Callie Jones disappeared 10 years ago, but in present day her case is thrust back into the foreground. An ex-detective is brought back to help solve her case by an unlikely and untrustworthy source, a prison inmate.

This was so good! I LOVE Donlea’s writing. I’ve read all of his books except one and there hasn’t been one I haven’t liked! I really enjoyed Ethan and Maddie’s characters and hope this turns into a small series like a couple of Donlea’s other books.

This book was a page turner and a wild ride told from multiple POVs. There are dual timelines, however most of the story takes place in the present. This book truly had me Guessing Again a few times and I loved every second of it!

Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for the advanced copy of this book!

Thank you to Kensington Publishing and Netgalley for an ARC of this novel. I really enjoy Charlie Donlea's books, but this one fell a bit flat for me. I am not normally able to predict the killer but I did with this one. Also, it seems like this might be setting up for a continuation of this story, but the ending of this book left me feeling confused and PISSED OFF for Maddie. I'm not sure what that relationship is supposed to be, but Maddies ending felt disrespectful and hollow.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Kensington Publishing and Recorded Books Media for gifting me a physical, digital and audio ARC of the latest thriller by a favorite, Charlie Donlea, with the audiobook perfectly narrated by Vivienne Leheny. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 5 stars!

Ten years ago, 17-year-old high school volleyball star Callie Jones vanished from her quiet Wisconsin lake community. A highly publicized search followed but her body was never found. The case went cold but the original investigator, Pete Kramer, never let it go. Pete turns to Ethan Hall, his former partner who left law enforcement to become an ER doctor, to help him solve the case. Ethan turns to his nemesis, currently in a maximum-security prison, for some assistance, but he may get more than he bargains for.

Wow! As typical with Donlea's books, this one had me flipping the pages as fast as I could, and when I couldn't read, I was listening to the audiobook. Told from multiple POV and timelines, we learn of multiple cases - from Callie's disappearance, to a serial killer's conquests, to Ethan's father's murder, to another missing girl The plotting is perfection and I was blown away with how all these multiple plot lines came together in such a twisty fashion to keep me totally on my toes. The best part? The open ending that leaves hope that this isn't the last we will hear from Ethan. The audiobook production was great - the narrator voiced all the characters so well and I appreciated the way her voice took on the qualities of different effects, to really immerse the reader in the experience. Don't miss this one!

This was my first time reading Charlie Donlea, and it won’t be my last. Guess Again was fast-paced from the start, no dragging in this read! Just when one storyline started to wrap up, another thread kept things moving, and then out of nowhere, bang! A solid twist that caught me off guard.
It’s a quick read, but a good one. Tight, punchy, and easy to stay hooked. If you like suspense with layers that keep unfolding with a serial killer element thrown in, this one’s worth picking up.

I literally love all of Charlie Donlea's books - the absolute king of thrillers. This one was incredibly binge-worthy and kept me on the edge of my seats, I'm excited to read more of Charlie's works in the future!

4.25 stars
Ethan Hall is an emergency room doctor who has left his career as a criminal investigator behind. Even though he had a 100% solve rate, the stress and darkness of dealing with crimes against kids took their toll and now he's helping people in a different way. His former partner with Wisconsin's Division of Criminal Investigation comes to Ethan with a big favor. Pete asks Ethan to investigate the case he has never given up on - the disappearance of high school student Callie Jones ten years ago. Callie is the daughter of the man who is now the state's governor who also wants Ethan to investigate. Although Ethan didn't originally work on the case, he learns he has a tie to the case, which will take many unexpected turns.

There are two timelines in the story - one in the present and one in the time leading up to Callie's disappearance. There are several characters in the story and some will play an important part in Ethan's investigation. I've read a few prior thrillers by Donlea and he is a master at complex cases and unexpected plot turns. This book definitely has a complicated plot, and several surprising plot twists, some I liked and honestly some I didn't. Answers are given to most questions in the story, but one major cliffhanger is left hanging at the end. This surprised me, but I assume a sequel is planned. I like Ethan so if there is, I'd be interested in reading it.

Thank you to Kensington Books and NetGalley for the advance review copy of the ebook. My review is voluntary and unbiased.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Grab a Map, or a piece of paper and a pencil, because you're going to need it to keep up with what character is where in the state of Minnesota. Guess Again has short chapters and is very fast paced. The Author does a fantastic job of grabbing your interest and keeping it. Keeping up with the places, characters and the locations of characters was the hard part to me. That being said, GO READ IT!

Ok, Charlie Donlea has done it again! This was another mystery that I wished I could have read in one sitting! The flashbacks were so good and although there were several POVs, it was laid out so well and not confusing at all.
I smell a new series in the works?! The ending was mostly tied up neatly, but alludes to more from Ethan Hall getting back into investigative work. I can’t wait!
Thank you to Charlie Donlea, Kensington Publishing, and NetGalley for the advanced e-copy in exchange of my honest review.

Charlie Donlea is an auto buy author for me. With that being said, Guess Again may be my new favorite. I absolutely loved this one and flew through the pages. So many twists and turns that I did not see coming. I can't recommend this one enough.

It’s taken me a whole day to wrap my brain around what I just read. This is my second Charlie Donlea book and it absolutely did not disappoint.

The thrill, the mystery, the twists and turns are insane. Just when I thought I finally had it figured out more kept happening. I was on the edge of my seat for what felt like the entire book.

I will continue to read Charlie’s books and hope to continue to be lucky enough to receive ARCs. I will also be gifting physical copies of this book to others for birthdays/Christmas.

I thought Guess Again would be a straightforward cold case thriller, but it quickly spiraled into a story much more complex. This story follows Ethan Hall, a former detective turned ER doctor, who is pulled back into the unsolved disappearance of high school student, Callie, after a dying friend begs him to take one last look.

Some parts felt a bit busy with all the moving pieces, but I was completely hooked. The twists kept coming, and just when I thought I had it figured out, something else would be revealed. I was glued to the pages needing to know how it all unraveled.

Clever & compelling psychological suspense / thriller that takes you down a dark & captivating path
& demands to be read from start to finish in one breathless sitting.

Mr. Donlea’s on the edge of your seat writing, unexpected twists & ability to create a memorable ending will have you coming back for more. In fact….I feel a sequel coming on.

The story brings a new word to my vocabulary. Hybristophilia which is the phenomenon of an individual being sexually aroused by and attracted to a criminal offender. Very interesting.

Favorite Line: “At first she wasn’t sure she could pull it off, but she knew that love gives you the power to do all things.”

Thank you to NetGalley, Kensington Publishing Corp. & the author for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

GUESS AGAIN
BY: CHARLIE DONLEA

I loved Author, CHARLIE DONLEA'S newest novel called "GUESS AGAIN," so much because I went into reading it totally blind, which I have said many times that method always is the most enjoyable way to a DAZZLING reading experience. I was delighted to see that this newest Mystery--Thriller was different from what he has written in the past few years. I discovered his fantastic storytelling talent when I read, "DON'T BELIEVE It," which hooked me as it was so well written, and impressive, but more than anything else I found it unique. That sent me years and years ago, to go back and read every single novel that he published which I've loved every single one. Some novels in the past few years have been thematically similar since I never miss an opportunity every subsequent year to read them since this author is definitely talented, and writes the kind of page turning novels (and there are quite a back list), that are fast paced, intriguing, high octane adrenaline rushes, that hook you from the beginning, and often have me neglecting my plans for that day, because they are all so hard to put down once you start reading them.

As I said this author is an automatic buy, Author for me, so I was thrilled to see that this latest one was not the same as the last few years. By no means are they repetitive, and Charlie Donlea, always delivers on a twisting and turning plot that sometimes has different timelines, and this one really appealed to me because of the large cast of characters. In addition, it wasn't involving the forensic pathologist medical Examiner's theme as one of the main characters that don't get me wrong, they're also very compelling with how original this author develop the plots that are always fresh, and original. I just was expecting something featuring the expertise of the main female protagonist since his mystery and thrillers are so captivating they leave me wanting to see that character or a few return in a sequel since there's always room to further explore this author's latest, recent novels I become attached to the characters so much, and this one had an explosive shocking finale that left it open for my interpretation that I'd love to see those characters again. I felt that way about this one, as well.

Author, Charlie Donlea is vastly under rated even though Charlie Donlea, has garnered a multitude of fans like me who read him, and the multitude of excellent novels is a long list in which you can be certain that once you discover any one of the prior ones. I would be shocked for any new reader not to become another reader who wouldn't be compelled to be an auto buy from now on like so many others. I know that I'm always going to read everything written by this super talented Author as long as as Charlie continues to write them. Some other reviewers thought that this one was confusing, but I agree there are a great deal more of characters to keep track of, they were distinctively memorable enough for me to feel perplexed at a few reviews which I skimmed. I was surprised that this one has mixed ratings star awarding. since this like every other was definitely worth my five star rating which was well deserved. I think that this Title called, "GUESS AGAIN," is perfect for this as I was reading it kept me on the edge of my seat. Just when I thought I would be close to predicting the outcome throughout the entire roller coaster ride of this novel, my assumptions were wrong. This author writes very easy to grasp language, but there are many unexpected directions this went in which makes this author so well loved by me. There's a lot more going on here, which nevertheless, I have to highlight more often during this latest spectacular narrative.

This one might have been easier for me to follow since a fluke happened with me reading a condensed version that was strange for me, but never happened before. I knew that I had downloaded this book before which I'm positive that I did, but when it came time to search for it on my Kindle since I mostly read by going to the list of when the Publication Date is happening next. I've been running behind it seems like forever I most 99% of the time read the list I have by the Publication Date to keep current so I knew that I had already downloaded this one, but when I went searching for the title on my Kindle I had an option that was from the Kindle store so as I was reading now I think when I searched for the title I must have read a sample. I said to myself this is a short novel while I periodically glanced down at the percentage mark, and couldn't believe how far along I was. I had probably an advantage over the other readers to have gotten an idea of the characters easier. Anyway, that has it's drawbacks as well, since I had to start all over and download it again so I lost some reading time of the full novel. I had to start at the beginning, and that's probably why I had not found the many more characters in this novel than usual since the sample gave me the key characters to learn who was who. I was so impressed that this went in a totally unexpected content narrative that I loved the plot, but it was a lot of time rereading the same things only it was probably why I didn't get bogged down with the additional characters. I also think that when you read a novel twice the things that you are amazed you might not have necessarily picked up on at least in my experience I notice that I always find something that I had read, but didn't remember how I could have failed to recall that are early clues that I can still enjoy. I am amazed that I always find significant hints the second time I read it.

This was so expertly written and I really recommend it highly to those Mystery & Thriller readers since as I said is easy to read, but this one felt like it did have a lot more characters, and was with some books it takes some time before you familiarize yourself what the bones of the novel are, and how important certain content introduced is almost impossible to memorize everything. So that's my recommendation to help you if you read a sample with this one so it doesn't overwhelm you with the larger than usual character amount this one has introduced. I just spent that length of this review explaining how it helped me when I read the full length to have by randomly having this never before scenario know ahead of time the significant key characters that made it a more enjoyable, and entertaining. It elevated reading experiences by not having to be confused by getting overwhelmed with content since I didn't ever in a million years have done or thought of doing ever before. It's totally up to each reader to go that route which isn't necessary to love this as much as I did and many others have as well.

It's basically about an emergency room doctor who left solving murders for the most vulnerable which is child death cases that he worked for ten years as a crime investigator for the state. named Ethan. He explains how he was the oldest one in his medical school since he understandably felt that he grew weary of after a decade spent pursuing what for him was not uplifting even though he had been great at solving crimes with a 100 percent clearance rate. When he left that soul-heavy position of investigating into the deaths after they had happened, with a chance to make a difference by his current job offering him the option of potentially preventing deaths he is brave, and self aware that he knew he would like to be a doctor. This led to his current contentment at working helping those who he can feel optimistic about using his skills who he can know efforts to preserve life. He's a likable character who even volunteers with Native Americans when he pilots his plane on every other week he has earned time off where he has inherited land from his ancestors that is mostly owned by the Native Americans that surrounds his cabin two and a half hours away..

One day his ex-partner visits him during his shift with terminal illness who Ethan goes reluctantly to solve a case of the Governor's daughter who has gone missing as a volley ball star, and her body never was found. His ex-partner who had never stopped investigating introduces Ethan to the missing girl's father and the DA who persuade him to work the case on those weeks he alternates.By working extra hours in the ER that gives him time off by working seven days as a physician. The following seven days during his time off they hire him as a consultant without a gun to investigate the missing newly elected Governor's daughter. It comes with some perks one of which is to pay off his Federal student loans. Ethan's father has been murdered and theirs a woman who has changed her appearance dying her blonde hair black, and using brown contact lenses she has collected the photographs of a murderer in solitary confinement that she plans on finding a way to visit him with her fetish for her attraction to him, and her name is Eugenie. There's a woman held captive that the girl who would be a woman now last seen on her boat a decade ago. Is the missing daughter of the governor this unknown female? Ethan is known for his clearance success rate, but is he getting involved with a complex life threatening investigation that will keep you guessing all the way throughout this highly addictive plot. It is a cleverly written Mystery & Thriller that just keeps twisting, and turning with a draw dropping ending that is another five star reading experience. There were admittedly some aspects that had me suspend disbelief. I don't read this genre as my experience has shown me that for most thrillers are written with them being over the top in the last few years, so that didn't cause me to deduct a star since I've noticed that they all feature that theme. In fairness to Charlie Donlea has more than exceeded my high expectations with innovative creativity that I always know is going to be impossible to learn or guess how it wraps up. This one is in a class of its own, and it leaves room for a sequel at the explosive, UNPREDICTABLE finish that I''m highly recommending with the caveat that you pay close attention, but I'm so happy that I read it. This shows the brilliance of a talented author's imagination that has earned my five stars rating.

The novel is one that you might find my above paragraph dull, but it gives a spoiler free, with the most vaguest details, and as I said each chapter is short with a date that announces what state in the U.S. it takes place. There are many red herrings, and more characters, and much more fast paced action packed, suspenseful writing that makes this information that each chapter names the date which starts in May of 2025. The Wisconsin state is among others you need to keep track of because they are significant. It probably explains why there are lower ratings if they are representing, but I kept track by writing them down and you might want to write the characters down. My review didn't scratch the surface for the content is much more thrilling with this author's expertise. It is a gift of pulse pounding action that has me anxiously awaiting whatever Charlie writes next. My favorite genre is Literary fiction which is known to be more character driven, so this was a treat to read a sophisticated, plot driven, masterfully written mysterious and thrilling faster paced UNPUTDOWNABLE chiller.

Publication Date: July 29, 2025!

Thank you to Net Galley, Charlie Donlea, and Kensington Books for generously providing me with my wonderful ARC, in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own, as always.

#GuessAgain #CharlieDonlea #KensingtonBooks #NetGalley

I really loved Charlie Donlea’s writing — it’s sharp, thoughtful, and kept me engaged from the start. The story itself was interesting and full of twists, but it took some effort to keep track of everything. The shifts between past and present, along with all the layers of the mystery, made it a bit hard to follow at times. Still, the payoff was worth it!

O.M.W. This knocked me on my but with the twists and the shocks that just kept on coming about 1/2 way through the book. Things I never would have thought of or guessed. WOW! I will say to anyone who starts reading this, hang in there. It is complex and I freely admit I went what a couple of times, but as I hung in there and things started unraveling, I started getting tenser and tenser. When I came close to the ending it through me on my butt and my jaw dropped. The blurb gives you enough info and little leak could ruin it for you. Ethan was top notch, and we might get to see him again. Thank you for the advanced copy. I freely volunteer my honest thoughts and opinions. #GuessAgain #CharlieDonlea #KensingtonPublishing #NetGalley

The perfect suspenseful thriller. I couldn't put it down, the twists were well placed and the build up in the plot kept me intrigued the entire book. I couldn't wait to see how it would all come together. Loved it.

Holy twists and turns I didn't see coming! This was my first read by this author and it won't be my last! I'm so thankful to NetGalley and Kensington books for allowing me to read this early copy!

You can always rely on Charlie Donlea for a binge worthy twist filled thriller and Guess Again delivered on everything! what a fantastic read! I smashed this out in a day and it will be a favourite book for 2025.

I love how you never really know what a is happening in a Donlea book, how all the points of view and thread are connected. But when they do 🤯🤯 wow! Just brilliant!! My mind was blown with this ending and I see potential there for a follow up.

Ethan was such an interesting character. Anyone who can retrain and become a doctor has Ben to be commended. He was a brilliant investigator, I loved his attention to all the tiny details and putting all the pieces together. All while having to deal with his father’s killer! I would love to see more from him in future books.

This book just shows why Charlie Donlea is a favourite author for me. It is dark, it is smart, it is hard to stop reading g. I was kinda sad when it was over. Do yourself a favour and get a copy of this book anyway you can.

Thank you so so much to Kensington Publishing for my early copy of this book to read. An absolute pleasure. Publishes on July 29th.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I started reading it with my boyfriend on our way to Paris and totally abandoned our buddy read and went on solo. We were hooked from the very beginning so he wasn't happy about it!
The plot kept me searching for clues and guessing about all the characters and how their stories were connected. I managed to guess correctly only one of the many twists and reveals, the rest of it just blew my mind.
This was not my first read by Charlie Donlea and he does not disappoint here. I love how he gets me sitting at the edge of my seat every time!

Charlie Donlea writes my favorite thrillers because I can never guess the ending, they’re just the right amount of heart pounding/disturbing/creepy without making me scared while I’m reading in the middle of the night, and they’re believable (at least to a lay person with little knowledge of criminal investigations and detective work). I devour each of his books and have not been disappointed once.

This one started off a little confusing with several characters and time jumps, but 25% in it picked up and we were off to the races. I thought I had guessed the twist at 75% (and I kind of did), but little did I know there were more coming! I’m always amazed at how all the characters and events are woven together in the end. It looks like there will likely be a sequel coming and I’ll be first in line to read it!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!