Oh wow! I think I need to go see the doctor for this pain in my neck, I think I have whiplash caused by reading this book! What a twisty suspenseful thriller! The first half or so certainly had some twists, but once you get into the last half, get ready to be surprised and shocked over and over again. This author demonstrates true talent to pull off as many twists as he did. Most I didn’t see coming, or at least had earlier, but then had rejected them. I was on the edge of my seat reading as quickly as i could, eager to see what would happen next. Get ready to clear your schedule when reading this one. Real life will need to be put on hold, trust me. You will be experiencing insomnia just like Natalie…

This was another heck of a fantastic book by DJ Palmer, I have come to really enjoy the chills, twists and turns, strong characters and so much suspense that I have become accustomed to in his style of writing. This is definitely worth the read and highly recommended!

I suggest the newest book along with his other fantastic books like "The New Husband" and "The Perfect Daughter." I am definitely a DJ Palmer fan!

Thanks to Netgalley, DJ Palmer and St Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 5/10/22

Ohhhh the theories! I had so many theories that kept changing and morphing and I was sooo confident (and annoyed) that I was so right! Riiight up until I was gloriously wrong! I loved this book! I loved every twist. I loved the writing. I loved the answers. And I loved being wrong!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

My Wife Is Missing by D.J. Palmer is a domestic thriller that will keep you guessing until the end. Michael is on a relaxing family vacation with his wife and two children. When he discovers that they're missing, along with their suitcases, he immediately calls the police. Were they kidnapped? Is Natalie a battered wife running away from her abusive husband? Or is Michael a loving husband dealing with a crazy wife?

Here is a chilling excerpt from Chapter 1, which is from Michael's point of view:

"As Michael Hart rounded the corner to his hotel room, he saw a small, lifeless shape lying on the floor of the hallway.
It was Teddy.
Teddy’s arms were splayed open wide like the T-shape of a cross, legs straight as boards, feet pointed up at the ceiling. Still as stone, his two dark glassy eyes, black like onyx, gazed unblinking upwards, seeing nothing. Wrapped around Teddy’s neck was his familiar blue kerchief, frayed at the edges from time and touch."

Overall, My Wife Is Missing is a domestic thriller with nonstop twists. There was a nice surprise in the middle and even an exciting car chase. One highlight of this book is how it kept me guessing until the end. Is Michael reliable? Is Natalie crazy? I enjoyed making predictions and then watching as they were shattered. I did take off 1 star, because I didn't really connect with any of the characters. Maybe it was because I suspected both of them of lying, so I didn't feel like I could trust either of them. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of domestic thrillers, I recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in May!

Wow! Absolutely loved this one. From start to finish, i was completely hooked. I did not want to put this down!

I had to know who did it! And why? And who’s the crazy one?!

Such an intriguing plot! I love the anticipation & the adrenaline. Such a fast paced read and i had no idea how this was going to turn out. So suspenseful!

I think my only thing that didn’t rock my world was the epilogue. It gave final answers. But… i almost wish it wasn’t included but I’m glad it was? I’m torn on it.

This was a page turner and kept me guessing!

Natalie can't sleep. She's convinced her husband is having an affair and his denials only make it harder for her to shut her mind down and unwind. As Natalie digs deeper into her husband's life outside the family, she finds information that is disturbing enough to cause her to grab her children and flee.

When Michael realizes his wife and children are missing, he will do anything to find them. He and an investigator hit the road following leads as we slowly learn what Michael is hiding and why Natalie ran. But not everything is as it seems - is Natalie's insomnia affecting her judgment? Is Michael an adulterer or something more sinister?

I love how this one unfolded. It started with a bang and I couldn't put it down for the first fifty pages or so. Lately I feel like I've read several books about insomnia so my attention slightly wavered until about halfway through when the story really got going again.

I had suspicions from the beginning about where the story was going and I was pleased to be right on a couple points. There were twists I wasn't expecting though and that made it really fun! If you don't read a lot of thrillers, you may be easily fooled into taking this one at face value as the writing was just so well done to keep the reader on track for a singular outcome.

The last several chapters were really well executed. I don't like when an author does an information dump to explain all the potential loose ends and Palmer is a master at avoiding exactly that. The epilogue was excellent and not at all expected and really just added a cherry on top to the story. It gave me a flashbulb moment to a line earlier in the story where I remember thinking "huh, weird" and then not giving it another thought!

If you love a thriller that keeps you guessing, this is one for you.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

This was such an entertaining and addictive read that I was totally invested in! It had such an intriguing game of cat and mouse with alternating POVs of Michael and Natalie and I relished in the way that Palmer had me constantly questioning who I should be rooting for and who I should trust. We have a deceptive husband with a secret past and a wife with insomnia and paranoia which just makes for such compelling protagonists.

I found it incredibly fast paced and suspenseful and all around a fantastically twisty domestic thriller!

My only downside comes from the ending and without giving anything away, it was a solid ending that totally worked for the story but just a general pet peeve of mine!

WOW.. what a thrilling ride! A high-octane adrenaline fueled rush! I loved Natalie’s strong character as she continually faced intense situations and there’s SO MANY twisty turns you’ll get whiplash! You think you know, then next.. it’s ripped right out from under you. This is the third D.J. Palmer book I’ve read and his absolute best yet. Phenomenal book, very entertaining! 5 stars

*I received an arc from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. Well paced, fun twists, and great details— the elements of a near perfect suspense. I just have a small issue with the way male authors write about women sometimes.

This book started off with a bang and the suspense kept on coming. The chase was thrilling and had me rooting for a certain outcome even though I had no idea why yet. The reveals were surprising and well-placed and I thought everything flowed together well.

The ending though...it was going great for me up until the epilogue. The final reveal there seemed to come out of nowhere. Maybe I missed something there, but it really threw me for a loop and not in a good way. I can think of a few other people that would have fit this better. If you've read this let me know what you thought of that epilogue!

I started this as an e-arc and switched to audio when I was approved for that. The narrator was awesome. She had tension in her voice in all the right places, distinguishable voices, and even did the male voices well. I would definitely recommend this as an audiobook if you enjoy that format.

Thank you to #netgalley @stmartinspress and @macmillan.audio for the advanced copies of this book in exchange for an honest review!

She glanced in the rearview mirror, trying to maintain safe driving while her adrenaline was spiking. The kids were content watching their iPads, smiles on their faces. Their innocence was making her heart ache, but she had to protect them at all costs. A killer was on their trail. She turned her eyes back to the road in front of her, urging the car to go faster. They had to get away and she couldn’t leave a trail.

My Wife is Missing is a domestic/psychological thriller about a husband and wife struggling with their marriage. She can’t sleep and he’s having an affair… but is there more going on than what seems to be on the surface?

At first I was struggling with this book… I love DJ Palmer’s books, but this one seemed to be going the “wife is crazy” route and I was getting annoyed. Then halfway through I thought everything had been clearly spelled out so what could possibly happen for another half of this book. I was seriously thinking this book was a dud. And then Palmer threw a twist that smacked me in the face…

Friends, this book may have started slow and rocky… but wow… didn’t see it unraveling the way it did. Definitely upped the rating and my overall opinion of this book and I recommend it for those who love psychological suspense.

Michael Hart returns to the hotel in New York where his family is staying for a trip, to find his wife Natalie and their two children missing. At first, he thinks they are exploring but when he finds their luggage also gone, he thinks Natalie was kidnapped. As he tries to find out who possibly could have taken his family, he starts to think maybe Natalie ran away. He thinks he knows why, but he really has no clue.

This book was very exciting and engaging from the very first page! Michael’s fears (and later, Natalie’s concerns) were palpable and I couldn’t put the book down. Dual viewpoints from Michael and Natalie allow us to see what led up to this disappearance from both of their perspectives. Just when I thought I knew what was happening, the author threw in another twist. I love a book where I can’t guess the outcome and this was definitely that! One thing after the other, yet not in a way that would be too far-fetched. This was the first book I read by DJ Palmer but it definitely will not be the last! Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan and DJ Palmer for the ARC!

My Wife is Missing releases May 10th!

This review will be shaded to my Instagram blog books_by_the_bottle shortly.

Thanks to @stmartinspress for my gifted copy of My Wife is Missing, by DJ Palmer! This exciting thriller comes out on May 10th, and isn’t one to be missed for thriller lovers. In this book, a mother disappears with her two children, and her husband will do anything to find them.

I couldn’t put this book down. It was perfect to read on a long airplane ride, and kept me entertained the entire flight. I could predict some twists and how some events were going to play out, but it was all so well written, that that didn’t matter. My Wife is Missing is probably my favorite out of DJ Palmer’s books so far!

In this book, we start out in New York City. Have you been to NYC? Or, have you read any great thrillers recently?

This book was a thrill ride and kept my attention throughout.

Natalie and Michael go to New York with their two children for a vacation. Michael goes out for pizza when they arrive, but when he gets back Natalie and their children, along with their belongings, are gone. He is sure they must have been kidnapped. Later he discovers that they must have left willingly. Michael embarks on a frantic search for his family.

Natalie has been dealing with insomnia for awhile. She never gets much sleep and her delusions are getting worse. She doesn't know who to trust. Michael has a secret deep in his past that he has carefully buried and kept hidden from everyone. What is going on? Where did Natalie go and why? What is Michael hiding? Finding the answers is a great adventure.

This was a page-turner for me and I raced through it trying to find the answers to what was really happening. I was surprised how it turned out. It was an emotional read filled with tension.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press through Netgalley for an advancee copy. This book will be published on May 10, 2022.

Strong Cat And Mouse Tale Actually Harmed By Final Reveals. There is no escaping writing about my feelings about this book without up front stating that while the first of two final reveals was a decent twist - not great, given the story to that point, but serviceable enough - the second one in particular was just lackluster, lazy, and didn't fit with the rest of the book at all. And for it to be the epilogue of the book only leaves the reader disappointed.

Which is sad, because the book before that point, and even during the course of the first reveal, is a nail biting cat and mouse game that had me invested from the very beginning. A man comes back to his hotel room in NYC from getting his family pizza... only to find barely a shred of evidence that they were ever there to begin with. From here we get a dual-timeline-ish tale where we see both husband and wife and the one's efforts to find the other while the other tries desperately to hide from the one seeking them, and this part of the tale is deftly told showing Palmer's usual skill at maintaining a solid level of tension throughout the tale. With a better ending, this tale could actually have been one of Palmer's stronger ones. As it is, it is simply middling. Which is still a great tale from a great storyteller, simply not this particular storyteller at the top of his game. Still very much recommended.

After reading the reviews for Goodreads, I feel like I read a different book than everyone else. I saw many 4 and 5 star reviews, but unfortunately, this book did not live up to my expectations. The main problem that I had with this book was the fact that the resolution involved two characters that were hardly mentioned at all in the story. It kind of made the rest of the story seem pointless. It also took me awhile to get through. I fell asleep every time I picked it up. I would definitely recommend Palmer's other previous books over this one. Because this is the first miss for me by this author, I will be sure to check out future books. Thank you to the publisher for giving me a digital ARC of this book.

D.J. Palmer is great at writing twisty thrillers! This is my third book by him and I'm still impressed at all the twists. With that being said, this wasn't my favorite of his but it was still a good mystery.

The book starts off with Michael and his wife Natalie and their kids arriving at a NYC hotel. Michael goes out to get pizza and when he returns to the hotel, his family is missing. He thinks that they have been kidnapped but quickly learns she has left on her own. Their marriage had been rocky as of late but he doesn't know why she'd want to leave and take the kids.

This book was interesting but also a tad bit on the slow side. However, I really liked the twists and found they made the book better.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.

I received a digital advance copy of My Wife is Missing by D.J. Palmer via NetGalley. My Wife is Missing is scheduled for release on May 10, 2022.

My Wife is Missing begins with Michael returning to his hotel room to find his wife and two children have disappeared. Convinced they have been kidnapped, Michael first tries the police, but circumstances around the disappearance turns suspicion onto Michael.

Interwoven into Michael’s search for his family is his wife Natalie’s story leading up to the disappearance. Natalie is plagued by both insomnia and questions about her husband’s current and past activities. Deep in sleep deprivation, Natalie is unsure what clues she has actually uncovered, and what might be merely hallucinations.

While this story does have several twists and reveals, I was unsurprised by any of them. With the exception of one small turn at the end of the story, I guessed all of the twists within the first quarter of the novel. I am curious if other readers had this experience, or if I just happened to “see” this story from the very beginning. The result for me was that all of the turns in the story made logical sense, but none brought a new perspective for me.

I also had a bit of trouble with the narrators of the story. We get the story from current day Michael, and past Natalie. There is enough in the story to establish them both as characters, and both are potentially unreliable. This is what did not work very well for me. For Michael in particular, the questions about his narration were all deliberate withholding on his part, without a real reason for him to keep information from the reader. There were several instances of him telling us that he was not telling us something important. For me, this quickly becomes a bit irritating as a reader.

Overall, My Wife is Missing was a logically put together story, that lacked the surprises I wanted in a suspense/ thriller. I would love to hear from other readers to find out if they had a similar experience, or if I just lucked into seeing how the layers of this story fit together.

I’ve long been a fan of DJ Palmer’s books. I liked The New Husband and loved The Perfect Daughter. My Wife Is Missing is no different.

Told in alternating perspectives between husband and wife, Michael and Natalie, My Wife Is Missing is a twisty adventure. You’re unsure whether to believe either of them. Natalie is hallucinating due to insomnia and took off with her two kids. Michael has been unfaithful and is hiding a dark past. I loved the twists and turns, quite literally, as Natalie races across the country with Michael not far behind.

I read this book in two days. It is written in my favorite format for thrillers: multiple perspectives and short chapters. It was an easy and fun read and I highly recommend it to other thriller fans!

Thank you to St Martins Press and Netgalley for the review copy! All opinions are my own.

Cleverly written and thoroughly captivating. D.J. Palmer offers a fantastic domestic thriller with unreliable narrators, well-crafted characters, and a dynamic storyline of past and present. Palmer meticulously envelops readers into the narrative by carefully pacing the plot and unraveling every tiny, twisted detail. Love it. Highly recommended.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #stmartinspress for the ARC of #MyWifeIsMissing, which was read and reviewed voluntarily.

#bookfluence #djpalmer #tbrstacks