I have a multitude of internet friends who continuously urge me to get on this site called Netgalley. Netgalley is a website that is for avid readers to read upcoming releases and review them. So essentially, it’s what I already do except all in one place. I didn’t really see the value, but every now and then I hop on over there and check out what’s available to everybody. I don’t have access to the most popular books because I just don’t use Netgalley often enough, but this one book that looked appealing was a book anybody to get, so I got it.
At the beginning of this book, we meet Noelle, a nurse, who is dating a narcissistic doctor named Daniel. Daniel has his life planned out, seemingly day to day, and he has decided Noelle is going to be the woman by his side. Noelle is less than thrilled and is trying to figure out how to remove herself from Daniel with her dignity, and her life, intact. Evading the cameras in her apartment, and the tracker on her phone, and the spying Daniel does on her computer, she plans to get herself kidnapped and simply disappear (much like one of Daniel’s previous girlfriends, except she was murdered). Noelle’s plans go horribly awry, and she discovers she has not one, but two adversaries.
This book had twists and the literary equivalent of jump-scares all over the place. It was a fast-paced read and a thoroughly satisfying thriller. There was drama and intrigue, betrayal, and some of the most well-written misogynistic narcissism I have ever read. Daniel’s sections of the book are creepy as hell. Seriously, it felt like Payne might have some intimate knowledge of that type of person. You doing alright Jessica? Need a hug? Blink twice if you feel unsafe.
I didn’t love the book’s format. I find myself increasingly frustrated with the back-and-forth between points of view writing. It was good every now and then, but lately it feels like EVERYBODY is writing this type of format and I’m just bored with it. I also get bored with the “air of mystery” that ends each chapter. Yes, we are aware this is a suspenseful thriller, we don’t need tension builders every three pages. I found it to be annoying, redundant, and over the top.
It was a decent book but fell short of that fifth star because of the format. I do, however, highly recommend reading this one if you dig suspense.

Wow this was a cracker of a book! I this one hooked me from the beginning and did not ever let go. The tension, hopes, dreams and failures were just icing on the cake. Perfect characters that made me a part of the story.
Highly recommend
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

I really wanted to love this book and I started it and was fully emerged. It quickly fizzled into a long drawn out back and forth anticipation of he said she said and her fight just fell a bit short for me. I just couldn’t find myself to really like the main character Noelle. She seemed tedious and almost whiney even though she had every right to be. For someone who reads alot in this genre the big reveal wasn’t as ohhh ahhh as I anticipated and I guessed it a bit early on which may have been more of a meh factor. It wasn’t bad by any means it was just… eh.

Noelle has a boyfriend named Daniel who is super controlling. They have dinner at the same fancy restaurant every Friday and he has this whole future planned for them. Her aunt died and she blames him for it. He has a girlfriend who dispearred before. She wants out. She hears about kidnapping for hire like they do for a birthday or just for kicks and hires herself to be kidnapped. Things go wacky and the story commences into the thrill of it all.

You get Noelle’s point of view from before she realized Daniel was horrid to the present. Then you get Daniels point of view of how obsessed he is with her. It just felt like the characters were just so forced and not as fluid or realistic. Yes, I know it’s a book but it was too fantasy for my liking if that makes sense.

Thank you to Bookouture and netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was an unbelievably suspenseful book! It’s many twists and turns kept me on the edge of my seat. Be prepared to read until you finish it!

Payne has written a book of mystery and mayhem that is innovative...kidnappings...friends...love...babies...disappearing...parents...jobs...it is a book that is difficult to put down. There are a couple of suggestive passages that could be left out...would not hurt the book at all. That being said, I enjoyed trying to discern who was guilty and who was not...actually a different take on a boyfriend such as the main character had. She seemed to be quick to get involved; she had a difficult time getting away from said boyfriend (and past one). The protagonist had no idea who was trustworthy. I look forward to more books by this writer. This book was sent to me electronically for review from Netgalley.

A fantastic debut by this author. Great read with constant suspense, atmosphere, and a strong female protagonist who you will root for! Look forward to more from this author. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for a review.

I cannot believe that this is the debut book of the author--this book was well written in my opinion and a gripping psychological thriller!

Noelle is a nurse and is having an abusive relationship with her doctor boyfriend, Dr. Daniel Ashcroft. So she hatches up a plan to have herself kidnapped. But she didnt realize that the person who kidnapped her might be working for Daniel and is a cat and mouse chase.

From the first chapter to the end, the story was fascinating and I was really engrossed into the story. The story is told from Noelle's perspective as well as Daniel's perspective so as a reader you have no idea whether you should believe in Noelle's story or Daniel's story. I felt like I was watching some sort of an action thriller show that made me sit at the edge of the bed, wanting to know what was going to happen in the end. And trust me, I really did wanted to know what was going to happen in the end that when I reached the end, it completely blew me away--totally unexpected! I actually enjoyed reading this book!

If you like this type of thriller, a thriller where it is unputdownable filled with twists and turns, then this book is one for you--worth five stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my opinion only.

This is an impressive debut. Great psychological thriller that will keep you on your toes till the last page. The author easily navigates between two POVs as well as the past and present timeline. All characters are vibrant. What drew my attention the most is the emotional aspect of this thriller, mind games and what a parenting can do to a person. I highly recommend this book!

A fine debut novel with interesting plot twists and a surprise ending.

Noelle is stuck in an abusive relationship with the suave and charismatic Dr. Daniel Ashcroft, who is, behind closed doors, a controlling narcissist. While he has brought her to heel this far, through coercion and blackmail, Noelle knows she has to get out of the relationship for her own sanity and for the safety of her loved ones. She arranges for a fake kidnapping to throw Daniel off the scent, but all her well-laid plans go haywire when Noelle gets kidnapped for real.

The plot is revealed in dual POVs - Noelle and Daniel's. Noelle's POV has a frantic tone and is all over the place, which probably reflects her state of mind. Despite being a borderline psycopath with a hero complex and mommy issues, I actually enjoyed Daniel's POV a great deal - his sense of entitlement and his overall thought process was ridiculous and delusional, to say the least. And yet, the author managed to make me feel sorry for him at the end.

The premise was interesting and was off to a great start. However, the plot did drag midway and some parts didn't convince me all that much. The identity of the antagonist is evident right off the bat, but this does not take away from the thrill of the climax or the satisfaction in the denouement.

Overall, a predictable but exciting read. Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for providing a digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Make Me Disappear is a story about obsession, mental abuse and narcissism.
It follows a woman who thought she was the luckiest woman alive because she got her man but soon learned he isn’t who he seemed.

This story will keep you wanting to turn page after page. You may figure it out before the last page but that won’t take away from the story.

Can’t wait to read more by Jessica Payne.

Wow for a debut novel, I am already hooked on this author's work.

Noelle meets Daniel and sometimes in life we meet someone and later think how did I get into this mess. Relationships are not always easy. When Noelle meets Daniel, a doctor at the hospital where she works as a nurse, she can't believe how lucky she is that he has taken an interest in her. He is charismatic, good looking but under this he is also narcissistic, controlling and definitely a sociopath. He also has a history of girlfriends going missing, this makes for a page turning story.

I was totally enthralled from this first page, you really are taken in by the manipulation of Noelle and the cameras just added to the creepy tension and suspence. I could not put the book down as I wanted to see how Noelle was going to come out of the situation she had found herself in, if she would get revenge to make Daniel pay for what he was putting her through. But things are not always what they seem and this is where the story is very cleverly done. Just when I thought I had it all worked out a spanner was thrown into the works and I did not see the ending coming.

I can't recommend this book highly enough and look forward to more books by Jessica Payne. Thank you to NetGalley the author and publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I am in the minority of reviews with my feelings toward this debut book by Jessica Payne, "Make Me Disappear". I forced myself to get to the conclusion of this strange and disjointed tale told to us by Noelle, the "hero" of the story and Daniel, the controlling and abusive boyfriend. I thought the first quarter of the book was great and was looking forward to seeing how a "fake" kidnapping would work out. I, unfortunately, thought the last 75% of the book was completely unbelievable and it was just all over the place.

Thank you to Net Galley for a chance to read and honestly review.

'Make me disappear' is a story about a young nurse Noelle who's in a relationship with Daniel, the perfect boyfriend (or so she thought) . Discovering his narcissism , gaslighting and mental abuse , she arranges her own kidnapping in an attempt to get away from him. The whole kidnapping itself was anticlimactic and as the plot unraveled i was getting really annoyed with Noelle and her inability to think ahead . Despite her stupid choices, the circumstances in which she found herself in were interesting , i really liked Jack and absolutely loved Daniel's POV. You could almost empathize with him. However, the whole web of mystery , coincidences and truth were a bit too much. It wasn't believable but it made a good thriller. Overall, this was an enjoyable read and i'm sending one big bravo to the author, considering that this is her debut novel.

Noelle wants to escape Daniel so she sets up a fake kidnapping. However, it isn’t what she thought and she has to think ahead to get out alive. This book started out fast paced and intense. I wasn’t able to stop reading, but then it started to get a little bit too Outlandish. Overall though still a solid 4 star read!

Author who wanted to download a finished copy. Won't be leaving a review, but need to clear this off my NetGalley Shelf.

This book, MAKE ME DISAPPEAR, was a total page turner!😳

It was very suspenseful and had me on the edge of my seat throughout the book. I liked the authors writing style and felt that the characters were very well written. I really enjoyed the chapters that were narrated by Daniel’s character. The pace of the book was delivered perfectly and the ending was one I could not have predicted.

Many thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for the ARC. I’ll look for more of this authors work down the road- this was a VERY impressive first novel by her.

Noelle is in a relationship with a man, Dr Daniel Ashcroft, that firstly appears to be a perfect dr and she cannot believe her luck. But as time goes on, she realizes he is more than just protective and she feels trapped. She knows she needs to escape Daniel. He’s sociopathic and narcissistic so she arranges her own kidnapping. And the fun begins.
This is the perfect example of a cat and mouse type book. I loved it from the start and kept me on edge of my seat. The alternating timelines and characters were perfect and lacked alot of confusion that other books do when authors try to flip voices too much! I loved the dynamics of the relationships in this book that Noelle had. And unlike many books before where you get frustrated with the victim- that didn’t happen for me with Noelle.
Their aren't many negatives to this book. You do have to suspend a little belief at some things the kidnappings- and while there were some great twists I figured out the main one. Although I think Jessica Payne nailed the ending it was still a little lackluster.
Definitely familiarize yourself with the trigger warnings before you read this one.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

(3.5 stars rounded up)

MAKE ME DISAPPEAR by Jessica Payne held a lot of promise when it came to the premise. We have the handsome and wealthy Dr. Daniel Ashcroft who falls for none other than Noelle, a nurse who works at the same hospital as him. When Noelle learns just how controlling Daniel is, she tries to find a way to make herself disappear in order to get away from him.

Unfortunately, beyond the first handful of chapters, this book takes a bit of a nosedive. Noelle proves over and over again that she’s never seen a crime show in her life by logging into social media, replying to emails, drinking at pubs, etc. while on the run. It was hard to feel empathy for her when she didn’t seem to be trying too hard to ‘disappear.’

I also think her relationship with Daniel wasn’t explored as much as it could have been. It seems to go from perfect to awful in the blink of an eye, and I think the idea of Daniel becoming more and more controlling would have made the logistics of this story that much stronger.

This book did have its page-flipping moments, and it wasn’t bad for a debut author, but as a seasoned thriller reader, I was a bit disappointed by how some things were executed. I’m curious to see what Jessica Payne comes up with next!

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Publication Date: May 16, 2022

An original thriller that kept me flipping the pages until the very end. Extremely well written and such a good book.

What a fantastic debut. This is one book you will not want to put down. Dr. Daniel Ashcroft is perfect on the outside, however on the inside he is not as perfect as he seems. Noelle is trying to escape from under his thumb. but can she? The ending was just fantastic.

The book is set up in alternating plot lines and character lines just enough to draw you in. I look forward to more by this author.