This was my first book by Amber Garza. The story was properly suspenseful and read very well. I feel as though some parts dragged on a bit, as if they were over explained. Overall, it was a good read.

Rating: 3 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, MIRA, for the free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A mother and daughter must put aside their past when the younger woman goes missing without a trace.
Tatum is married to a pastor in a small Southern town. Her church congregation and her husband Shane are extremely conservative which causes their daughter Adrienne to lash out. When Shane kicks Adrienne out the house, Tatum doesn’t see her twenty-something daughter for two years. Tatum has gone through a lot in those years and has decided she wants to reconnect with her daughter despite her husband outlawing it. The women start a fragile relationship but suddenly Adrienne disappears and neither the police nor her husband take her seriously. But her Mom Radar is strong, and she knows her daughter is in danger.
Amber Garza creates an interesting tale using ambiguous titles for the perspectives of three different characters. This allows for an interesting twist about halfway through the book that adds a beautiful layer. Garza also looks into the relationships between mother/daughter, daughter/father, and husband/wife. The perspectives from The Mother and The Daughter give different views on the same relationships. Readers get to understand why each character behaves how they do and how that colors how they react to the same people.
The pacing of the book is off. To try to keep the mystery, the book weighs heavily on the daughter in the last third of the book. As a reader, I would have liked it to be better time synced. So much of the daughter’s perspective early on is just filler; it really didn’t change or make the story much. I would have liked it to have been more thrilling though out.
In a Quiet Town is a summer thriller perfect for mystery readers lounging by the pool as well as book clubs who are interested in character relationships.

In a Quiet Town by Amber Garza is a recommended family drama/thriller.

After Tatum's husband Shane, an influential pastor in their small California town, disowned their daughter, Adrienne, Tatum thought she'd lost her daughter forever until after several years she finally defied her husband and secretly went to see Adrienne at the bar where she now works. Now every Wednesday night Tatum goes to the bar to see Adrienne and is re-establishing a relationship with her daughter. Then one night Adrienne doesn't show up to work. No one knows where she is and she isn't answering her phone.

Tatum contacts the police and tells her husband about it, but none of them are taking her seriously. When Tatum meets a man claiming to be Adrienne's fiancé, he believes her and is also trying to find Adrienne. Even though Tatum knew nothing about this man, she needs to trust him in her search for her daughter.

The narrative is told through different points of views, alternating between Tatum, Adrienne, and the fiancé, from both the past and the present. Tatum's character is sympathetic, despite her deferential demeanor, although it is nice to see her allowing herself a measure of some fortitude. However, at the start it was also a stretch for me to believe that a mother would not talk to a daughter for years because her husband didn't want her to.

The pacing is slow and there is some repetition and over detailed explanations which bog down the pace further. The overarching theme of Shane, the pastor and members of his church controlling the whole town was played a bit too heavy-handed and wasn't believable outside of a sequestered cult situation. There is a surprising twist. This was just an okay novel for me.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of MIRA via NetGalley.
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, Edelweiss, and Amazon.

Tatum has had a strained relationship with her daughter after her husband Shane kicked her out, and now Adrienne is missing. Tatum is determined to find her daughter even if her husband tells her Adrienne is just doing what she always does. As she learns about Adrienne’s life through her coworkers and friends, it becomes clear there was more going on with Adrienne than she knew. Discovering what happened to Adrienne forces Tatum to face her role in Adrienne’s upbringing, while challenging her to create a better future.

This is an intimate thriller about a mother’s struggle as she deconstructs her faith and begins to understand why her daughter lost her religion, and it delivers some twists at the end!

Today's blog features In A Quiet Town by Amber Garza. Let's get right into in with a synopsis provided by the publisher:

ABOUT THE BOOK:

In this chilling new novel, a pastor’s wife discovers that her estranged daughter is missing, but no one will believe her, until she meets a man claiming to be her daughter’s fiancé.



The book is about Tatum, a woman who secretly reconnects with her estranged adult daughter—secretly because Adrienne’s been all but disowned by Tatum’s husband, a pastor at the church in their small California town, where every move is watched and reported by his congregation. When Adrienne doesn’t show up for her shift at the bar where Tatum’s been visiting her, she knows something is wrong. Adrienne may have been a bit of wild child, but she hasn’t missed a day of work without calling in for years.



Tatum tries desperately to get the police or her husband to take her daughter’s disappearance seriously, until a mysterious man shows up claiming to be Adrienne’s fiancé. It’s a relief to finally have someone who believes her and is trying as hard as she is to find out where Adrienne is. But can she trust that this stranger is really who he says he is? And can she find her daughter before it’s too late?

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Read on for an excerpt from the book!





PROLOGUE (Language Warning)

His hands were in her hair, fingers threaded through the silky strands. I knew what it felt like.

My fingers had been buried in her hair many times, including last night. When their lips met,

I sat up straighter, leaning forward. It didn't feel real. I worked my jaw. It popped and clicked.

My own mouth buzzed with the memory of how her lips felt on mine.

The kiss was long. Too long.

She liked it.

My shoulder muscles pulled tight, a rubber band being stretched beyond its limits.

I thought they might snap.

The two of them drew back. She smiled. Smiled with the same lips that had smiled at me.

Kissed me.

Told me they loved me. Clearly, a lie.

She brushed back her hair, and the diamond on her finger sparkled.

Her ring. The one I’d given her. She was wearing it.

It felt like a punch to the gut. Like a big “fuck you” to me.

It wasn’t like she knew I’d followed her. But still… Shouldn’t she take her engagement ring

off before she hooked up with another dude?

Throwing her head back, her neck exposed, she giggled.

Imagining my hands wrapping around that tender flesh, I squeezed the steering wheel.

It gave under the pressure, and I squeezed harder. It felt good. Therapeutic.

I pictured her terrified.

Pleading. Mouth tight, eyes bulging. I squeezed and squeezed, my teeth grinding, the vein in

my forehead throbbing. My muscles ached by the time I released my grip.

Their hands clasped. My breathing was labored as I watched them walk off together,

around the side of the building, out of sight.

I’d loved her. Given her so much.

How dare she?

No one made a fool out of me.

She wouldn’t get away with this. Not by a long shot.



Excerpted from In A Quiet Town by Amber Garza, Copyright © 2023 by Amber Garza. Published by MIRA Books.



BUY LINKS:

Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/then-she-disappeared-amber-garza/18816653?ean=9780778334255

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/in-a-quiet-town-amber-garza/1142722524?ean=9780778334255

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Quiet-Town-Novel-Amber-Garza/dp/0778334252



SOCIAL LINKS:

Author website: https://ambergarza.com/


IG: https://www.instagram.com/ambergarzaauthor/?hl=en

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MY TWO CENTS:

Unfortunately, this was not for me. The first issue I had with this book was that the use of "wanna" and "gonna." Do we talk like that? ABSOLUTELY! But, I usually don't see it in books in the written form. I am surprised that the editor didn't have an issue with this. I know it may sound petty, but it really started to irk me.

The plot as a whole is good, don't get me wrong, but it feels the author jumped on the whole "All men are bad" culture that seems prevalent today. The word misogynistic even got placed in for good measure. Seems like all the boxes were being ticked off. Do we have issues in this world? Of course, but law of probability dictates that all men cannot be bad. It's impossible.

That wasn't even the main issue I had. Finally, as I said, yes, the plot was good, but the whole story read like a YA book for me. I don't enjoy that. I don't need complex storylines or conversations but there is definitely a difference between one that sounds more adult and one that sounds more geared to the YA crowd.

All that being said, I am grateful to the publisher and to NetGalley for this opportunity. I am always excited for these opportunities. And, also, my opinion should never discourage someone from reading a book if they like the premise. In fact, if you do read it and like it, reach out to me and let me know why. I like to hear different opinions!

I really enjoyed this well thought out suspense filled psychological thriller. I enjoyed how the story unfolds through the eyes of each different character. I did not want to put this book down. I received a copy of the book from the publisher for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.

This is the second book I’ve read recently where chapter headings are descriptions instead of the name of the narrator. We have three narrators, the mother, the daughter and the fiancé, describing events leading up to the daughter’s disappearance and the search for her in the present. Let me say the word search is used loosely. The estranged mother is the only one who believes her daughter is missing and my not be a reliable source.

We go on this journey with the three of them and while it all seems like a normal existence, I knew as a reader I was missing some chunks of information. But I also had no idea what I was missing. Just that I was. Sometimes this backfires and annoys me, but this one I was interested to know the characters backstories.

Church stories where there is almost a cult like following don’t always resonate with me, but in this one, it was that combined with a toxic husband. How toxic is he? That slowly surfaces as you read. Did I already mention this is a little bit of a slow burn? Just a little bit. For almost all of the book, I was waffling back and forth whether Adrienne the daughter is missing or has just skipped town.

And there is a heck of a twist, that I had an inkling about, but if you don’t, then it will be massive. But even with my inkling, I wasn’t sure until the reveal.

This one’s a step up from my usual popcorn thriller but has a lot that I love from those. Short chapters, a story that drew me in quickly and ultimately some action. If you are still looking for a summer blockbuster thriller read, run and get this one.

I first began reading Amber Garza because we share the same first name. Lucky me, as I discovered a really good author who just gets better and better. This is an estranged mother/daughter story set in a small town. Tatum is a Pastor's wife in a very strict religious church. Daughter Adrienne does not want to live by the rigid rules and moves/is kicked out by her father. Tatum begins sneaking into the bar where Adrienne works to try and mend the relationship. One night, Adrienne does not show up for work and thus begins the frantic search for her. Tatum teams up with Seth, Adrienne's fiancée and we have a fairly fast-paced standard story that is set apart with the fantastic characterization. Tatum finds so many questions in her search and I really enjoyed her story. I really enjoyed this and look forward to more from Amber Garza.

Thank you to #NetGalley, Amber Garza and Harlequin Trade Publishing, MIRA for this ARC. All opinions are my own.
I will post my review to Amazon, Instagram and various other retail and social media sites upon publication.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC of this book. "In a Quiet Town" is told from 3 points of view. The Mother is the mom of Adrienne. Tatum and Adrienne have a tense relationship, as Adrienne's dad is very strict seeing as how he is the pastor of the church. When Adrienne left home, she stopped communicating with her parents, but Tatum has been secretly visiting the bar that Adrienne works at every Wednesday in an effort to reconnect. When Tatum goes to visit one Wednesday, she learns that Adrienne was a no call, no show, and Tatum is convinced that something has happened to her daughter. No one is taking this seriously as Adrienne is an adult, and she has disappeared before in the past. It is up to Tatum to find out what happened to her daughter. She enlists the help of Adrienne's fiancée-whom she had no idea about-and begins to piece together the clues of her daughter's disappearance, hoping to find her before it's too late as there has been several women murdered recently. I thought this story was unique, well told, and fast paced. I did have some suspicions about what had happened to Adrienne, but I did not predict a lot of what happened.

This book is told from three points of interest: The Mother, The Daughter and The Fiancé. Each has some very telling things.

It starts out with someone watching as their fiancé is kissing another man. The anger and betrayal. Then the story begins.

Tatum has not had contact with her daughter Adrienne in quite a while. Ever since her pastor husband and Adrienne's father kicked her out. But she has started going to where Adrienne works on Wednesday nights while her husband is away. She even has a drink while there much to Adrienne's surprise. Tatum loves her daughter. She loves her more than life and wants them to have a good relationship again. Religion has got in the way because of how strict her husband is. Adrienne has no faith. She does not believe in all the scriptures and preachings.

When Adrienne goes missing Tatum is determined to find her. No one will listen to her so she has to do this all on her own. Then she meets Seth. Seth is Adrienne's fiancé. He has many secrets as does Adrienne. But she's missing and we are taken on a ride looking for her. While it's not really a big secret who took her and why it is a very tense. Is she hurt or possibly dead. Several women have been found strangled and Tatum is afraid her daughter may be next. She goes to every length possible to find Adrienne. When it seems everyone else has given up.

This book will put you on the edge of your seat in many places. It's very intense. It holds your attention and gives you descriptions that make you feel what Adrienne is feeling while she's trying to survive. There are a few other characters that will help along the way. Secondary characters for the most part but each has their place too. One that I liked was Nate. Even though I found out things about him that were a bit disturbing I still liked him for the most part. I never liked Seth and never trusted him. I think he sounds very good looking but looks are not everything. He has a few quirks that made me not like him. He was way too controlling too.

You'll spend time with each of these characters. You'll get to know them pretty well. While I didn't like Tatum's husband at all he did finally start understanding her fear. He may even have started being a bit more understanding of their daughter. But to what extent and after everything. Maybe a little to late.

This is a page turner for sure.

Thank you #NetGalley, #AmberGarza, #HarlequintradePublishing/MIRA for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

Four stars and a very high recommendation.

In Amber Garza's new suspense novel In A Quiet Town, Tatum is a pastor's wife who has begun to question her direction in life.

Her pastor husband is consumed with his job and her every move in their small Californian town is monitored closely the members of his congregation. Their adult daughter Adrienne is estranged from them, something that troubles Tatum. Adrienne struggled under the overly strict rules of her father and moved out.

Tatum has begun to secretly visit Adrienne's place of work, a bar just outside town. She goes every Wednesday when Adrienne is working, and it appears that her efforts are being rewarded. At first wary of her mother, lately Adrienne has been friendlier to her mother, and even agrred to an appointment for a mother-daughter mani-pedi day.

When Adrienne fails to show up for work and misses her appointment with her mother, Tatum becomes worried. She goes to Adrienne's empty apartment, and her texts are unanswered. Convinced that something bad happened to Adrienne, she goes to the police who, after a cursory look around, decide that Adrienne probably just went away with a boyfriend.

Tatum's concerns grow when she notices a man following her. She confronts the man who says that he is Adrienne's fiance Seth, and he too is worried that something happened to Adrienne. They were to go away for a weekend trip and she didn't show up. They team up to find her.

What happened to Adrienne? And why doesn't anyone know about Seth, Adrienne's coworkers or her best friend Mara?

In A Quiet Town is a twisty suspense story, told from the viewpoints of Tatum, Adrienne, and her fiance. There is a a big twist at the end, and while I found parts of the ending a little too unbelievable, you can't deny that a mother will find the strength do anything for her child.

Tatum suffers from a medical issue that her husband seems to have no patience or understanding for, and I think many people will be able to relate to that. Readers of John Searles' recent pyschological suspense novel, Her Last Affair, and fans of Dateline and 20/20 will want to put In a Quiet Town on their list to read.


Thanks to Harlequin for putting me on their 2023 Summer Blog Tours.

as some who grew up in an intensely religious household, I related a lot to Tatum and Adrienne (and the author!) and their frustrations with the church. this made it a really unique and personal book…it’s honestly a pretty standard thriller but the character work here is what really sets it apart.

This is a slow-burning suspense thriller that is compelling and intricately plotted. Tatum’s daughter Adrienne is missing, but she can’t get anyone to believe her since she was estranged from her family and they had little or no contact with each other. Then Seth shows up, saying he is also looking for Adrienne since they are engaged. The twists in this book just keep coming! The beginning was a little slow as the story was building but the pace quickly picked up once all of the characters are in place. The POV is Tatum’s, Adrienne’s and the fiancée’s. I spent part of my reading time making sure I knew who was telling which part of the book because that is very important to the story. There are clues everywhere as well as some false trails. I felt compelled to continue to read because I wanted to know what happened to Adrienne as much as Tatum did. This is a mother-daughter relationship story, with the males in the story not only being secondary but also being untrustworthy. I enjoyed the complexity of the story with its multiple layers…Adrienne’s childhood, her quest for independence and her mom’s subjugation to the pastor father Shane. Religion was presented almost like a crutch here, so I didn’t appreciate that part, but I did like that prayer helped out in the long run. The conclusion was satisfactory, but the author leaves it up to the reader to fully close out the story of the two women and their future choices. I really liked Tatum, but I was annoyed by Adrienne for most of the book. I just wanted her to make better choices and to let the past go. All in all, this was a great read and well worth the time invested in getting to the meat of the story.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16th CFR, Part 255, “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

Tatum has been visiting the local bar every Wednesday night in an effort to reconnect with her daughter, Adrienne, who bartends there. When she arrives one week to learn Adrienne pulled a no-call, no-show, she starts to worry. Her husband. Pastor Shane, is not worried though, and chalks it off to his daughter just running off with a boy. As Tatum begins trying to piece together what could have happened to her, she is approached by Seth, who claims to be Adrienne's fiance, But something seems off about him. And why would Adrienne have kept this from her, and all her friends?

I absolutely loved the pacing of this book and the alternating POVs. It was great getting the mom and fiance's POVs in current time while also seeing what happened to Adrienne leading up her disappearance. I will however say the "twist" in Part 2 was pretty confusing. I thought it was interesting, but it made parts of Part 1 seem to not make sense at all. Maybe that would be different if I re-read it with the knowledge I have now, but I did read the book in under 24 hours and still found it confusing.

Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Solid Thriller With At Times Confusing Timeline / Character Splits. Reading this book the weekend of the funeral of yet another of the former kids I was in a small church, small town youth group with back in my teens was... interesting, to say the least. Because in its depiction of how at least some Christian pastors live... it was sadly all too real. I've seen the devastation among friends when their lives don't measure up to the perfection their parents, be they pastors or deacons, project, and I've seen some kids rise from troubled and/ or troublesome youths to upstanding adults. I've also seen those that maintained the perfect image as kids... unravel as adults. Here, Garza does a particularly solid job of showing a woman who is both a preacher's wife and a mother to her daughter waking up and realizing what is truly important... just in the nick of time. There is quite a bit of abuse here, both the psychological abuse of having to live up to the Pastor's standards - and being rejected when you don't - and outright physical abuse by others. This story is also yet another missing woman story. So know all of this going in, and if you have particular issues with any of it... know this may not be the best book for you.

Other than the more-often-than-not confusing breaks between multiple characters' perspectives and seemingly random jumping from one to another to another, the pacing and actual story here are remarkably well done. This is truly an excellent tale, and particularly well told... once you adapt to the jumps in perspective. The motivations of the characters are quite vivid and real, again, particularly for someone who came out of a very similar subculture, and even when other motivations of other characters are revealed... they still work quite well within the story being told, and it makes sense (at least to me, with my own life experiences) that being drawn into these types of orbits... is sadly all too plausible.

Overall, an excellent if darker tale, mostly well told, and a good bit of escapist thrills... for those who haven't actually lived remarkably similar tales. Very much recommended.

Easily my favorite book of Garzas! I loved the plot and the reveals, the multiple perspectives were fantastic, and the pacing was meticulous. Garza took the missing woman trope in thrillers and spun it into something immersive, haunting, and brutally horrifying. This is the perfect thriller

What’s it about (in a nutshell):
In A Quiet Town by Amber Garza is a psychological thriller that explores the bond between mother and daughter and the lengths a mother will go to to protect her daughter.

My Reading Experience:
I enjoyed this thriller. It’s the type of thriller you want to curl up with on a rainy afternoon and let the time slip away. There is plenty of suspense and twists, though I don’t know that anything shocked me…well, maybe one thing - but regardless, my attention was firmly held from beginning to end without fail.

I loved the mother-daughter themes that played throughout and the look at the impact on a child with a controlling parent who can just cut ties with their child without looking back. This happens all the time, and it’s fascinating to look at it from the perspectives of the mother and the daughter. I would have liked the father’s perspective as well, but just for my own curiosity, not that the story needed it.

Of course, as with most thrillers, the less I say, the better, so I won’t tell you more than what you see in the topics below.

Characters:
The characters are developed enough for the story. The mother and daughter characters, in particular, could have had more development. I would have loved to see that, but they are developed enough for the scope of this novel.

Tatum is the mother in this story. Her husband kicked their daughter, Adrienne, out of their home. Still, Tatum recently found a way to connect with Adrienne weekly without her husband’s knowledge. This is how she notices that Adrienne goes missing, and she won’t stop until she finds out what happened to her.

Adrienne was a rebellious teen turned into a responsible adult who worked at a local bar. She only dates men new to town and passing through because she is not looking for deep connections or prolonged relationships. Yet, a man also searching for her claims to be her fiance and has pictures to support his claim.

Narration & Pacing:
The narration is done through three perspectives, and I loved the narration most of all. It was so effective for holding my attention and keeping the suspense high. The 1st- person perspectives are through: The Mother, The Daughter, and The Fiance. Naming them like that keeps the reader guessing, and that’s why I liked it.

Setting:
The setting is California. I didn’t find the location to truly have any meaning for the story. Still, the different types of areas are utilized.

Read if you’re in the mood for:
A dark, tense, and mysterious psychological thriller
A fast-paced thriller that’s perfect for an afternoon of escapism
Exploring mother-daughter relationships

Happy Pub Day!

This was for me a quick paced thriller. It had multiple points of view, twists and kept me wondering what happened!

Tatum is the perfect Pastor's wife, Adrienne is the imperfect Pastor's daughter who wants to be free.
Tatum starts to secretly visit her estranged daughter Adrienne at work to try to be close to her. One night she shows up and Adrienne has been a no show at work. She knows in her gut something is wrong. Where is she? No one will believe her, the Police and her Husband think it's Adrienne being Adrienne, but Tatum knows better.

Thank you netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC!

Working in several POVs, you get the whole perspective of this edge of your seat psychological thriller. When Tatum tries to build her relationship with her daughter, Adrienne, she has to go to the bar she works at. Adrienne's dad is a pastor and she has lived her whole life with conservative parents. When she became a teenager she rebelled and later her dad kicked her out of the house after a horrific accident occurred. Tatum tries to get close to her without the father's knowledge and even indulges in some alcoholic beverages while he is at Wednesday night prayer meetings.

The next week Tatum tries to visit with her daughter, but learns she did not show up for work or her apartment. She summons the police, but they do not take it seriously. With a mysterious man lurking in the woods and their church, she knows it is serious.
I'm a huge Amber Garza fan and this one did not disappoint. great twist at the end and as always she changes it up, so what is happening may not be as it appears.
Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

I think I give this book 2.5 stars. I was at 3 but the ending had me so confused. Like what happened?! I thought the author had a great idea with the religious storyline, but really felt like so many loose ends were left. The whole storyline with Tatum and her husband….? So problematic and then just nothing. I didn’t connect super well with the characters, although I did read it quickly!.