was such a dark and emotional tale. Very atmospheric and eerie and so hard to put down.

Thanks to NetGalley & the publisher for providing me with an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

This audiobook was fine, but nothing truly interesting or special. I read and listen to A LOT of thrillers, and I always appreciate authors who do something interesting and different from the main stream popcorn thrillers out there. This book, however, is just not that. It is a very predictable thriller with an unsatisfying resolution. I was very interested in the premise in the beginning, and the climax was also interesting, which is why I will give this book 3 stars. I just wanted something more, a smart thriller with a resolution that made sense when looking back at the details provided as breadcrumbs throughout the book. I felt like this ending came out of nowhere as a blind side and did not really make sense with the given information throughout the book. The "big twist" was certainly that, and not in a good way that makes sense with the premise of the book. The title was propulsive until about halfway through where it began to lag, and picked up again around 75%, but after that I just couldn't find it in me to even care anymore.

The narration of the book was also extremely monotone, which made it hard for me to hold interest in it without tuning it out. Perhaps if the narration had been a bit more to my tastes, I would have enjoyed it more, but I found the narration very plain and honestly - boring throughout. A narrator can make or break an audio book and I just feel like this one was a flop for me.

Big thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for a chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Wow- this book is a head trip. It’s a mystery that kept me guessing to the very end, and at one point, made me gasp. I really felt bad for this family, they start as a happy nuclear family, then dad commits suicide, and then things get very very bad. Poor mom is working two jobs and falling further and further behind, and 15 year old Lydia is hooking up with a seriously bad dude. I love a unreliable narrator -17 year old Wayland provides that in spades! A decade later, he is still dealing with the trauma of witnessing his father suicide when we was just 8. He starts to suspect that perhaps what he saw was not his father blowing his head off, but someone else. As a self involved teen, he doesn’t notice his mother’s suffering, be does suspect that perhaps his mother is not telling the whole truth. As a reader I began to wonder is he mentally ill or is something more sinister going on? All will be answered in a satisfying conclusion.
I listened to the audio version and liked the narrator fine.
Recommend

I Am Not Who You Think I Am is a fast-paced thriller that will have you trying to discover the truth alongside the main character.

Wayland is 8 years old when he watches his father kill himself. He finds a note near his father's body that says, "I am not who you think I am". Wayland made it his mission to find out what this means and why this happened.

Wayland and his friends search for clues and try to put pieces together. They find secret messages scribbled in Wayland's father's books, secret's behind the town's most prominent family, and a tragedy surrounding Wayland's birth. His life is he knew it seems to have been a total lie.

He eventually gets the whole truth and regrets ever finding that note and setting out for answers. Wayland's reality is forever changed and he never could have seen it coming.

This book was suspenseful and had me feeling tense in parts. It was a great story about the grip grief can have on a person. I was genuinely shocked by the ending, but also felt a little cheated by it. It was just not at all what I was expecting or what I felt it could be. This doesn't make it bad, just...different.

It was a quick read/listen, and I enjoyed it. I will continue reading Eric Rickstad in the future.

WOW. This book had me on the EDGE of my seat the entire time and gave me such anxiety. I loved it. Wayland sees his dad commit suicide at the age of 8, now 17, he's investigating the death with his friends. He found a note that said "I am not who you think I am." laying on the floor when his dad shot himself. He has kept the note in his pocket ever since.
As he is investigating, so many crazy things are being uncovered and I honestly had no idea where this story was going. In the end, I didn't see ANY of it coming. This was just crazy.
The narration was fantastic and really made me feel the level of urgency the main character felt during so much of the book. I am sure that is why my heart was in my throat for most of this book. Thank you to Entangled, Netgalley and ERick Rickstad for an early audio copy.

Thank you #netgallery for this book in exchange for an honest review. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. The author kept me guessing with the twists. Face paced and not over the top. Great book.

3.5 stars A twisty thriller that took some time for me to get into but once I was engaged, piqued my interest. I found the mystery was well executed, with one surprise after another. The writing could have used some editing as there was too much needless description that impacted the pacing. A decent audiobook performance in which the narrator was a terrific fit for the MC perspective of Wayland Maynard.. in all, a solid mystery thriller that was worth the read and came together nicely at the end.

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and Netgalley for an advanced audio copy in exchange for an honest review. #blackstonepublishing

I Am Not Who You Think I Am, is an addicting mystery thriller with an excellent pace that kept me listening and finished it I'm totally gobsmacked by the conclusion!
This was my first Eric Rickstad novel and I love the quick and entertaining thrill.
Thank you Blackstone Publishing and Netgalley for this audiobook.
Available October 5, 2021

I have several books by Eric Rickstad on my TBR list, however I Am Not Who You Think I Am is the first book that I have read by him and I've got to tell you that I AM NOT DISAPPOINTED! If all of his books are like this, I think I may have just found a new favorite author.

This book is all about family secrets and how they affect the lives of others. The secrets run deep and past your darkest imagination which is part of what makes this book so great! It will keep you guessing until the very end and then leave you feeling like you've just gotten off of one heck of a roller coaster ride that you just want to keep getting back on! It's that train wreck that you just can't cover your eyes...you keep watching with abated breath! Rickstad gives away little snippets but nothing that gives you anything close to the actual story until he smacks you in the face with it! Now THAT is my FAVORITE kind of book! AMAZING!!!!

Steven Weber is the narrator for this title and I kept chuckling to myself because I couldn't get past thinking about him playing on Wings for the longest time, but he really did a phenomenal job narrating this book! He really brought it a special kind of depth that not every narrator can bring!

Overall, I am super stoked that I read this book and will now bump up all of the other Rickstad books that I have in my pile because I have a feeling that this author is THE NEXT BEST THING!!!

I would like to offer a huge THANK YOU to Eric Rickstad, Blackstone Publishing and Netgalley for providing me I Am Not Who You Think I Am which allowed me to provide you with this honest and unbiased review!!

Wayland Maynard is eight years old when he watches his father kill himself, pocketing the suicide note that might explain his reasons. As boy becomes young man, Wayland convinces himself that there are secrets about that day that need explanation. Will the quest for the truth lead the boy and his friends down a dangerous path?

Although the audio version of the book helps to bring Wayland and his anguish over the events of that day into sharp focus, the novel itself was a bit scattered and overdone. The narrator keeps the focus squarely on Wayland and his feelings of loss and anguish, but it was not enough. By the end of the book, I was more reminded of a soap opera serial than of a coming-of-age novel. In his zeal to throw readers off the path of truth, the author lost at least this reader. The twists took the story out of realism in many ways. Additionally, the fact that Wayland got himself into so many scraps and scrapes, with nary a notice from people in authority, was the biggest issue for me. For these reasons, I would be hesitant to recommend I Am Not Who You Think I Am to other readers.

Disclaimer: I was given an Advanced Audio Version of this novel by NetGalley and the publisher, Blackstone Publishing. The decision to review I Am Not Who You Think I Am was entirely my own.

My review of this book can be summed up simply … “Wow! Didn’t see that coming!” Eric Rickstad has crafted a twisted tale of family secrets with a high level of suspense. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for this advanced copy audio. Steven Weber is superb with his narration. Highly recommended!

I Am Not Who You Think I Am is the story of Wayland and his fathers suicide. He finds a note but keeps it to himself. Years later, he remembers something that propels him to ask questions. Will he get the answers he is looking for?

I am so torn by so much in this book. I loved Eric Rickstad's writing. I love his design of this book written as a manuscript sent to the cops. I loved that there was this internal struggle with the main character the whole book and I wanted to just give him a hug. Until the precise moment that I didn't. That is when the moral dilemma occurs. I am still deciding whether I cant stand Wayland or feel bad for him? I am so torn in the best way. I finished this book days ago and I am still thinking about. The twists were so good. What I think I loved most is that Eric Rickstad gave you all the tools to solve it yourself. It wasn't one of those books where you are blindsided and had no idea it was coming. When the whole story is finally revealed you are like, " OMG HOW DID I MISS THIS????" So well done and I highly recommend this one!