It was like I was a tool in the hands of the Devil”.
Susan Atkins, on
Charles Manson,
1976

Any book that begins with a quote by Susan Atkins has my attention, so I was immediately drawn to Stacy Willingham’s upcoming novel, Forget Me Not.

An investigative journalist, Claire Campbell has lost her job and is adrift when she is called back to her childhood home in South Carolina. A home filled with memories of the summer her sister, Natalie was murdered twenty years ago. Soon after she arrives she finds cache of photos and a roll of undeveloped film hidden in her sister’s room. A need to understand the events of that fateful time lead Claire to a job at the muscadine farm where Natalie spent much of that final summer.

This book started out as slowly and languidly a hot summer day as we follow Claire in her sister’s footsteps at Galloway. With its mysterious inhabitants, what at first feels like a bucolic escape soon morphs into a fevre dream nightmare as she discovers the cult like remnants of that long ago summer.

While I wish this book had gotten going a bit faster, I realize Willingham was luring me into it- creating an atmosphere of timelessness and dread that felt as suffocating as the S.C. humidity. I am glad I stuck with it because when it does pick up, I was firmly caught in the grasp of Galloway. This book has a lot of layers to excavate in both the present and the diarist timeline of the past. I guessed one of the major twists early on but there were some I didn’t see coming. Willingham is one of the best thriller writers of recent years. Her books are dark and take me to unexpected places and this is one that I think will linger with me for some time.

This was my first read by Stacy Willingham!

When Claire Campbell decides to take a summer job to try and find out what happened to her sister, Natalie, who disappeared twenty-two years earlier at Galloway Farms, she's begins to unravel the past with clues left in a hidden diary!

This book moved along quickly and kept my interest with the twists and turns that I didn't see coming! I'd highly recommend reading this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC!

What happens a Galloway, stays at Galloway...

This one had me guessing until the end, which I love and only a good mystery will have. Very well written and was full of character development. The plot twist on this was a stumper and not what I was expecting at all.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for allowing me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review. I thoroughly enjoyed and will be recommending to others!

Such an interesting premise that is so easy to jump right into. Stacy's prose is so evocative and compelling. There are really incredible twists and turns that you will absolutely not see coming!! Highly recommend this book.

I’ve enjoyed Stacy Willingham’s previous books.. I was so excited to read her new one! I enjoyed this book as well, Claire moves away after her sister disappeared. She moves back after her father calls. What she finds and discovers when she gets home makes a great story!

4.5 stars. What a wild ride! This book had me hooked from the beginning til the end. In the book, a woman whose sister passed years ago, finds herself back in the same location her sister was before her disappearance. Uncovering a hidden diary, the secrets and mystery of this place and the people in it spill out, leading her to investigate and uncover the truth. I absolutely loved the mystery and suspense, leaving me guessing and discovering the truth along with the main character. Highly recommend.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

With a butter-smooth opening and smart, early plot jolts, readers will be drawn into Forget Me Not from the jump.

Claire, our narrator-protagonist and homicide reporter explains, "My parents have never understood why I do what I do, the fact that I marinate in murder for forty hours a week." As tenacious as a junkyard dog, but a realistic character with believable emotions and reactions, Claire is the perfect vessel for this mystery.

Pacing alternates from frenetic to pensive and revelations dug up about the past influence the progressively sinister current-day story. Flashbacks are retold in present tense, a brilliant technique, and even the sharpest reader will guess 'zigs' for some 'zags'. Suspense and surprise are essential to the story and Willingham executes both deftly. The plot is served by innovative applications of 1980's era photography, and modern phone technology, masterfully.

Only 5% battery left on the iphone/flashlight! Do I try and get myself out of this horrific situation or explore further? These and other mystery are solved to satisfaction. Highly recommended!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for a review copy.

Summer. Island. Vineyard. Disappearance and kidnapping. Anything better in a book? I don’t think so. Who doesn’t want a good summer thriller?

I have read one book by Stacy Willingham before and really liked it and this one did not disappoint. I finished in one day.

I rated this book 3.5 stars and would absolutely recommend this to everyone who enjoys a thriller.

Sweet honeysuckle and secrets buried deep within the marsh, this atmospheric tale sucks you right into South Carolina and spits you out with your head spinning.

Claire has taken a month long job at a vineyard. The same vineyard her sister worked at before disappearing 22 years ago. While getting settled in the guesthouse she comes across the diary of Marcia Rayburn, the co-owner of the property. Though it feels like an invasion of privacy, she cannot put the diary down. Not when the answers she is searching for could be right there within the pages.

Full of twists and jaw dropping revelations, this is the perfect southern thriller to get you immersed in the summer heat.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

I've read a couple of books by SW and I really love her writing style! Her last book (Only if you're lucky) let me down a little bit, but she absolutely redeemed herself with Forget me not! I really loved this one! It was a little slow paced but the twist at the end was *chefs kiss*!
Thank you NetGalley for my ARC!

If you are new to author Stacy Willingham I hope after this book you will be fan!

This southern thriller is set in the rural marsh of South Carolina, a place I personally call home. We follow Claire, a journalist who has just quit her job while she finds herself and her voice after being guilted into visiting her estranged mother. After Claire's sister, Natalie, disappears when Claire is only 11 years old, the family falls apart and Claire is left seeing the ghost of her sister in her nightmares. Stumbling upon old photos of the summer Natalie disappeared, Claire uses her expert journalist skills to uncover the truth of what happened all those years ago while managing to put herself on the killers radar.

This hauntingly eerie novel will have you thinking twice about those quaint little winery/distilleries you may like to frequent.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this eAdvanced Reader Copy in exchange for my honest review.

Forget Me Not tells the story of a journalist, Claire, who is forced to reckon with her family & her sister who was declared “presumed dead” twenty two years prior. Stacy Willingham’s newest novel has a sense of thrill and suspense that kept me tearing through the chapters to keep uncovering the twists and turns! Highly recommend!

I LOVE Stacy Willingham’s books! While Forget Me Not wasn’t my favorite it was pretty close to a 5 star read for me. It started off a bit slow but picked up towards the end. I did see some of the twists coming but not the major ones. They really did surprise me which I loved. I can’t wait for her next book.

Stacy Willingham has always been hit or miss for me, but is one of those authors who I must read immediately as soon as I get my hand on her books. Forget Me Not was a page turner for me but ultimately lackluster.

I still look forward to more from this author in the future.

Forget Me Not by Stacy Willingham is a creepy, Southern-set thriller that grabbed me from the first page. Journalist Claire comes home after her sister’s disappearance 22 years ago, taking a summer job at the vineyard where her sister last worked. When she finds an old diary, everything starts to unravel—diary entries turn sinister, secrets multiply, and the tense, eerie atmosphere just sticks with you .

The pacing is slow at first, but that buildup is part of the charm. Once it hits the last third? Total page-turner. The tension amps up, the twisty revelations hit hard, and I couldn’t stop reading. If you love atmospheric mysteries with a Southern vibe and don’t mind a bit of creepiness, this one’s for you. I didn’t want it to end.

This is my 4th book by this author, and I really liked it.
Stacy Willingham uses evocative prose that makes it easy to visualize the locations depicted in her stories.
You'll find yourself quickly drawn in to the story, and if you're like me you'll keep reading to see if your guesses about the twists are right. Some of them will be, but I guarantee they'll be a few surprises too.
Im going to rate Forget Me Not as a solid 4 stars. I will definitely be reading everything this author writes.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC

Did I see some of the twists coming? Absolutely. But the major twists were out of left field for me. The story sucks you in with the past journal entries going back and forth. I just couldn’t wait to get more and more bread crumbs on these secluded people. I could not even imagine everything Liam went through growing up and eventually realizing his life style differences from others. I enjoyed the wrap up in the epilogue and was so happy for Claire and Liam at the end of it all. This story was not as suspenseful as a few of her other ones, but still a very enjoyable read that makes you question everything you read.

The book started a little slow but I ended up loving it. I loved the twist at the end and the back and forth point of views. There were a lot of characters so some parts got hard to remember who was who. But the pace and suspense was really good.

Stacy Willingham has written a deeply atmospheric thriller set in the South. Suddenly unemployed Claire Campbell reluctantly leaves NY and returns to visit her mother who has had an accident, immediately drawn back into the murder and disappearance of her older sister decades ago. An undeveloped roll of film hidden by her sister sends Claire to Galloway Farm, the last place her sister visited. She begins to interact with and explore the creepy cast of characters there, all the while attempting to piece together the end of her sister’s life. Forget Me Not is a gripping, well written and suspenseful book that grabs your attention and doesn’t let go. With thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC. My opinions are my own.

Oozing with atmosphere, Stacy Willingham delivers a southern mystery about a missing young woman believed to be dead and her sister's quest to learn the truth! Unanswered questions and not knowing the truth about what happened to her sister, Natalie, has plagued Claire Campbell for years. After receiving a call from her father about her mother's ailing health, she returns home and, on a whim, takes a job at Galloway Farm, a local vineyard. It is the same place that her sister worked the summer prior to her disappearance.

At times this book was slow like a hot southern summer day. Usually, I take issue with slow moving books, but this one had enough intrigued that I didn't mind as much as I normally would. I enjoyed the aspect of Claire coming home after being gone for some time. She worked as an investigative journalist in the city and will use her skills to try and uncover what happened to her sister all those years ago. Not to mention a diary she finds which may lead her down a path - but will it be a path to the truth or to danger? Be careful when you go searching for the truth because you might just find it! Will Claire find the truth before it's too late?

This book had atmosphere galore. It also had tension, dread, an underlying current of danger and dread. Plus, a few twist and turns along the way kept my interest piqued and my finger swiping the pages of my kindle.

Overall, an enjoyable Southern mystery full of atmosphere, dread, and danger!