5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ read!!!

“GUESS AGAIN” by Charlie Donlea lives up to its title. I have read all of Donlea’s work and thought I knew most of his tricks but this book really proved me wrong.

The story lives up to his usual structure of multiple POVs to tell the story which does so in an efficient manner leaving the reader on their toes while they root for the (very likeable!) main character.

I really enjoyed this read because there was multiple story lines going on which made it such a quick read and it was all tied up nicely at the end (??? Hoping for a sequel with more Ethan!!). I got into about 75% of this book thinking it was going to be a 4 star but the ending really did it for me in rating this 5 stars. If you love cold cases, great detective work and serial killer reads this one is for you!

Thank you to publisher and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Charlie Donlea does it again with this book! He crafts such great stories with so many different characters and intertwines them in ways that you never see coming. It’s a serious page turner that you won’t want to put down until you know how it all turns out….but do we actually know how this one ends??

Absolutely fantastic. I was on the edge of my seat. This entire time I was guessing and I was never right, and I fell into the story immediately I loved every single character and I loved how the author set it up.

Okay, so this was supposed to be a nice, paced buddy read where we’d read a few chapters a day and discuss like civilized bookworms. But what actually happened? None of us could stop and we all finished it in under 24 hours because… well, Charlie Donlea strikes again.

Verdict? 5 BLAZING HOT STARS 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥. I am now fully convinced this man cannot write a bad book. His stories are whip-smart, meticulously detailed, and packed with heart-pounding stress in the best possible way. And just when I smugly thought I had it all figured out — “GUESS AGAIN, BETHANY!” — plot twist. I was wrong. And I loved every second of being played.

I especially adored how he wrote Ethan, our doctor-turned-sleuth who dusts off his investigative skills to dive back into solving crimes. I don’t even know why I loved that little career detail so much, but I did. Made me love Ethan even more.

Honestly, I can’t think of one thing I’d change about this book. It’s suspenseful, compulsive, loaded with tension, and delivers an absolutely explosive ending that left me reeling. I already need more. Good thing I’ve got three more Donlea books waiting because I am officially obsessed.

A Cold Case..
A cold case, a small town, a veteran detective needing answers. A shocking and unexpected psychological suspense with a credible and well drawn cast, a propulsive narrative littered with countless twists and an atmospheric plot with a deep sense of time and place and where secrets and lies will, eventually, out. A worthy addition to this author’s oeuvre.

Thank you to Kensington Publishing and Charlie Donlea for providing this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I absolutely loved Guess Again! From the first chapter, Charlie Donlea hooked me with the chilling mystery of 17-year-old Callie Jones’s disappearance—and it only got better from there. The plot is full of tension, emotional depth, and just enough small-town eeriness to keep you turning pages late into the night.

Ethan Hall, a former detective turned ER doctor, is reluctantly pulled back into the world he tried to leave behind. As he reopens Callie's 10-year-old cold case, what starts as a favor to a dying former partner becomes something much darker. What truly amazed me was how Donlea weaves in a 32-year-old unsolved case and reveals how it’s disturbingly linked to Callie’s disappearance. That twist added a whole new layer of complexity—and completely blindsided me in the best way.

The ending was a shocker. Just when I thought I had it all figured out, the story flipped everything on its head. It’s one of those rare thrillers that manages to be both clever and emotionally satisfying.

If you enjoy atmospheric psychological thrillers with deeply flawed characters, buried secrets, and twists you won't see coming, this book is for you. I’d highly recommend it to fans of Riley Sager, Karin Slaughter, or anyone looking for a gripping read that stays with you.

4.5 / 5 stars

A serial killer who has served 32 years for killing a police officer seems to be active again while in a maximum security prison.

Ethan Hall, now an ER doctor, gets dragged back into homicide investigations when the serial killer's new victims begin to appear..

A very complex series of twists and turns kept this moving quickly.

• Short chapters, dual timelines, and multiple
points of view
• Book picks up after rather slow first third
• Rather unrealistic plot with several unforgettable
characters thrown in
• Disappointing ending -perhaps in preparation
for a sequel?
• Not his most brilliant book, but definitely
entertaining and readable
• Just a bit soapy compared to the author's
previous reads

leave it to the last book I read in may to be the most captivating, thrilling read!! charlie donalea writes so fast-paced it makes my head spin, and those twists? remarkable 👏🏼

when I first started this story, I truly thought this was a sequel & I missed the first one because it jumped right into the characters and recapping information from their pasts 🤔 I wanted more backstory from them in a showing manner rather than just telling what happened to them…

however, the format of the plot itself was brilliant! a retired detective is pulled back into the throng of a missing person cold case to dig up any details & new information… and boy, was it full of surprises! it kept me on my toes the entire time!

even when it seemed all of the pieces were scattered and different (how does a former 🥣 killer who unalived the detective’s dad link up with the governor’s missing daughter from ten years ago?!), they all fit together! not as neat as a jigsaw puzzle, but a messy collage (which I loved) 😳

and that ending? those last chapters? FLOORED

this story is super dark and depressing, especially for those suffering from child and parent losses, so take that into consideration when picking this one up! but it’s definitely a shocker and winner from me!

#gifted by kensington press

rating: 4.5 stars
wine pairing: napa valley merlot

This book brought me out of my funk so thank you @netgalley for letting me read this ARC. Charlie Donlea's books are always so well written and just sucks you into the story and this one is no different. This whole book is full of twists and turns that just left me shook. The book is written in different POV of the characters and it gives you a good view and background of all of them. I read this in one sitting because this book really does suck you in. Make sure you mark August 5th on your calendar because you're going to want to read this.

Guess Again by Charlie Donlea kept me up in to the late midnight hours reading. I’ve read all of the previous books by this author and loved every one of them and was excited to read this one. It did not disappoint. An emergency room doctor is called backed to his former life as an investigator to help solve an old crime. This book is full of twists and turns as the old crimes are investigated. I highly recommend reading this new thriller by Charlie Donlea.

GUESS AGAIN is a diabolical and haunting tale that features a perfect blend of characters, setting, and story. You can’t help but appreciate the unique and lovely Wisconsin setting.

The story is gripping and gut-wrenching, keeping you on the edge of your seat. Author Charlie Donlea weaves a clever narrative full of action and suspense. It is carefully plotted, and you can watch the ground shift as the story unfolds.

Ethan’s character propels the narrative and makes you feel like you're part of the team every step of the way. Each character is engaging and wonderfully well-developed. One of my favorite female characters is the determined Maddie Jacobson, a detective with the Milwaukee Police Department and Ethan's significant other. She was the victim of a horrific attack many years ago and lived to tell the tale. Her attacker is serving time in prison but is somehow connected to the current cold case. It’s a tantalizing tangled web!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an advance reading copy of this book. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC! Charlie Donlea definitely knows how to weave a mystery that you can’t put down! I enjoyed how he is always able to leave you guessing and throws turns & twists in often. 3.5⭐️ rounded up!

Charlie Donlea is one of my favorite authors so I was excited to see he has a new coming book out. This was my 7th book out of his 9 books he’s written and I always enjoy his thrillers. Guess Again was action packed from the beginning and being told in multiple time lines, I found myself confused with the many different characters. I was hoping it would get better, but I just kept getting more confused. Do I want to start over? No. I’m definitely in the minority with my 3 star rating as others have devoured it and loved it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review.

I have read every single one of Charlie Donlea's books and he does not miss! He finds a way to create these extremely engaging stories that make you want to read another chapter and another chapter and another chapter. (Shoutout to the most perfect chapter length too!) Guess Again is your typical Charlie Donlea book in the best way. I struggled with trying to piece together how the different POVs could possibly come together in the end, but it synced together seamlessly. The end had me literally gasping at the twist. I can't wait to (hopefully) see more of this main character!

The only reason I rated this four stars instead of five was because I absolutely devoured Long Time Gone and was by far my favorite book of Charlie Donlea. Guess Again was incredible, but for me personally, Long Time Gone was better!

I like almost all Charlie Donlea books as they are well crafted and written and keeps you guessing and this was no different.

Here we have our main character detective turned doctor Ethan Hall, years after working at kids crime division he was down with that life but when his ex work partner comes to him for help he can’t say no, especially when his ex partner is dying.

So our detective start investigating a cold case of a young girl Callie Jones’s disappearance whose body was never found. Ethan comes across many twist and turns and he realizes it’s not gonna be as straightforward. Absolutely loved the book.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for providing me with an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own honest opinion!

Clear your calendar - you're going to read this all in one go! Twist and turns and unexpected connections - this book comes together, then flips what you thought you knew and reassembles it again. It's a fun read and addictive, leaving you waiting for what comes next! Can't say enough good things about this - if you haven't, pick it up. Right now. Go!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️½ – Another gripping winner from Donlea
Guess Again delivers exactly what I’ve come to expect from Charlie Donlea—sharp plotting, layered characters, and a mystery that keeps you guessing until the final page. This book pulls you in fast and doesn’t let go, weaving past and present timelines in a way that’s both seamless and suspenseful. Just when I thought I had it figured out—guess again.

As always, Donlea proves himself a master of the genre. If you’ve loved his previous books, this one will absolutely satisfy.

Huge thanks to the author and publisher for the ARC copy—I was thrilled to get an early look at another fantastic read!

4

setting: Wisconsin
Rep: n/a

Short chapters and several perspectives make this a propulsive read that kept me guessing; I didn't predict the twists, which is always nice with a thriller, but the writing itself left something to be desired. it's very typical middle aged dude writing a mystery kind of writing - choppy, more tell than show, pretty basic and surface level. but I didn't expect more from this kind of book. I'd be open to checking out more of the author's work.

Donlea's best since The Girl Who Was Taken! I could not believe all of the twists and turns this one took. It gave me Silence of the Lambs vibes with the ending and the cliffhanger. I didn't see half of this coming and kept wondering what was going to happen next and now I am dying for the sequel !