Another book full of twists and turns by Catherine McKenzie!

Set in and around the Yellowstone Park area, this book is full of adventure, interesting characters, and a twist I didn't see coming. The dual timelines were slightly confusing, only because they take place so close together (within the span of a summer). If you love good mysteries, you will love this one!

Thank you, NetGalley, for the chance to review this book. This tale of how three women met propelled me to keep turning the page. It was really hard to put down. It felt like Yosemite Park was a character in the novel! I have never been, not I want to go. One thing that Catherine excels at is how each of her stories is different from the others. No spoilers,: the ending is perfectly dark!

The story starts slow and I found it a little confusing. This one wasn’t for me but I was intrigued enough to persevere to the end. The plot twists are significant. I was invested enough that I had to find out how everything fit into the story.
2.5/5 rounded up to 3/5
Thank You to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster Canada (Atria Books), and Catherine McKenzie for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Although horror has always been my favourite genre of books, thanks to the likes of Stephen King, Joe Hill and Clive Barker, I’ve also got a really soft spot for thrillers, which I gravitate towards quite often. In all honesty, I find it difficult to say no to thrillers because curiosity gets me. They often have such interesting premises, but you never truly know until you start reading them (or sometimes complete them) whether or not they’ll be any good. I guess that’s like most books, but it feels particularly apt for this genre.

When I first saw that a book called Have You Seen Her by Catherine McKenzie was coming out, my interest became piqued and I quickly requested it, hoping that the publisher would have a review copy for me. Spoiler alert: They did, and sent it early; thus allowing me to publish this review in good time. The finished version doesn’t come out until the end of June, so what I read was an Advanced Reading Copy that cannot be quoted from because small edits may still be made.

Have You Seen Her (with no question mark, which bugs me) centres upon a thirty-something woman who attempts to shed her former life by traveling out of state and dropping her phone in a public garbage can. Her name is Cassie Peters, or Cassie Adams, or Cassie something else, and she’s running away from her abusive and controlling husband in search of a past version of herself. One which enjoyed hiking and climbing in Yosemite National Park, while also helping the public by working as a search-and-rescue officer therein.

A decade ago, a younger and less weathered version of Cassie left her home in nearby Mammoth and became a SAR officer in Yosemite, where she made good friends and received good references. It seemed like the perfect job, but it didn’t last because of the disappearance of a childhood friend who was later found dead. Finding her friend haunts Cassie to this day, and it’s something she’s trying not to think about while doing her second tour of duty in the park. That’s easier said than done, especially after another young couple goes missing on a lengthy hiking trail.

Have You Seen Her is part character study, part abused woman hiding from her husband — who threatens to find her — and part mystery. Thus, it could easily be categorized as a thriller/mystery and not just a standard thriller. Fans of both genres should enjoy it as a result.

I particularly liked the character of Cassie Adams, and cared about her. At the same time, I found interest in the overarching storyline, including her running from her husband and searching for the two lost hikers. The other characters who were woven in weren’t as interesting, but were better than a lot of side characters I’ve read over the years. A few even play prominent roles, including another young woman named Petal, who lives in a nearby trailer park with her much older partner. Petal’s story has something to do with everything mentioned above, and some chapters end with her journal entries. Others end with Instagram posts from Jada, the missing young woman.

Now that I’ve said all that, I should mention the other aspect of Have You Seen Her. You see, this story isn’t told chronologically. Although the majority of it is as described, the narrative starts ahead of those events, and details Cassie being evacuated from a remote clearing. Not just her, but a body as well. From time to time the story jumps forward and continues this timeline, as she’s interviewed about what happened out there. Then, as expected, things all tie together.

This was an easy and interesting read, and one that I find easy to recommend. It’s well written, easily above average and keeps you thinking. While it’s maybe not as twisty as some of the best genre efforts, it makes up for it by being a good story with a good and relatively deep main character. Thus, if you’re looking for a quality thriller to read this summer you don’t need to look any further.

That said, I do wish its title had a question mark. It feels wrong without one.

This review is based on a digital and physical ARC we were provided by Simon and Schuster Canada, Atria Books and NetGalley. Receiving this book for free did not sway our opinion.

Have You Seen Her by Catherine McKenzie is yet another unputdownable read from this talented and always bankable author.

Cassie is fleeing her hectic life in New York, joining the Search and Rescue team at Yosemite. It is a job with which she has a history, and a case ten years earlier continues to haunt her. Meeting up with a cast of characters including seasonal workers and rogue adventurers, Cassie's path will cross with two women in particular who will force her to confront a past from which she has desperately sought to flee.

This is a multi-layered narrative, rich in imagery and thoughtful in execution, and I devoured it in a single session. I have thoroughly enjoyed Ms McKenzie's previous work, but I will say that this is, in my opinion, her best yet. 4.5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an ARC.

I received an arc of this book and didn’t know what to expect going in. I read it in one sitting and found the writing style to be engaging and the story was thought provoking. If you pay close enough attention to the details, you can figure out what’s going on. But you don’t actually know until the end and it becomes a story of perseverance, unity and control.
I enjoyed the read, the message and the themes and would pick up another book by this author.
CW: domestic abuse, death

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for an advanced electronic copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Cassie is starting over. She's leaving her husband when he's at work, and trying to cover her tracks so he doesn't find her. She's going to spend the summer working on the Search And Rescue team at Yosemite - the same place she found herself in 10 years earlier, reeling from a failed rescue.

I liked the layers in this story. There's a lot going on that shapes how you perceive different characters. There are predictable moments, as well as twists. It's a well-rounded suspension novel and I didn't expect it to end the way it did!

I enjoyed reading this book a lot. It has a great balance of characters and time shifting with each chapter, keeping the reader engaged and guessing until the end. The narration switches between Anna and the missing woman, giving different perspectives and clues. This would make for a great audiobook. I would highly recommend this book for reading at a cottage or camping. It's perfect for the summer months.