Title: Guess Again
Author: Charlie Donlea
Publisher: Kensington Books
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Pub Date: July 27, 2025
My Rating: 5 Stars!
Pages: 352

This story is told from multiple POVs and is set both in the past (summer 2015) and the present (summer 2025). Most of plot takes place in 2025.

2015 Callie Jones a seventeen year-old high school volleyball star vanished from Cherryview a quiet lake community in Wisconsin. Her body was never found, and the case went cold.

2025 - On the tenth anniversary, Ethan Hall—a former detective turned ER doctor—(he left law enforcement to escape the horrors of the working in the children’s crime division).He gets a call from his former partner, Pete Kramer, who has ALS who makes a dying request. Pete is the veteran detective who originally investigated the case now wants Ethan to meet someone at a nearby hotel. Ethan still dress in scrubs comes face-to-face with Mark Jones the newly elected governor of Wisconsin and the father of Callie Jones.
He requests his assistance in reexamining Callie’s case and has made proper arrangements so that he can be excused from his ER responsibility while on the case.

Additionally Lindsay Larkin, Callie’s best friend and now a psychologist and hostess to the successful online counseling podcast “The Anonymous Client’ Lindsay has been relentlessly about finding what happened to Callie.

There is a side story going on. Ethan’s father, also a detective was murdered by a serial killer named Francis Bernard. Francis currently serving time in the Wisconsin Secure Program Facility (WSPF) one of THE highest security prisons.- and has been there for the past 32 years. Ethan has been able to block every attempt at his parole.

As Ethan continues his investigation, Francis asks to see him in prison and give him clues that no one knows about. Francis enjoys leads Ethan on a wild chase – Francis seems to have an insight into the present case but how?

Donlea is an awesome story teller this is my eighth story.
I call myself a fan
This story was amazing- Just when you think – What’s next? What 's next happens!!!

Want to thank NetGalley and Kensington Books for this WOW eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for July 27, 2025.

The title is completely accurate because once I thought I knew where it was going the story derailed (in the best way) and surprised me with plenty of shocking and satisfying twists. Fast paced, bingeable read with a full cast of characters and by the end everything comes together. There was never a slow moment in this story and I loved how each piece played an important role, he sets the stage perfectly.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for sending me an advance digital copy of this book.
Donlea has become my latest favorite author in this genre. The plot development is solid and fast paced. The plot was also complex and contained some good twists. The characters were interesting. The main character began a career as an investigator and then became an ER physician. Dr. Ethan Hall is called on to investigate a cold case by his former detective partner. The 17 yr. old girl who went missing 10 years ago was the daughter of the newly elected governor who wants her case reexamined. Ethan’s 100% solve rate as an investigator has the governor offering him a tempting deal.
I expect most readers will be as surprised as I was with the horror Ethan finally uncovers.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC of Guess Again, the following review and thoughts are solely my own.

Guess Again is my first ever thriller from Charlie Donlea and I can absolutely say without a doubt I will be scrambling to read more of his prior books. As a huge fan of thrillers, I'm pretty critical of my reviews, and Guess Again is going on my top reads of 2025. I finished this book in two days, and honestly the ending was something I never saw coming.

Kuddos, Donlea, you just gained a new fan with this superb boo!! Do yourself a favor a pick up a copy as soon as it hits the shelves!

This started off with a bang and ended up being action packed. However, I am being somewhat generous giving it 4 stars, it was more 3.5 rounded up.

While there was a lot of action and thrilling moments. I felt there was almost too many characters and too much stuff going on. It didn’t feel like a well-paced, well connected thriller to me. It might be a ‘me problem’ which is why I have rounded up.

I really enjoyed the ending though when everything comes together. There were parts I definitely did not guess would ever be true when it first started. I think there will most likely be a sequel as there is definitely some unfinished business with this one.

Thank you to netgalley for this free advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 🌟 Charlie Donlea is one of my favorite thriller authors. His books always seem so original to me. Not your common trope every time. I was completely engaged with this book. It was hard for me to put I down. I always know I’m in for a great ride when I read him.

THIS is the suspense, murder thriller of the summer!
5 stars! 🤩
Seriously, you have to read this thrill ride.
I've been dying to get my teeth into a really good, meaty, suspenseful, twisty, gritty thriller for ages and finally got my wish!
An incredible story with so many shocks, thrills, twists galore, and captivating characters.
This will be the thriller novel of the summer that will be hard to top.
Surprises, storylines that intertwine and throw you for loops, and just impossible to put down.
Well done 👏 this was exactly what I was craving 🤌
I can't give enough praise for this one, I'd be surprised if it isn't a top hit of the year with how well done it is just throwing out more twists than a bag of twizzlers.
Easy 5 stars 👌

I'd so glad I recently discovered Charlie Donlea. I've enjoyed all of his books that I've read but this one may be his best for me. Lots of red herrings, duel timelines and an ending I did not see coming. Highly recommend.

Special thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy.

I received an ARC of this upcoming novel (due out in July, 2025) through NetGalley.

I look forward to everything this author publishes. As always, this book delivers with a mystery that grabs the reader’s interest immediately. This is about Ethan Hall, now an ER doctor, but previously a crime investigator. He had a perfect record solving crimes and, after 10 years as an ER doctor, he was begged to return temporarily to his former job to solve a cold case: the disappearance of the 17-year-old daughter of Wisconsin’s governor.

This book has a lot of characters and it can be somewhat confusing. And none of the characters are particularly well-developed. There are also some secrets about some of the characters that aren’t revealed until late in the book. And it is quite a finish! The strength of this book is its complex plot, enhanced by a rapid pace,

This was the best one yet!!! I was sitting on the edge of my seat the entire time trying to figure out who did it!

The end!!!! It was so good! I am ready for the next one!

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington for allowing me to read this ARC for my honest review!

#NetGalley #GuessAgain

Take this with a grain of salt because I seem to be an outlier on this one!

📖: Ethan Hall left his job as a detective years ago. Even with a 100% solve rate, the mental and emotional toll got to be too much. But when a cold case is re-opened, Ethan is approached. Since the case involves the serial killer who killed his father, Ethan decides to take it on.

🤝: This may be a good fit if you enjoy:
- serial killer thrillers
- intricate webs of secrets
- action-packed endings

💭: Guess Again was certainly entertaining and fast-paced. It's plot-driven with short chapters. It has a lot of elements thriller-readers will love. I couldn't have predicted some of the reveals. And it's always fun to read about familiar places as a Wisconsinite!

There were a few things that wore on me as the book went on. There were multiple times the dialogue felt unnatural in efforts to get information across. I also thought two of the reveals were interesting, necessary, and surprising. Others felt like too much. Finally, I'm not usually one to notice little details, but there were multiple times that I was like "how did this happen?" that felt convenient.

Rating: I liked it! (3)

Thank you to Kensington Publishing, NetGalley, and the Thrillers by the Book Club MKE leaders for the early copies of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. Love Charlie Donlea's books and this did not disappoint! Fast moving and the twists! Omg is all I can say

Prepare for a pulse-pounding, mind-bending journey with Charlie Donlea's upcoming release, "Guess Again," hitting shelves on July 29, 2025! This suspense mystery thriller is an absolute masterclass in keeping readers on the edge of their seats, and trust me, the title is no exaggeration – you'll be guessing at every turn, only to be delightfully, repeatedly, proven wrong.
From the very first page to the jaw-dropping conclusion, "Guess Again" delivers shock after shock. As a seasoned thriller reader, it's rare for me to be completely blindsided by an ending, but Donlea, a true pro in his genre, managed to do just that. The final reveal left me stunned in the best possible way.
Adding another layer of excitement for me personally was the novel's setting. As a Wisconsin resident, it was thrilling to recognize towns only an hour's drive away, immersing me even further into the story's chilling atmosphere. And for a California transplant like myself, the character of Christian, a transplant from Wisconsin to California, offered a fun, relatable detail that added a touch of unexpected charm.
At the heart of the narrative are Ethan and Maddie, whose love story blossoms from the ashes of shared trauma. Ethan's fiercely protective nature and Maddie's remarkable ability to compartmentalize create a dynamic that is both compelling and, given the inherently unhealthy nature of trauma bonds, deeply unsettling. Be forewarned: if you're hoping for a conventional happily-ever-after, "Guess Again" might not be the sweet escape you anticipate. But fear not, I'm a staunch anti-spoiler advocate, so that's all I'll reveal on that front!
While "Guess Again" appears to be a standalone novel, the audacious cliffhanger left me desperately hoping for a sequel in the near future. This book is an absolute five-star read, a testament to Charlie Donlea's unparalleled ability to craft a truly unforgettable suspense mystery. Mark your calendars for July 29, 2025 – you won't want to miss this wild, thrilling ride!

+++I was given a copy of this eARC in an exchange for an honest review+++

I want to thank #Charliesonlea #Netgalley and #Kensingtonpublishing for allowing me to read this amazing eARC. I truly feel honored to have had the privilege to read and review it.

Thank you to Net Galley, Kensington Publishing, and Charlie Donlea for the ARC of this book. It pulled me right out of a reading slump. I love the back and forth of characters, it kept me guessing and kept me on my toes. The twists be twisting! I wanted a little more from the ending but overall still 5 stars for me! Another banger!

Wow, what a page turner!! And, boy, does this one have a heck of a twist at the end! The characters are likable and well developed. There are lots of twists and turns that made this book a mental workout. I think my mouth may have been hanging open by the end.

Thank you to Net Galley and Kensington Publishing for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Ethan Hall is a former investigator turned ER doctor who is sucked back into his former career after retiring due to the toll it was taking on his mental health by a governor with a personal connection to a cold case. With Ethan’s 100% success rate on his caseload over the course of his investigative career and his connection to the former lead investigator on the cold case, he agrees to look into it. This decision takes him on a crazy ride that will keep the reader on the edge of their seat the whole way!

Charlie Donlea is one of my absolute favorite authors as his books NEVER disappoint, so I was confident that Guess Again would be no different and I was right! This book was so fast paced and captivating from the very beginning! I inhaled this book in 2.5 days!

I enjoyed all the characters and was not let down in my desire to have plot twists that I did not see coming! You will not be disappointed when reading this book!

Thank you Kensington Publishing for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Okay .. this book through meeeeeee around like no tomorrow. This book was INSANE, I loved every bit of it.. pleaseeee please please read. Probably one of my favourite books this year so far.

Thank you, NetGalley, for this ARC of 'Guess Again' by Charlie Donlea- expected release date of 07/29/2025

ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Donlea is a favorite author of mine so I requested this ARC blindly, I didn't even care what the synopsis was, I just had to try to get my hands on it before it was released! I have to say, I was a little disappointed with this one...His writing was great (as per usual) but he was quite repetitive in mentioning specific things over and over (some examples, jet black hair, coiled snake tattoo, bells palsy of the face). There were A LOT of plot twists I didn't see coming, (oh you have things figured out, Guess Again lol) but they definitely made the book entertaining, even though some were wildly outlandish. I thought the reveal of Francis's true female accomplice (Harriet) was underwhelming since it wasn't anyone we were introduced to until the very end of the book. Something different than his past books, he left this open ended which suggests there could be a sequel!

Guess Again is a total page-turner. Charlie Donlea does what he does best—pulls you into a twisty mystery that keeps you guessing the whole way through. The story flips between past and present as ex-detective Ethan Hall digs into an old missing person case tied to a creepy serial killer. The chapters are short, the tension builds fast, and just when you think you’ve figured it out—nope. If you’re into thrillers that mess with your head a little, this one’s for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy for an honest review.

I’ve read all of Charlie Donlea’s books so I was thrilled to read his new one! This book was so in line with anll his other work. A very intricate plot with a lot of moving parts so pay attention…. So many twists that by the end I had whiplash!

A missing teenager, an incarcerated serial killer, a prior detective turned ER doctor. What more could you ask for?