At first, I thought I’d read this book- the title was so familiar. But What Remains by Wendy Walker is new and fantastic. From the cover, I worried it would be a police procedural which I don’t typically enjoy but I know the author writes great books so I dove in and I’m glad I did. This book is fantastic.

Synopsis:

She saved his life. Now he‘ll never let her go.

Detective Elise Sutton is drawn to cold cases. Each crime is a puzzle to solve, pulled from the past. Elise looks for cracks in the surface and has become an expert on how murderers slip up and give themselves away. She has dedicated her life to creating a sense of order, at work with her ex-marine partner; at home with her husband and two young daughters; and within, battling her own demons. Elise has everything under control, until one afternoon, when she walks into a department store and is forced to make a terrible choice: to save one life, she will have to take another.

Elise is hailed as a hero, but she doesn’t feel like one. Steeped in guilt, and on a leave of absence from work, she’s numb, even to her husband and daughters, until she connects with Wade Austin, the tall man whose life she saved. But Elise soon realizes that he isn’t who he says he is. In fact, Wade Austin isn’t even his real name. The tall man is a ghost, one who will set off a terrifying game of cat and mouse, threatening Elise and the people she loves most.

If you haven’t read anything by Wendy, start with Don’t Look For Me which I read in a single sitting at night, into the morning hours. What Remains comes out on June 13.

Elise Sutton, a detective who works cold cases and also teaches a class on forensics, is shopping one day and finds herself in an active shooter situation. She is forced to kill the shooter, and Elise is hailed a hero for saving lives.

But Elise is traumatized and plagued by guilt and self-doubt at the taking of a life. Complicating matters are struggles in her personal life that magnifies her distress.

Enter Wade, the tall man who Elise saved when she killed the shooter. They seem to connect but things take a dark turn and a cat-and-mouse game begins when Elise is plagued by a stalker who threatens everything and everyone she holds dear.

I may not have always agreed with Elise’s decisions as she deals with the situation she finds herself in, but the author allowed her readers to get inside Elise’s head to understand her emotions and thought processes.

The narrative is interspersed with chapters of class notes called the Kill Room. I wasn’t sure at first how these chapters fit into the plot, but the two stories eventually collide in an explosive way.

This was truly a unique book in a sea of thrillers. The story was intricate, action-packed, and tense, with enough twists and turns to keep me furiously flipping the pages.

The author excelled at developing her characters, and delved deep into the psychological effects of trauma as well as mental illness.

The psychological component in stories gets me every time. The author’s work in trauma and psychology is evident in these pages. Relevant social issues are also addressed, but the author is subtle, never heavy handed, which I appreciated.

There’s a lot to unpack here and it would make a terrific book club choice. My book buddy, Marialyce and I had terrific discussions.

Some books benefit from being read in as few sittings as possible, and this is one of those books.

5 enthusiastic stars! Maybe my favorite thriller of the year, so far.

Not quite sure of what to make of this story. I will admit as to some confusion of what exactly Wendy Walker was trying to convey. (Thanks goodness I had Jan to guide me through.) I do understand that Elise was a woman who thought she was in control of everything, perfect home, wife, mother, police person, but perhaps so much control was bound to crack.

When she kills a young man in the line of duty, it seems that this event was the one to push her over the edge. She becomes a person obsessed with finding the man she believed she saved in the department store, but when she does, she finds that he has an obsession as well, and it is her.

It is a devious game of cat and mouse, one that Elise places herself front and center. There is chapters devoted to the stalker that were was presented in the book as well as Elsie and her family.

This was a good read, but not one that I felt at all comfortable with at all times. Too many things just didn't make sense until after many wonderful discussions with Jan.

Sometimes you just need a book buddy to help put another perspective on a very intricate book. This book will challenge the reader and make you constantly think of the characters, their motivations, and the esperiences that shape a life.

Thank you to Wendy Walker, Blackstone Publishing, and NetGalley for a copy of this story due out June 13, 2023.

Fast paced, heart pounding, and very tense reading!
Wow! What a journey.
What Remains is a great book, it made me gasp with the twists and I couldn’t put it down. Even after stop reading for the day, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
Wendy Walker did it again! This book is a must read, please add to your TBR now!

Thank you NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Coming out 06/13/23.

𝘈𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤!

Oh wow! I have no words; I love Wendy Walker books and I have a new favorite.
It blew my mind completely, it kept me at the edge of my seat from start to finish. I read it in one day.
If you like thrillers you need to read this book.

Thank you Suzy Approved Book Tours for this tour invite.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 by Wendy Walker releases June 13, 2023.

https://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx/

What Remains... the newest by Wendy Walker.

I have always been a big fan of Wendy Walker and was definitely looking forward to reading and reviewing her newest.

I was pulled in by the premise of the story. I know public shootings and firearms are a trigger for many people which intrigued me even more how this would play out. What sucked me in even more.... when we find out Wade isn't the person that he is portrayed to be.

This book was just wild in the best way and another one not to miss by Walker. This became a cat and mouse game where Elise became the victim. I loved it!

4/5 stars

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for my arc in exchange for an honest review.

The entire time you’re thinking, why and how? This is a psychological cat and mouse game between Elise, the store shooting hero, and her new admirer. The story is told in two different perspectives and it’ll have you guessing the entire time. Walker did a great job getting the reader into the main characters head.

*Trigger warning for gun violence*

Thank you, Netgalley for giving me an early release copy! All opinions expressed in this review are my own. Book is out June 13!

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and Netgalley for my e-ARC of What Remains!

𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔
😓 have ever regretted a decision
🧐 would take a college class that teaches how to commit crimes
🧰 prefer to do things yourself
🕵🏻‍♀️ are a good detective

• 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐀𝐊𝐄

After a shooting leaves Elise feeling guilty and angry, she tracks down the man she saved that day only to discover he’s not just some innocent bystander.

• 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓

She saved his life. Now he‘ll never let her go.

Detective Elise Sutton is drawn to cold cases. Each crime is a puzzle to solve, pulled from the past. Elise looks for cracks in the surface and has become an expert on how murderers slip up and give themselves away. She has dedicated her life to creating a sense of order, at work with her ex-marine partner; at home with her husband and two young daughters; and within, battling her own demons. Elise has everything under control, until one afternoon, when she walks into a department store and is forced to make a terrible choice: to save one life, she will have to take another.

Elise is hailed as a hero, but she doesn’t feel like one. Steeped in guilt, and on a leave of absence from work, she’s numb, even to her husband and daughters, until she connects with Wade Austin, the tall man whose life she saved. But Elise soon realizes that he isn’t who he says he is. In fact, Wade Austin isn’t even his real name. The tall man is a ghost, one who will set off a terrifying game of cat and mouse, threatening Elise and the people she loves most.

• 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒

This was amazing right from the start! I loved how we immediately found ourselves among the action. I had no idea where this story was headed and was pleasantly surprised with the turn of events. Leslie, though maybe her decision making was skewed, was in a bad place, so I could understand why she did what she did, but I wish that she had involved more people in her plans. I was definitely worried there for a little bit towards the end and wasn’t 100% sure how it would conclude! I think it also could have been fun to have “Wade’s” POV in the story, just so we could have understood more why he was the way he was. Overall, I loved it! Grab your own copy today!

Thank you @thrillerbookloverpromotions, @netgalley and @wendywalker for sending me a copy of this one!

➡️THOUGHTS:
WOWZERS! This might end up being my favorite book of June! I loved the cat and mouse game being played throughout. It was gripping, engaging, mind boggling and everything I love about a thriller! I especially loved how all the different parts came together full circle at the end. GENIUS!

This one is out June 13! Make sure to preorder! You won’t want to miss it!

I could NOT put this one down all weekend, it CREEPED ME OUT! Cleverly written to build suspense and scare factor, I jumped every single time one of my family members interrupted my reading time. Elise is shopping for towels when she hears gunshots in the store. Of course she draws her gun, she’s a cop, her job is to serve and protect. When she spots the shooter aiming his gun at a victim, she has to make a life or death decision, a decision that will set her on a collision course with her own demons. This last victim, known as the ‘tall man’ disappears like a ghost, and Elise is determined to find him hoping he can offer relief from her guilt over taking a life. But instead of redemption, she invites the devil himself into her life, a devil who will stalk her and all those she loves most. WHAT HAS SHE DONE? This story was a compulsive read, taking a twisty road to the end. How is this the first Wendy Walker book I’ve read? Can’t wait to read more of her backlist! Thank you Netgalley, Blackstone Publishing and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on June 13, 2023

This was an interesting thriller/mystery with dual-perspectives where it was unclear until near the very end how exactly the two plots were connected. The story starts with a female cop taking out a department store shooter, and in turn saving dozens of people, one of which who becomes creepily obsessed with her. I really enjoyed trying to figure out how these stories would come together, and found this to be a fast, enjoyable read. If you like this genre, and the synopsis sounds interesting to you, then I think you will definitely like this one. This was my second Wendy Walker novel, and will certainly not be my last!

A cat and mouse procedural thriller that reads very quickly, unfortunately it just lacked emotion and personality.

For being a seasoned detective, the main character sure made some questioning decisions that didn't fit with how she described herself.

A quick read, but not one I will remember much about in a few weeks.

This is a tense psychological thriller that has the addition of family drama.

I loved the use of first person in this read. It kept me on my toes and forced me to read carefully instead of my usual thriller book skim.

I also thought the twists were exquisite as well as the way everything and everyone in the book connected.

All I’m going to say about the book as far as summary is that there is a store shooting, a stalker, a cremated body in a hunting shack, and a cold case detective that is hiding things from her partner and her family.

When cold case detective Elise Sutton enters the department store on a whim to buy pink towels for her daughters, she has no idea what chaos her future holds.

One man is about to shoot another, so she decides to make the choice to take one life. To save the other.⁣
⁣
She is an expert at solving the most complicated of crimes, and intuition tells her there’s something off about the man she saves. And then he begins to stalk her, and she must use everything she’s every learned about getting into his mind before he harms those closest to her.⁣
⁣
I am obsessed.🔥 ⁣
⁣
This is my most favorite book by Wendy Walker to date, and I was lucky enough to finish the book on the train into NYC this week and just hours later see Wendy at a party and talk about it! It’s the most twisted puzzle of a mystery, and I had no idea until the very end how each tiny piece tucked meticulously into place. Perfectly paced and riveting from start to finish - it’s a story of obsession that will haunt you well after the final shocking pages.⁣
⁣
I also cannot even imagine how someone as nice and sweet as Wendy knows all these insanely researched murder-y details 😆 but she’s a legit genius and just the coolest in my book.

This was a bit of a slow burn suspense for me, but it really grew on me as I kept reading! I liked the cat and mouse element as tension steadily built throughout. Themystery behind the two disparate narratives between Elise’s chapters and “the Kill Room” chapters was also intriguing, particularly
seeing how they started to interweave.

I didn’t find any of the twists to be groundbreaking, but I thought the story was tightly woven and I appreciated that nothing was pulled out of thin air just for the sake of doing so ( a major pet peeve in this genre!)

Giving it 4 stars as it isn’t the top of my favorites for the year in this genre but I was impressed with the intelligence of the plot and narrative structure!

I absolutely loved how this book opened up - the action is immediate and palpable from the beginning, and you can feel Elise's complex emotions vividly for the rest of the story. The story alternates between chapters with Detective Elise Sutton in the aftermath of a shooting and "The Kill Room" chapters describing in almost forensic detail a crime scene in a building used by hunters as a kill room. At first I was very intrigued by The Kill Room chapters, but as it went on, it felt like repetitive and not useful information. Unfortunately, I guessed the twist early on in the story, and found myself very confused by Elise's actions throughout most of the story.

What Remains by Wendy Walker is a phenomenal thriller.

This book started with a bang and kept me hooked the entire book.

I really love the fact that this was a police procedural and psychological thriller. Throw in the twisted, twisted crazy backlash twists.

The story was perfectly paced with unlikeable characters.

Another incredible thriller by Wendy Walker that was impossible to put down!

How did I get so lucky to receive an E ARC of Wendy Walker’s new book?!

I have been a huge fan since reading Don’t Look for Me and went back and read Walker’s backlist!

Elise, a local detective, goes into a store to buy towels and ends up saving a man’s life and gaining a stalker 🫣

Like her other books, What Remains draws you in right away with crazy speed. The character development was great and the ending wrapped of loose ends which I love! Will continue to read all of Wendy Walker’s books!

📅 OUT JUNE 13TH
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#bookstagram #booklover #bookaddict #booklover #netgalley #thrillerbooks #whatremains #wendywalker

Well this was different. Set in the aftermath of a mall shooting, our detective is recovering from the trauma associated with it and the actions that she had done there. All while there is a tall man, also a survivor, that needs to be around her. Suddenly it escalates into a violent stalker situation. And our detective finds herself worried for her life and her family’s safety.

The first 2/3 of the book had me Uber engaged but as we get to the main confrontation and the after effects of that, I felt a little let down.

I expected this thriller to be more thrilling given the stakes- a detective takes the life of an armed shooter in a department store only to find herself now being a target of a deranged individual. I found the beginning of this one to be very strong, but when storylines merged midway I was a little lost and it ultimately distracted me from the plot. In the end, this felt repetitive and fell flat for me.