I enjoyed this one alot. I would give it 4.5 stars. I thought u guessed the ending but the last few chapters got me. I didn't see that coming at all. I would definitely recommend this one

Michael Hart is returning to the hotel room with the takeout pizza when he spots his son's favorite toy in the hallway. Picking it up and walking into the room, he finds it empty. The first thought is his family stepped out momentarily, but it soon becomes apparent that they aren't coming back. Michael fears for his wife because she's been struggling lately with insomnia.

But, why did Natalie request they all go on this family vacation?

Natalie Hart planned everything right down to dotting her i's and crossing her t's. She didn't plan on leaving Teddy behind which has caused an upheaval with her son. Although, she knows it's wrong, she has to lie to her children. Her motto is Move! Move! Move!

A father's desperate attempt to find his wife and kids to protect them, and a mother's desperate attempt to protect her kids. Both harboring secrets from the other spouse.

Oh my gosh, this story kept me on my toes and guessing! I went back and forth in trying to figure out who was telling the truth, up until the shocking ending! I didn't see that coming, I thought I had it figured out. There are lots of twists and turns that will keep you guessing. Terrific thriller!

I received an ARC from NetGalley via St. Martin's Press and I voluntarily reviewed this book.

Wow, what a ride! This was such a great book and I couldn't put it down! I finished it in one setting because I HAD to find out what happened. Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC.

Review

This is my second D.J Palmer book and I really enjoy his writing style. This thriller was filled with action, and it was a quick and easy read.

The plot of this book focuses on Michael who just realized that his wife Natalie left him and took their children with her. Michael is mystified about Natalie's escape because he thought they were working through their marital issues. He knows that Natalie hasn't been sleeping well for months, and she is on edge because of her exhaustion. Yes, Michael lost his temper after Natalie's cheating accusations, yet he didn't think she was capable of leaving. However, it seems that Natalie has been preparing for her escape for weeks planning everything from the New York Trip to working out her finances to have enough money to run. Michael can't afford to get his past and his darkest secret exposed, so he can't rely on the police to find Natalie. But then, a police officer from the city shows up at his door and offers to help him track his family. Michael doesn't understand why a cop from another jurisdiction would offer their help but with no other alternative, he accepts. In the meantime, Natalie is doing everything she can to get some sleep so she can make rational choices and keep her children safe. After she found out about Michael's secret, she needs to keep the children away, and she knows that their lives depend on the choices she makes while fighting exhaustion.


This book was a lot. The plot is laid out in the first chapter when Natalie's disappearance becomes the main storyline. There are many guesses about why Natalie left. Could be that Michael is abusive and has gotten violent with her. Or she simply got tired of his affairs and didn't want to stay with a cheater. Or maybe Natalie's lack of sleep is making her paranoid and nothing is wrong except for her psyche. While Michael's secret is not revealed until almost the end of the book, the author does a great job laying down the many different things that Michael could have done to make Natalie leave. Personally, I kept speculating about what could he have possibly done to make his wife make such an irrational decision and run away with her children. And every single theory I had was wrong.


This book has some twists that I did not see coming, and I was truly shocked when the truth is revealed. I enjoyed trying to figure out why Natalie was so scared of Michael, and in the end, everything makes sense. One thing I liked about the plot is that it keeps the reader guessing if something really happen or if Natalie is losing it because she is barely sleeping. Many things seem to not make sense, and at some points, I was irritated with Natalie's choices. I kept making excuses about her irrational behavior, but when Michael's secret is exposed, everything fell into place. Every twist kept the book interesting, and it lead to a perfect ending that explained everything that didn't seem right.

I found that the thing I liked the least in the book was the characters. I was truly irritated with both Michael and Natalie because they both were making reckless choices that impacted their young children. Michael was so desperate to find Natalie that he ends up trusting someone he just met, and he shares some personal information that had me wondering what else he was hiding. Natalie kept making mistakes that put her children's safety at risk by driving with little sleep and taking her children to a place none of them knew. I understood her desperation to fly away from Michael, but I felt that she was too careless for most of the story.

Overall, I'd say that the twists this book had made it such a good read. While the plot drags at some points, there is enough action to make the book enjoyable. I wish the pace wasn't so inconsistent and I found some parts to be boring, but overall, it's a good thriller with a good final twist.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* wow what a wild read this was! would totally reread in the more distant future but would recommend! can easily say i did not see that coming!

DJ Palmer’s MY WIFE IS MISSING was a twisty and unexpected ride. Palmer did an outstanding job of making the reader question everyone and everything. I felt for Natalie and her desire to protect her children no matter what, based on the information about Michael she had at her disposal.
I enjoy the way Palmer’s writing keeps you on your toes throughout the novel, and with every twist and revelation, I had to think about what I knew or thought I knew. Full of secrets, MY WIFE IS MISSING is a thrilling ride from start to finish.
Thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own and freely given.
#MYWIFEISMISSING #DJPALMER #STMARTINSPRESS

5 Stars!!!

This one will have you riveted from the first page! I could not put it down. Told in alternating perspectives, with a few flashbacks, you’re taken on a journey. Natalie, wife of Michael, sufferer of insomnia, takes their two children and runs after learning secrets that her husband, has kept from her all these years.

Michael, who reports his wife missing, is befriended by a NYPD detective and they set out in search of Natalie and the kids.

I was on the edge of my seat the whole time!

A special thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and DJ Palmer for providing me with an ARC.

The book gets your attention right away. Michael and Natalie are having marital problems and a counselor recommended that they take a trip but instead of going alone they make it a family vacation to New York City. Natalie has been having severe insomnia and Michael worries how she will do in a hotel room. After arrival they are all exhausted so Natalie has Michael go out to pick up pizza from a place nearby that had a good Yelp review. When he returns with the food he finds his son's beloved Teddy on the floor and his family is gone.

For me it went downhill from there. The chapters alternate from Michael and then Natalie before and after. It seemed like the reason she ran was because she suspected Michael of having an affair. I thought that was an extreme reaction and I never got the impression that Michael didn't adore his family even though he had secrets. I spent most of the book angry with Natalie. She had insomnia and it was mentioned constantly. The amount of times the insomnia was mentioned rivaled the amount of times we heard about Addie's asthma. Natalie had delusions and hallucinations and was sure Michael was going to murder them all. She is dragging the kids around, driving with little sleep. I was quickly turning pages near the end partly because I wanted to know what was going to happen even though by this time I really didn't care and then found the end kind of improbable. Actually most of the book seemed improbable and all I can hope is that after the book ended she seriously considered a good therapist.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a digital copy.

This starts off with a bang right from the first chapter and takes you on a wild ride until the end. It did lose a bit of the momentum during the middle, but there were some hot takes with this plot that caught me off guard in a very good way. I have come to expect the unexpected with Palmer’s books, and at one point when I caught myself thinking, ‘you’ve got to be kidding me’, I had to realize who’s book I was reading, and sure enough, by the next chapter, the script was flipped and off we went again on another crazy ride.

This is why I love his books so much, you think you have them figured out and that is precisely when the roller coaster pivots into something crazy good that you didn’t see coming, but then it makes all of the sense in the world. Throw in an unreliable female due to insomnia, and a questionable protagonist and this is a recipe for an excellent thriller.

I really enjoyed this one, and am trying to work my way through the rest Palmer’s backlist before his next book comes out.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC and digital copy to review.

My Wife is Missing is a never ending twisty road! It’s told in dual POV, which I love but as you find out early in the book it’s hard to know who to believe. The characters and emotions are real and you can easily get lost in the book, especially the end! I highly recommend this book!!!

What a wild ride!

This was very exciting and thrilling, and a lot of moments that made you wonder what the hell was going on.

I kind of went into this blind and it went in so many directions that made me wonder how it would end. Definitely didn't see anything that came my way. It was almost too difficult to guess who did it? I really enjoyed the back and forth between past and present. The ending was a bit underwhelming which is why it got only 4 stars, but I still really enjoyed this one and can't wait to see what DJ Palmer releases next!

I’m going with 4 stars. I was very tempted to go 3, but I’ll round up.

You know, this book has a lot going for it. The story was unique and the pace was fast. I liked all the questions and mysteries, and the way everything unfolded. I don’t think I ever fully figured out what was going on, though I did call some things pretty early on.

What ultimately kept this from being an enthusiastic 4 stars (or a 5 star) read for me was the writing. Some of the writing felt hokey, and amateurish. That sounds mean, but I’ve read other books from this author and never thought that before, which is why it was so jarring. There were several times that I was rolling my eyes and had to force myself to kept going.

BUT, overall, the story was intriguing. And I was able to get past the scenes that didn’t flow. And I will still be on the lookout for future titles from this author. I think those scenes honestly were flukes.

My Wife is Missing is a mystery/thriller. It is my third book by this author.

The book has both the male and female 3rd person POVs. The chapters alternate between Michael and Natalie in the present. And Natalie in the past before she disappeared.

Michael, Natalie and their two small children go on vacation to NYC. Michael goes out to get pizza. But when he comes back his family is gone.

This was an enjoyable read. Both Michael and Natalie have secrets. And I really enjoyed seeing the mystery get solved.

The end was riveting with lots happening. I figured out parts of the truth. But I definitely did not put all of the pieces together. Overall this was a really good thriller. Although I'm not totally sure how I felt about the epilogue. It was interesting, but a bit unexpected.

My Wife Is Missing is the first book I've read by D. J. Palmer, but it definitely won't be my last. I felt like I was watching an episode of Dateline where each new piece of information brings up new doubts about who is telling the truth. Fortunately, the author did provide answers for all my questions by the end of the book. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advance copy to read and review.

My favorite my this author yet! Granted I’ve only read (3) of his counting this one but it quickly moved to the top pick. Thank you for this review copy

I first heard of this author via the bookstagram community and was excited to read My Wife is Missing because the author's prior novel, The Perfect Daughter, received rave reviews on booksta.

What I liked:
-Even though the overused, unreliable narrator trope was part of the plot, it wasn't used in conjunction with the also overused trope of substance abuse being the cause of the unreliability.
-Began with a bang. The story started off immediately with the disappearance of the wife and children, and the crux of the story wasn't drawn out for several chapters.
-There's a part towards the end that had my adrenaline running.
-Short chapters

What I didn't like:
-Way too long. One of the MCs suffers from insomnia and we were reminded every other page. I think this book could have been 100 pages shorter and still worked.
-Early on, I had an idea of what the main twist would be and I don't enjoy when twists are easy to gauge.
-The implausibity of a few plot points. Mainly having to do with the detective.
-Didn't care for the epilogue at all.

The more books I read of D.J. Palmer, the more of a fan I become. My Wife is Missing was a fun quick passed murder mystery that had me completely turned around at the end. I did not see that coming. When Michael and Natalie take a family vacation to New York, Michael is shocked when he comes back to their hotel to find Natalie and his two children have vanished. Natalie has been fighting insomnia for quite a while so when she deduces that Michael is having an affair it sends her reeling and on a mission to find out the truth. Is she really seeing what she thinks or has her lack of sleep made things all the worse? The manhunt ensues for Natalie and their children, but Michael has several secrets hidden up his sleeve. This was a great twisty turning mystery that I couldn't put down. Thank you, NetGalley for the eARC. 4 stars.

My Wife is Missing was very twisted- in a good way! I figured there was an unreliable narrator but was it the husband or the wife? Natalie seemed most likely- she has had insomnia for months and could be hallucinating. But Michael seems to know more than he is saying so maybe it is him. I love a book that keeps me guessing until the very last page and this one delivered.

3 things:
1) intense
2) page turning
3) gripping

Well that took a turn that I did not see coming. I loved the audio! I truly enjoyed this book. I binged it and didn’t want to put it down. I enjoyed not knowing if the wife was crazy or if the husband was bad. I kept second guessing my theories. This is the best kind of book to read. I loved the mystery of it and I absolutely loved the narrator and all of her different voices. I felt like I was watching the entire scenario play out. This would make such a good movie!

Thank you so much Macmillan for my gifted finished
copy.

rom the very beginning the author captured my attention and with every turn of the page he had me more and more engrossed until I didn't know who I was rooting for and what was going to come next.

The author paints a vivid picture of a marriage gone wrong due to lies, secrets and miscommunications through glimpses into the couple's past. This, alongside the multitude of twists at every corner, led me to become invested, right along with Michael, in the chase for Natalie and the kids. I encountered all sorts of characters and discovered a myriad of secrets while re-examining my options with every event brought to the page. Back and forth I went until the very end. And I loved it all!