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Book two of the Emily Ray series.
Still on leave from the FBI’s CARD unit, (Child Abduction Rapid Deployment) Emily Ray takes advantage of the time with a much needed break. She heads out on vacation to Lake Arrowhead with her father. Meanwhile, Emily’s husband Antonio packs up their two daughters to visit his side of the family in Arizona before joining Emily in California.

But Emily is never truly off duty. Even on leave, trouble just seems to find her. Just as she and her father settle in to their rental, Lillian, a teenage girl next door catches Emily's attention. Lillian begins to share the mystery behind the death of her best friend Haley. And the cover up she believes is happening.

Well, that’s all Emily needs to dive deeper and determine if there’s any truth to this girl’s story.

What drew me to this series was the author’s ability to breathe life into Emily, displaying both her professional and personal life equally. And once again, in the follow up to My Name Is Emily Ray, Michele Dominguez Greene was able to capture that same magic.

Now that the family’s vacation time (if you can call it a vacation🙄) is over and everyone heads back home I’m desperate to see what’s in store for Emily next!

Anticipated publication date: July 10 2025

Thank you to Storm Publishing via NetGalley

A very dark and compelling thriller. Even on forced vacation this FBI agent can't get away from the work she is known for. I couldn't put it down. Very well put together.

I am loving this series so far! Dominguez Greene is a phenomenal writer and it really shows in her work. Not only is the characterization and pacing on point, but you can tell she really put a lot of work into her research. And speaking of characterization, Emily is a perfectly designed character. Not only does she have plenty of baggage (as a main character should), but that baggage is constantly rearing its head. In some ways, this is good because it makes for great reading. But this poor woman gets put through the wringer! In this book, I knew who the players were pretty early on. I promise when you think you have it all figured out, add more to it. This was a really tangled web that exhibited classic small town secrets and corruption. What I didn’t expect was the major event in her own personal life! It was a very unwelcome surprise, and when I saw it start, I thought, “ There’s no way X is going to happen after everything that happened in the last book.” Well, it did. There were no signs of this in the first book, even though it had been brewing since then! So I’m really curious to see how the next book goes!

Huge thanks to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for sending me this ARC for review! All of my reviews are given honestly!

This is the second book in the series about Emily Ray and it is as fabulous as the first. The book didn’t let me take a breath as it rushed from murder to secrets and hidden lies. Emily Ray is supposed to be on holiday spending quality time with her father and yet she cannot let go when a neighbour shares her concerns that her best friend was murdered. Nothing is simple and straightforward and as Emily starts to take each step taken to discover what is going on in the supposedly sleepy town there is a twisted version of the truth and more intrigue. The book is an odd mixture of hope and despair and sometimes both these emotions come out of the same situation. The ending of the book is an absolute banger and I cannot wait for book 3.

Ms. Greene is an excellent storyteller. Her books are full of intrigue, suspense, and family. Never pick up one of her books since these well written reads demand completion in one sitting. Source: Netgalley.

HAYLEY HOPE IS GONE, #2 - This intense story is better than the first book, which was awesome. Emily has a lot to handle, some devastating. 5*

MY NAME IS EMILY RAY, #1 - This book caught me by surprise with one thing. I was so immersed in the intriguing story lines that I finished the book in one sitting. I like the characters and their dialog, the outcome, and the fact there is another book. The best character is probably the husband, although there are many good characters. 5*

A mystery/thriller set in a small mountain town, what more could you ask for!?

Special Agent Emily Ray takes a “vacation” with her father to the mountain town of Lake Arrowhead after she’s been put on leave from her job. A young girl has just recently been found in the lake there, and the local police department ruled it a suicide. When Emily meets the young girl next door to their rental house, it seems that something more than what meets the eye might be happening in Lake Arrowhead…. Can Emily uncover the truth?

Quick & easy read that kept me entertained and eagerly turning the pages to find out what really happened.

Read if you love:
Small town drama
Corrupt police dept
Dual POVs

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance Ebook in exchange for my honest review.

My first Michelle Dominguez Greene novel but definitely not my last. I did not realize this was an installment but it read perfectly fine as a standalone. Fantastic characters kept me burning the midnight oil. Dark and creepy, enjoyed it.
Thank you NetGalley, Michelle Dominguez Greene and Storm Publishing for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Title: Hayley Hope is Gone
Series: Agent Emily Ray Book #2
Author: Michelle Dominguez Greene
Publisher: Storm Publishers
Genre: Mystery Thriller, True Crime
Pub Date: July 10, 2025
My Rating: 4.6 Rounded up
Pages: 308

Special Agent Emily Ray recently closed the Josie Vance case that nearly destroyed her career.
~If you missed Book #1, I strongly encouraging read it!
Emily has been placed on Disciplinary review by the FBI. She has been a successful member on the ‘Child Abduction Rapid Development (CARD) protecting vulnerable children - they want to be sure she didn’t break protocol.

When Emily’s husband Antonio has a family reunion he should attend, they decide he and their twin daughters should attend and this is a good time for Emily to have some father/daughter time with her dad Michael Ray – who is suffering from dementia. They decided on nearby picturesque Lake Arrowhead —a mountain town where they spent many summers.
A peaceful vacation in this slow pace community is just what she needs—however that doesn’t last long as she soon learns that Hayley Hope, a Freshman at Rim of the Word High School drowned in Papoose Lake. Authorities ruled it suicide-they believe there is nothing suspicious.

Lillian Knox and her grandmother live next door to where Emily and her dad are staying.
When Emily has the chance to talk to Lillian she finds out that she and Hayley were best friends. Lillian tells Emily she is sure Hope was murdered.

Emily soon discovers that other girls have been disappeared over the past years.
The authorities have done next to nothing to find them.
Needless to say, Emily is going to do something!

Another WOW Michelle Dominguez Greene story!!
This one was very emotional.
Anxious for Book #3 will Definitely read Book #3 as I am hooked want to know what is happening with Emily, Antonia and twins Juliana and Eliza.

(I personally have vacation in Lake Arrowhead with my husband and daughters – we loved everything about it! In fact, in addition to vacationing there it is actually a short day trip. We live in the LA area close to the ocean and Lake Arrowhead is in the San Bernardino Mountains.
There is a town named “Rim of the World’ which has a perfect name. Whenever you drive on the main road into Lake Arrowhead you are driving on the rim on the mountain and overlook clouds below you! It is truly an awesome feeling!)

Want to thank NetGalley and Storm Publishing for this great yet very emotional eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for July 10, 2025.

I was fortunate to receive an ARC of this book, just like I did for the first book in the Emily Ray series, so thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for that!

When I found out the second Emily Ray book would be published so soon after the first, I was excited! The first Emily Ray book is one of my favorite thrillers I’ve ever read.

However, this book didn’t hit the same mark for me. While I adore Emily Ray, many of the other characters in this book felt like caricatures and it was harder to take them seriously. It also wasn’t nearly as twisty. It did feel like a good follow up to the first one, but I definitely wanted more from it and felt myself comparing the two stories often.

All that said, I absolutely look forward to more Emily Ray stories!

Phenomenal. This series is awesome so far and I can’t wait for more. This was dark and gritty and got into some seriously dark subject matter. It was told realistically and tactfully while still bringing the dark side of humanity to life. Oozing with suspense from start to finish. These characters were brought to life. Written with such depth you felt like you were there. So much terror and heart pounding fear!

Absolutely brilliant! Emily is on a two week (forced) vacation with her dad following the events of the previous book. What looks like a little slice of paradise in the mountains, a place she remembers from her childhood and which holds happy memories for her dad, reveals its dark underbelly when she stumbles across the possible murder of a teenager. The more she starts to dig, the bigger the case gets. But, Emily doesn't give up and, despite other personal issues raising their head, she fights to get justice for the children involved. Emily is a great character who refuses to fit into a mould of who people think she should be. Outstanding read.
Thanks to Netgalley, Storm Publishing, and Michele Dominguez Greene for the free ARC. All opinions are my own.

This book would have 10 stars if possible because it was so good! Second book in this series and Emily is back and on vacation with her dad. Is an FBI agent really ever on vacation? Emily's neighbor Lillian needs Emily's help in finding out what really happened to her best friend Haley the night she supposedly committed suicide. Emily uncovers dark secrets in this small town . Love this book from the very first pages it grabs you! Definitely 100% would recommend this book and series. Look forward to hopefully alot more books in this series!!

After Special Agent Emily Ray is placed on mandatory leave from her position in the FBI, she returns to her childhood summer retreat in Lake Arrowhead with her father. Hoping to have a peaceful vacation with her father, who is suffering from dementia, she soon finds herself involved in a local case. Fifteen-year-old Haley Hope was found drowned in Papoose Lake, and her best friend, Lillian Knox, believes it was not an accident but that she was murdered.
Emily soon becomes involved in an investigation of the events surrounding Haley’s death. The case was closed, but despite the objections of the local sheriff’s department, Emily continues her investigation and soon learns of the centralized corruption within the town involving young girls who have suddenly disappeared.
Emily had only Lillian’s testimony and a few clues she was able to stumble across to enable her to move full speed ahead in her investigation. Although Emilie’s life is suddenly in danger from those trying to stop her, she moves full speed ahead before another young girl’s life is taken.

Interesting book, finished it over the course of a long weekend. It was a little slow at times but it was always interesting, kept me guessing!

This was a great read kept me turning the pages on my kindle I love a book that can keep me waiting to see what is coming next

FBI agent Emily Rea is on mandatory leave following her last case and is in Lake Arrowhead with her father who is at an early stage of dementia. Her husband and twin girls are having a break with his family. Her neighbours are an elderly woman and her teenage granddaughter, Lilian, whose parents are off on their normal important photographic expeditions. Lilian is greatly missing her friend Hayley who was found drowned a short while before and is convinced that she was murdered. Emily works with child abuse/abduction cases so is very concerned. The isolated community has all it could offer - the Alpha couple who delight in controlling everyone, the oh so religious community, a fire and brimstone pastor, anti colour/gay anything not white protestants. Emily uncovers a lot of missing girls, usually of the wrong this, that or the other and there are a lot of questions that need answering. She wheedles the answers eventually and a satisfactory ending. The cliff edge is with her family but that will be another story. Well-written, pacy, complex and a good read. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

This is a pacy and chilling sequel, to Michele Dominguez Greene’s tension-filled debut, My Name is Emily Ray. After closing the case that almost destroyed her career, Special Agent Emily Ray is on mandatory leave from CARD (Child Abduction Rapid Deployment). She has retreated to the resort community of Lake Arrowhead in the Californian mountains, with her ageing father. However, all it not as it seems and Emily is soon investigating a suspected murder, missing teens, disturbing corruption, and a complex web of lies.

I recommend reading the stories in order, to fully understand the humanity of Emily Ray, who is such a compelling protagonist. This emotional and dark story includes plenty of FBI investigation and police procedural elements, exploration of the public vs private persona, complex family dynamics, and systemic failures for the most vulnerable.

Give this series a read you enjoy complex protagonists, high-stakes investigations, and pulse-pounding twists.

I am very excited to read more about Special Agent Emily Ray!

With many thanks to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy of this propulsive story, in exchange for an honest review.

This is my first book by this author and i regret not reading it in order! Nonetheless, I truly enjoyed this gripping and intense thriller read. It was like reading an episode of criminal minds that I HAD to finish it in one sitting. Although some parts were a bit far fetched, it was still good till the end. Looking forward to what’s next for our girl Em (and going back to read the first book)


Thank you to NetGalley and Michele for this ARC! Truly appreciate it 🫶🏽

I enjoyed the storyline and the potential for my storylines after reading the first book! The second book nailed it!

While on leave from her last case, FBI agent Emily Ray takes her dad to a small town where they previously vacationed years ago. Once there though, she comes across a young teenage neighbour, who is convinced that her best friend's death from weeks ago is not a suicide as the town believes.
Emily starts to realize all is not what it seems in this tourist town.

I loved this one! It had the elements of mystery that I loved- twists and turns, creepy suspects and drama! I loved it and can't wait for the next one!

I read the first book in this series, I am Emily Ray, and really liked the premise of the series. This second book knocked it out of the park.

Emily Ray takes her father to the lake town where they vacationed when she was younger. It’s supposed to be a trip to relax and unwind while Emily is on leave from work. When she arrives she meets the teenager that lives next door to the rental she and her dad are staying in. Lillian is convinced that someone killed her best friend. As she gives Emily the details of Hayley Hope’s suicide, Emily realizes that something isn’t right… Her vacation very quickly turns into an investigation that uncovers more than Emily could have ever imagined.

This book immediately gave me cult vibes, which I loved! It very quickly escalated to a town where things are not what they seem. At the center of it all is the Church on the Hill.

This book was fast paced, twisty, and unputdownable! I couldn’t wait to finish to see what happened, but at the same time didn’t want it to end. I can’t wait to see what the next book in the series is about.