My Name is Emily Ray starts with a haunting premise: Emily Ray was abducted as a child and held captive for years—until, without warning, her abductor frees her and sets the house on fire. Emily escapes and is soon found and reunited with her family. Days later, her captor is found dead after driving off a cliff.

Fast-forward to the present, and Emily is now an FBI agent specializing in child abductions. When she’s called in on a new case eerily similar to her own, she has no idea how personal things are about to get.

I’m starting to think I have a new favorite subgenre: crime thrillers. This was such an engaging read—I was instantly drawn into Emily’s world and her dark, complex backstory. At first, I truly felt for her, but that sympathy evolved as more layers of her past were revealed. I went through a rollercoaster of emotions with this character.

The police procedural elements were especially well done. Each new clue kept me hooked and flipping pages. It was a satisfying mix of emotional depth and investigative tension. It looks like this is the first in a series, and I am so ready for book two!

Huge thanks to author, Michele Dominguez Greene, Storm Publishing, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited to find a new book series when it was just starting out! My Name is Emily Ray starts with a child being kidnapped. I’m a sucker for a good kidnapping story, so I was immediately invested. As the story continues we find out that the FBI agent investigating her case was also a kidnapping victims. And the new case bears striking similarities to her own kidnapping many years ago. This book flowed great, it kept me interested and wondering what was happening next. I think the “bad guy” was easy to identify, but that twist in there was amazing! I totally didn’t see it coming. Looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

This book grabbed me from the start with three dimensional characters and a great plot. A little girl is abducted from a park while her nanny is distracted. In come the CARD, Child Abduction Division of the FBI where the Head of the team is Emily Ray, a great detective but also a victim of her own abduction when she was a child. The story unfolds, with some flashbacks and I got totally invested along with Emily in tracking down the perpetrator. I’m excited to learn that there will be another Emily Ray book, which I can’t wait to read.

My Name is Emily Ray is a wow you can’t guess what will happen story. It is part police procedural, part thriller, and all a gripping mind-blowing story. The first book in the Special Agent Emily Ray Series by Michelle Dominguez Greene, a new-to-me-author. Now this series is on my TBR List. I don’t’ think I have ever been so surprised as I was in this story.

Fans of Stacy Green, Kelley Amstrong’s Haven's Rock and Rebecca Zanetti’s Laural Snow’s Snow Series will want to read My Name is Emily Ray today. Be prepared to start early in the day or plan to stay up way late, this is one phenomenal book. I would give it more than five stars if I could for the jaw-dropping surprises.

4 🌟

My Name is Emily Ray by Michelle Dominguez Greene is the first book in the Special Agent Emily Ray series. Nearly thirty years ago, Emily was abducted by Tibbs and held captive for years. Now, as an adult, she's part of the FBI and helps find abducted children. Her latest case involves a little girl stolen from a park, and Emily's past comes back to haunt her.

This book was pretty good! It's a speedy read. I did find Emily slightly unlikable at the beginning of the book, but you don't go through that much trauma in your life without some rough edges - no matter how much therapy you undergo. She grew on me as the story progressed, and I came to empathize with and root for her. I appreciated that the author took complex PTSD and other after-effects of childhood trauma seriously in this novel. Now I'm looking forward to the second book in the series!

Recommended for fans of fast-paced thrillers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the ARC.

I was really impressed with the fact that there were some twists and turns in this book that I wasn't expecting, but there were still somethings that were very predictable.

Emily Ray is a FBI agent who was kidnapped when she was younger and was released by her kidnapper. Then one day a missing child's case come across her desk that resembled her own kidnapping. How is she going to handle this case when it's causing her to have flashbacks and health issues? Things are also not what the seem when it comes to Emily Ray and her past. What would you do if your past comes knocking at your door?

This book has a good ending and I can't wait till the next book comes out because Emily is an amazing agent who will do anything to keep people safe.

My Name is Emily Ray
by Michelle Dominguez Greene
Pub Date: May 27 2025

My Name is Emily Ray is the first book in the Special Agent Emily Ray #1 Series. This was a fantastic thriller that held my attention until the very end. A phenomenal twist with a surprise ending I did not see coming! I highly recommend starting this series now!

Synopsis: When young Josie Vance vanishes from Cove Park, California leaving behind her light-up sneakers, Special Agent Emily Ray leads the investigation to find her. She is the very best at finding abducted children. Twenty-eight years ago she was one of them. To find the missing girl, Emily must unearth the past she buried. But with every step, she fears the case is not just about saving one child, but confronting the man who's returned to destroy the life she's painstakingly rebuilt from the ashes.

Many thanks to #MyNameisEmilyRay #NetGalley and #StormPublishing for providing me an E-ARC of this 5 STAR thriller!

Special Agent Emily Ray is happily married with beautiful twin girls. Her life appears perfect from the outside. But, a childhood trauma has made her hyperaware of danger, and as such, she lives in a fortress. 28 years ago Emily was abducted and held captive for 8 years by a horrible man. She has overcome the odds by living a somewhat normal life. She has dedicated her life to helping find lost children. She is head of the FBI Unit known as CARD (Child Abduction Rapid Deployment). They are the first on the scene of a child's disappearance.

Her newest case is the disappearance of Josie Vance. All that's left are a stretchy bracelet and some balloons hanging in a tree. As she begins to dig, she soon realizes that this current case is eerily similar to her own disappearance. Those demons she thought she had long buried are rearing their ugly heads in the form of panic attacks and fainting. She is determined to not allow this to keep her from her job. She feels responsible for every missing child case she works on, and this one feels very personal.

This book was haunting and a parent's worse nightmare come true. Emily was an interesting character to get to know. She was tenacious, intelligent and highly observant. She is also determined to save Josie. She sees things that others might miss simply because she understands more than the average law enforcement officer due to her personal experience. She uses this experience to make her the best at what she does, but you start to wonder about the cost to her personal wellbeing. It was intense and scary at times, with a couple of twists that will knock you on your backside. You will want to devour it in one sitting because there just isn't a good place to stop reading. This was my first read by this author, but it will not be my last. I was excited to see book #2 in this series is coming soon because I think there are more levels to Emily Ray than we have seen. This one earned five blazing stars. It was that good.

Thank you to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book pulled me in right from the start. Fast-paced and emotionally charged, this story follows Emily Ray, a woman who survived being kidnapped as a child and now works for the FBI, helping to locate missing children.

I loved the direction the author took with Emily’s character. Turning such a traumatic past into a drive to protect others is not just powerful, it’s the kind of psychological healing and purpose we can only hope for in real life. It made her feel so real and relatable. Fighting your own demons while facing the world? That really hit home.

Without spoiling anything, I’ll just say: the twist completely blindsided me. I gasped. Total “what did I just read?!” moment.

Apparently this is the start of a series, and I’m already looking forward to more. I finished this ARC on publication day, which feels like perfect timing.

Huge thanks to @netgalley, @stormbooks_co, and @micheledgreene for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

This suspense filled story will keep you guessing. The characters are complex. This is a great beginning to a series. It held my attention and the ending was perfect and left me wanting more of Emily.

4⭐️ Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for an advanced copy of My Name Is Emily Ray.

Special agent Emily Ray is called in to investigate the abduction of a young girl. She is shocked to see how many similarities there are to a kidnapping case from years earlier, it is her kidnapping case from when she was a child. She knows this has to be a copycat because her abductor is dead. When letters show up with details only her abductor would know she starts to question everything.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the plot and the characters. There was a twist I did not see coming. This is the first book in this series and I am excited to see what happens next.

A cleverly written enjoyable book. Interesting basis for the story is the taking of a mothers identity and this is well used with a good climax and conclusion. Thanks to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for the chance to ARC this book.

Thank you for allowing me to review this book. Emily Ray is an FBI agent in the team investigating child abduction. When Josie Vance goes missing insimilar circumstances to her own abduction as a child memories are reawakened. Can Emily solve this case and find Josie? The story is compelling, it is tragic, tense and heartwarming at times. Who can be trusted? As the mystery develops the twists held my interest and kept me questioning what I thought was happening. I was blindsided by the twist in the story.
A recommended book to those who enjoy mysteries and crime fiction.

Emily is the head supervisor of CARD, the federal agency that helps to find missing and abducted children. She's unique in her own experience as a survivor of child abduction herself, and has worked hard to be able to be a functional person despite it. Her newest case hits a little to close from home when a girl that looks exactly like she did, is taken from the same park as she was. She's able to discount it until messages start being delivered that make it clear her past has caught back up with her.

*****

This was such an interesting premise, and I loved the background we were slowly fed of Emily. The twist at the mid point of the story was riveting and definitely had me keyed in to how that affected not only the case, but Emily's life and career moving forward. I also loved that she was a broken but successful survivor, who had a family and children of her own. Frequently, traumatized female leads are shown as workaholics who can't balance anything except their job and survival. This was a refreshing take that shows someone with issues who's proactively working on them, and has a fantastic support system she taps into regularly.

Even with the great plot, I did find the writing style to be a bit on the dry side. We got a great dive into Emily's psyche, but it felt like her own thoughts were stilted by the writing being more stiff than I'm used to. It didn't pull me out of the story too hard, but it did take me longer to really sink into the storyline. Once we got to the final third of the book it really takes off and I burned through the final resolution so quickly.

Overall this was a solid, medium-paced thriller, with interesting twists along the way.

*****

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the digital ARC. All thoughts an opinions are my own.

Special agent Emily Ray's own traumatic past makes her the perfect choice when it comes to cases involving abducted children. Because Emily herself, like two other more recent victims, was abducted at the age of 7.

Now, she must race to locate the latest young child who has been taken, in what may be a more sinister situation than hitherto thought. And when some of the clues indicate that the perpetuator may be someone Emily has already encountered in the course of her own abduction, things get real fast...

An action packed story with a relatable protagonist, this one gets 3.5 stars.

My Name Is Emily Ray is an intriguing mystery, where a deep secret sets off the actions of all the characters and how they react to Emily and the kidnapping.                💫💫💫💫💫

A seven-year-old girl, Josie Vance, has gone missing. She was taken from a park near Redondo Beach Marina. This case is so important because it mimicks a case from many years ago that placed Special Agent Emily Ray, in the hands of James Tibbs, a pedophile and kidnapper. 

Who has taken Josie, and how do they know very specific details about Emily's kidnapping that only she and the kidnapper knew?

Could it be the nanny, Elsie McBride? Or perhaps Ed Whirt, Palos Verdes PD, who was assigned to Emily's case and may be obsessed with her? Or is it a copycat? because Tibbs died inside a van burned beyond recognition. Perhaps it's Emily's big dark secret that has caused Josie's kidnapping. 

Thank you, Netgalley and Storm Publishing, for this ARC. All opinions are entirely my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this prior to release. This absolutely held my attention throughout, the story was compelling, the characters well written, and the twist was excellent!! I will be reading the rest of this series when released

Review to come.
Due to a family emergency and needing to step away from my book commitments.
I will be reviewing at a later date.
My apologies.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this jaw dropping book

emily ray is a fbi agent working at card aka ..... child abduction rapid deployment for the FBI

this is her speciality as she was also once a victim to a predator who abducted her as a child and kept her for years, she managed to escape and now she dedicates her life to finding those missing children abducted from the families

josie vance is the newest victim to be abducted that is also the same place that emily ray was taken brings on some disturbing symptoms for emily and as the clues they start to receive hint that maybe its the person that abducted emily sends her reeling because they have proof he died....right....

with time running out can emily and her crew find josie before its to late....

what a beginning to a new series and i for one cant wait to read the next book in this series.... bring it on

Well written with a superb storyline. I liked the characters and the way the story unfolds. A kidnapping kicks off a series of events, with twists that you don't see coming. An excellent read and highly recommended.