I was in the middle of an awful reading slump and I couldn’t finish anything I started. Having read every one of Donlea’s books, I knew he would pull me out of it.

This one was twisty. What you think will happen, doesn’t. Who you think is playing chess, isn’t. I really like Ethan and Maddie. I like Ethan’s persistence and his ability to draw parallels where others might not see them. And I loved this addicting game of cat and mouse.

I cannot wait for more from Ethan in the future.

Another ridiculously riveting crime thriller from Charlie Donlea. This was so suspenseful!

It’s been 10 years since the tragic disappearance of teenage Callie Jones. After an initial extensive search for the girl, her body was never found, her case never closed, and her family and her community left without answers.

Retired detective/turned ER doctor, Ethan Hall has seen some things in his career. His split from law enforcement to medicine came after the horrors of the job caught up to him, but when his former partner, the man who ran lead on Callie’s case 10 years ago, asks Ethan to look into her case, he obliges.

In the small town of Cherryview Callie’s case is back in full swing, with the help of some strange bedfellows. The small Wisconsin town is dealing with the loss still after all these years, so when Ethan’s investigation starts gaining speed and new information is found, the shockwaves are felt through the community.

I thought this was really well planned out. I could see where it was going from a little early in the book, but it never took away from the intensity of the story. This was phenomenal!

Wow Charlie Donlea does it again. I have read every book Charlie Donlea has written and they have all surprised and entertained me. He has such good twists and turns that keep me quessing at all times. He has become an auto buy author for me.

Ethan was once a detective and now an ER doctor. He gets drawn back into the fray by his old partner who is dying. He has to solve what happened to a missing girl in the small town of Cherryview. He starts going down a dangerous path for answers. Some coming from a maximum security prison inmate. He discovers there is so much more to the case of the missing girl, Callie. The question is . . . Do you really want the answers you’re searching for?

I enjoyed every minute of this book. With all the twists and turns you will not want to put it down.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington publishing for this ARC copy.

Expected Publication date: July 29, 2025

Charlie Donlea has done it again with Guess Again! From the very first chapter, I was hooked. The pacing was pitch perfect for me, just fast enough to keep me on the edge of my seat, but never rushed so I got to know the cast of characters.

Ethan is an ex-detective who had a 100% success rate in solving crimes, but left the profession as things got to intense for him. Now he is called back to solve the cold case of a missing girl named Callie, as well as a currently missing girl before time runs out.

Are these cases related? Who is the Black Heart Killer? And what does Ethan’s dark past have to do with all of these things?

Every time I thought I had things figured out, Donlea threw in another jaw dropping twist. Then another. And another. It’s exactly what I’ve come to love and expect from his writing, that delicious feeling of not knowing who to trust or what’s coming next...and you just have to Guess Again.

(Couldn’t resist the play on words 🤓)

💕📚Happy Reading!

Thank you to Net Galley for this ARC copy of this title!

It has been a while since I read a true crime thriller and this was my first Charlie Donlea novel. Let's just say I will be consuming more of both. This book follow Ethan who is a retired Investigator turned ER doctor. He finds himself back to his old job investigating a 10 year old missing person's case. The twists and turns in this one were insane. I did not see any of them coming. This was a quick enjoyable thriller.

Exactly what I’ve come to expect from Charlie Donlea — a multilayered, fully fleshed-out mystery that doesn’t rely on cheap cliffhangers to keep the story moving.

Guess Again weaves together multiple timelines and POVs to unravel the story of Ethan Hall as he reopens a ten-year-old cold case involving a missing girl.

A smart, gripping thriller that delivers without gimmicks.

This was a slow burn. One of my favorite authors and was curious if it was going to pick up but once it did it was a very good read.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of Guess Again.

I've enjoyed books written by Charlie Donlea in the past and I enjoyed reading this one. This book, like his others- is filled with secrets, suspense, action, and shocking twists that kept me hooked from start to finish. This left me second guessing everything I thought I knew when reading the book.

The case is one that has gone cold but is being brought back to the forefront after Ethan's former partner Pete Kramer, makes a desperate request. The problem with that? Ethan has turned away from police work and is now an ER physician. Pete asks Ethan to return to look at the case more so because of his 100% solve rate. If anyone would be able to solve this cold case it would be Ethan.

The different point of views in this story, along with the different time frames really helped build up the story and left me second guessing who the killer was. This book was a wild ride, especially towards the ending totally catching me off guard but I loved it.

I love all of Charlie Donlea's books and this one is another hit. Devoured this book in a few days. Highly recommend.

Charlie Donlea returns with another razor-sharp thriller, and 'Guess Again' may be his most addictive yet. With a structure that jumps across timelines and a protagonist caught between past trauma and present danger, this novel grips from the first page and doesn't let go until its final, breathless twist.

Ten years after the mysterious disappearance of high school golden girl Callie Jones, former detective turned ER doctor Ethan Hall is reluctantly drawn back into the case. When his old partner begs him to revisit the investigation, Ethan - now a man running from his own past - is forced to confront long-buried secrets in a small lakeside town where no one is entirely innocent.

Donlea excels at keeping the reader off balance. The short chapters, shifting perspectives, and precisely timed reveals create a constant sense of forward momentum. Ethan is a compelling lead - flawed but capable, haunted yet sharp - and the dual lens of medicine and law enforcement gives the narrative a unique texture.

What really makes 'Guess Again' stand out, though, is its atmosphere. The suffocating summer heat, the eerie stillness of a town that's moved on too quickly, and the palpable tension between characters all heighten the sense that something just beneath the surface is terribly wrong.

There are moments where the plot edges into the implausible, and readers who prefer tightly grounded realism may need to suspend disbelief. But the payoff - an expertly executed twist that recontextualizes everything - is well worth the ride.

Recommended for readers of Lisa Gardner, Riley Sager

Charlie Donlea has become an auto read author for me. He does such a great job of weaving a complicated mystery that thoroughly invests the reader and allows for multiple directions for the final pages to finish off. He always delivers a lot of twists the keep the reader engaged and attached.

In GUESS AGAIN, Ethan Hall is tasked with at request from the governor to revert from his current career as an ER doctor back to an investigator to hopefully solve a cold missing case of Callie Jones. Ethan gets in deep with some clues handed to him that start to make things messy and dangerous.

Things go a little wild and crazy at the end, but it seems like the last few books this has been Donlea's MO. It's fun to have a fast paced race to the end as all of the clues start to be revealed. I did feel like there needed to be a couple more bread crumbs for the finale to make sense on this one (or there's a chance that I missed something-message me if you've read this!).

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington for the gifted e-ARC.

Charlie Donlea delivers another gripping and emotionally charged thriller in Guess Again, a masterclass in suspense and layered storytelling. Former DCI investigator Ethan now leads a quieter life as an emergency doctor, having left behind the violence and shadows of his past. But when his old partner Pete, now terminally ill with ALS, begs him to take on one final cold case—the decade-old disappearance of Callie Jones, daughter of a powerful governor—Ethan is pulled back into a world he thought he’d left behind. The investigation becomes personal as Ethan is forced to confront Francis Bernard, the man who murdered his own father. Bernard holds key information about the case, but every interaction with him chips away at Ethan’s emotional resolve. Meanwhile, the promise of clearing his crushing student debt dangles as an offer from the governor, further complicating Ethan’s moral compass. Donlea expertly weaves together past and present, crafting a taut, atmospheric mystery with high emotional stakes. The twisty turns and moral quandaries keep readers guessing until the final pages. Guess Again is not just a thrilling mystery—it's a deeply human story about sacrifice, justice, and the ghosts we carry. Donlea fans and newcomers alike will find it impossible to put down.

Ethan Hall, a former detective turned doctor, is drawn back into a chilling case when his old partner approaches him for help. Together, they attempt to solve the decade-old cold case of 17-year-old Callie Jones, the governor’s missing daughter.

Guess Again is a gripping, fast-paced psychological suspense and crime thriller that keeps you turning pages nonstop. The title couldn’t be more fitting as this book is full of twists and red herrings that keep you second-guessing the entire time. Donlea’s storytelling shines with major reveals saved for the final chapters, leading to a satisfying ending and the potential for a new series.

Thank you to Charlie Donlea, Kensington Publishing, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4.75/5- I docked .25 because it was a little slow at the start. not bad but, 75% of the book was fast paced and all action. The twists and turns were beyond guessing, and I loved it. It feels like this could be the start of a series, but it could be a stand alone as well.

Spoiler: At some point I was thinking, Am I going to meet anyone who isn't a criminal?

Very intense, and pretty f'd up.

Guess Again is another good read by Charlie Donlea. It felt like it was based on a true story, it was so realistic! I loved that it was fast paced and I couldn’t put it down! I thought I had things figured out, but then I was wrong! There were so many twists in it and the ending was jaw dropping! I loved this book! I hope there’s a sequel to this!
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I've been a fan of Charlie Donlea's since he released Summit Lake and with each new release, his work gets better and better. Donlea is known for short chapters with multiple POVs that instantly hook the reader and this drew me in right away. I was eagerly flipping the pages to find out what happened to Callie and with each page, my guess changed over and over again. I hope this is not the last we will see of some of these characters!

This is my second time reading a Charlie Donlea book, I remember really enjoying The Suicide House and was hoping for a similar experience with Guess Again. Safe to say, I wasn’t disappointed.
Guess Again comes out later this month, it centers around the case of 17-year-old Callie, who vanished from her Wisconsin hometown a decade ago. Her body was never found and the case has gone cold. That is until someone close to Ethan Hall - a former detective turned ER doctor - asks him to take another look.

It’s a bit of a career jump for Ethan, but it actually works. As he starts digging into the old case things start to unravel in all the best ways. There are layers of mystery, secrets from the past colliding with the present and a whole cast of characters to keep track of - some trustworthy, some not so much.

I flew through this one in just a few days. The pacing is tight, especially in the second half, which I basically devoured in a single sitting. Short chapters, lots of twists, and enough tension that kept me stumped. There’s also an emotional thread with Ethan still dealing with the trauma of losing his father to a serial killer, which added much to the story.

The ending felt right, satisfying well leaving the door open for more.

After finishing this, I know I need to dig into Donlea’s backlist whenever I’m in the mood for a fast, twisty mystery.

My thanks to Kensington Publishing for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first book from the author. This book is suitable for non-native reader. The writing is easy to read. There isn’t a lot of vocabulary to search upon. It is a book with multiple POVs, the book just kept you engaged on and on. The plot twist is one plot twist followed by the next plot twist and the ending was totally unexpected. This is one of the best thriller I have read in the year and I will definitely recommend this book!

Why have I never read a book by Donlea before? This was awesome. The amount of research he put down must've been huge. Everything feels realistic. I loved the plot, the twists and the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this ARC. All opinions are my own.

Thank you for the ARC. This was my first book by this author and won’t be my last. I couldn’t put it down. Not only because I’m from Wisconsin but I loved the medical and detective aspects. It was twisty and had parts I didn’t see coming. I loved the super short chapters as well.

The novel follows Ethan Hall, a former detective now working as an ER doctor, who’s reluctantly pulled back into a cold case to find out what happened to
Callie.