Every Moment Since

EVERY MOMENT SINCE by MARYBETH MAYHEW WHALEN is the tragic account of the disappearance of Davy Malchor and the effect it has on his family members and the community. It is a really well written book and the way the characters’ emotions are described draws one into the story. It is a very worthwhile read.
Tabby and Daniel Malchor live in Wynotte, North Carolina with their three children, Thaddeus or TJ as he is called, who is fifteen, Davy who is eleven and Kristin who is four. The parents go out to a party. TJ has plans with his friends and has to take his little brother with him, and Kristin is left with a baby sitter. TJ’s friend Philip brings beer and things go from bad to worse when TJ tells Davy to leave him alone……
The tragedy results in guilt, regret, accusations, anger and broken relationships. Thaddeus tries to assuage his guilt by writing a bestseller describing the horror of that night over twenty years ago, but leaving out his deepest feelings. His mother never gives up hope of finding her son and works hard on various committees dealing with similar cases. She comes to regret not being a better mother to her two remaining children and a better wife to Danny……
When the coat Davy was wearing when he disappeared is found the cold case is reopened……..
I am not going to tell you any more for fear of spoiling things for you.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Harper Muse. The opinions in this review are completely my own.

I really enjoyed this story and my only negative? I'd have liked for it to have been longer.

Davy went missing when he was 11, on a night when his brother TJ should have been watching him, but one moment changed everything...

The story then takes us through the lives of various people 20 years on and how Davy's disappearances has affected them since... from the older brother, mother and even a police officer, we get to see how their lives were impacted and how its shaped their characters.

I liked the way we got to see the various characters and thought they were well-crafted, I particularly liked the mum, she was very authentic.

I enjoyed reading it and didn't know what would happen.

If this was longer, it could go a bit more indepth which I think would have made it even better.

A novel of a missing child and the effects that his disappearance has on his family and the town that he is from. How each character could have changed what happened that night and how that could have changed the outcome of this missing child. A beautifully written story set in a small town in North Carolina; it will make the reader think how they would act if this happened to them. I look forward to reading other books by this author.

This is a book I think I will forever recommend to someone looking for a book to pull all the strings. Wow! I can’t say enough how beautiful this book was done. Highly recommend

When young Davy Malcor disappears one night, there are so many people who feel responsible in some small way - his parents for allowing him to be out playing past dark, his brother who should have been watching him better, his new little friend who lost track of him during a race, and even the young man who rented a house on the property where Davy disappeared, because he shooed him away.

This story is about so much more than a missing child. It’s about the different ways that grief can affect you, and what you do with that grief. I found the writing so powerful in that it made me too grieve for Davy and I kept hoping for some kind of closure for the family. The pace of the story is quite slow, which I imagine is exactly what life feels like when a member of your family has disappeared.

The torment and agony is palpable in these characters, which really brings this story to life. Though it is sad, it’s a wonderful book. I highly recommend it and happily rate it 5 big stars. Thank you, NetGalley and Harper Muse for the eARC.

This book will pull at your heart in ways you never thought it could. The writing. The premise. Everything. Even during the midst of a writing slump I was able to make it all the way through.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Wow. A lot to unpack here with this book.
The beginning of the book was a little confusing with the different POV’s and also the different timelines. However all of it came together and you get to learn more about each character and the roll they played in Davey’s life and disappearance.
Phenomenal book though about family and friends and a town facing a tragic loss and coming together as one to solve what happened.
Some slight surprises at the end that you kind of expected but were unsure about. Really great book.

I’ve cried while reading books dozens of times. But I don’t know if I’ve ever cried at the end. When I turned the (digital) page and realized the book was over, I laid it down and cried.
Every Moment Since is one of the most poignant, heartbreaking books I’ve ever read. Centering on the disappearance of a child, this book highlights how small decisions can alter a life forever. It’s an amazing example of how many lives are affected and changed by one event.
As a mom of two boys, the story itself broke my heart. But it was also a beautiful reminder to love and enjoy every minute of life, because tomorrow is not promised.
I loved how this book flowed between past and present, changing character viewpoints. The characters were real and flawed. I found myself liking and hating them by turns. In the end, I could understand and empathize with each one.
I was not prepared for the ending. But it was perfectly fitting for the story.
Every Moment Since is going down as one of my favorite books of all time. It’s a must-read!
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

EVERY MOMENT SINCE
BY: MARYBETH MAYHEW WHALEN

I had not been prepared for all of the emotions that would impact me to my very core while reading a brand new discovery of an empathetic Author named, MaryBeth Mayhew Whalen. She has written her newest literary fiction novel, called, Every Moment Since. This is the kind of storytelling that is so sophisticated and imbued with wisdom that it's evident she gained by maturity and life experience. The subject matter has been done before too often to give the impression that it wouldn't be of interest, but in this particular instance my intuition from reading her Author's Note it is written from the heart to pay tribute to all victims of the past and all those in the future who her characters represent. It's a common occurrence that could happen to anyone of us. My intuition is that this author's motive for writing such a story comes from the purest intentions to honor the lives of all the innocent children who have disappeared. It also is unique in the realism of the guilt that the families have suffered when it could happen to anyone of us. This heartbreaking story explores the overwhelming grief that the families that have lost a child suffer from blaming themselves when it's not their fault. Their lives are devastated living with so much unimaginable pain and regret as if they could have prevented it. This is special in that there's nothing sensationalizing what transpires. Having read her Author's Note my assumption of her reason to write this is not to entertain readers who are drawn to dark content. Just like keeping a diary or journal helps people gain clarity from reading their thoughts by the act of writing their feelings down. It's my belief that it's possible that published authors gain therapeutic benefits from their talents at crafting a narrative that they have witnessed. When I read this Author's Note it's clear that she was carrying a striking event that we both happened to have seen in a movie based on a famous true story that as both being mother's is the type of horror that is unforgettable. I'm not a mind reader and this is only my opinion, nothing more than that. My intuition that's a personal feeling could one of many reasons this story exists stems from a selfless desire to offer hope to families who have lived a similar fate and that by reading this helps them not feel less alone? Could she resemble the infinite number of people who write in their journals seeking to understand themselves utilizing transferring thoughts onto the page? Only she knows what drove her to have the idea to write this beautifully crafted story. Herself and those she shared her reasons know what insights she has mined that her brilliant character development that illuminates the depth of trauma that inhabit four specific people in this stunning portrait. If her goal was to make us remember all of those unfortunate to have been victimized by the events in this story. In my experience of how I felt while reading this will be that she achieved her objective with how authentic this felt to me. I had finished this with feeling nothing but empathy for all four characters portrayed that intersect in the final pages. As a mother with young adult sons, I related most to the mother with a deep seated visceral reaction that any mother would never forget. I can't begin to imagine how countless mothers, fathers and siblings have dealt with the loss of a child in their families. I know on some level it strikes your heart like a burning brand which will cause a memory that one carries forever. Just like this story will affect me forever leaving me grateful that I didn't endure it myself. I feel nothing but an unending supply of empathy towards every person by no fault of their own, having experienced the unthinkable of this firsthand.

In a small community twenty one years ago in 1985, Tabitha is trying to put on her make up to have a romantic evening with her husband with plans of getting together with good friends. I could feel how distracted she was when her oldest child who is fifteen years old named, Thaddeus is relentless to convince her to allow him and his friends to meet up to play what he called,"night games." She didn't seem comfortable and he explained it's the innocent games boys play during the day. At the same time her eleven year old son Davy pleads with her not to go out with her husband because he was scared that his parents were going out and leaving him home. She finally gave him permission with the stipulation that he take Davy and watch out for him. Thaddeus like a typical fifteen year old boy tells her what she needs to hear to allow him to get his way. Meanwhile the youngest child a little four year old girl named Kristyn is going to stay with the girl who lives next door.

Only Thaddeus doesn't want his eleven year old brother Davy hanging around him.

Davy disappears after losing track of a girl who is his age after they race back from spying on a man named Gordon Swift.

Twenty one years later.

Tabitha makes a list every week listing all of her regrets, the biggest one having never made it to her list. She's divorced which struck me as realistic but incredibly sad as most parents' grief is overwhelming. With each spouse if not turning towards each other for mutual support, their grief gets expressed in their own way. I wouldn't know but it's a well known statistic in the U.S., that most parents who lose a child get divorced. Tabitha gets notified by Anissa Weaver who was the young girl that last night with Davy is something she has kept to herself. She works for the sheriff as a Public Information Officer. The Sheriff sent her to notify Tabitha that Davy's jacket that his mother made for him which is what was unique that resembled what a character in his favorite movie wore.

A man who bought land found the jacket and turned it over to the authorities and the cold case gets reopened and with it a media storm ensues. Anissa's job is to comfort the family and try to shield them from the intrusive media.

Tabitha makes a phone call to Thaddeus telling him the news about t Davy's jacket being found and she tells her son that he must come home. Thaddeus doesn't want to come home. He tries to tell his mother that his bestselling memoir about their family's loss that he tours the Country at Author events won't permit it. He picks up a different female at every event, but he never develops a relationship since in my opinion his emotional development has been arrested since the age of fifteen when Davy disappeared. He has left out of the book the truth of what really happened. He never told his parents the truth either.

This book is emotionally complex in how this family has grown apart. What I felt was a powerful story that demonstrates how grief, regret and guilt has torn apart an intact family. How the four characters' lives intersect and the complex trauma are masterfully handled by this author. It manages to be an exploration of a family's way of not having processed the gamut of the psychological toll which they have to face now. Literary fiction rarely offers a character study combined with a suspenseful plot. It deeply affected me. This novel deserves to reach as wide an audience as possible with this heartfelt written story.


"She hadn't appreciated how rare and fleeting it would all be,
that the simplest moments were actually remarkable. She'd
looked right past them, her eyes always scanning the horizon
for something else. She'd had it all, and then it was all gone.
She would regret those oversights for the rest of her life,
no matter how many times she wrote that she regretted
nothing."

Publication Date: October 1, 2024

Thank you to Net Galley, Marybeth Mayhew Whalen and Harper Muse for providing me with my Amazing ARC, in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#EveryMomentSicnce #MarybethMayhewWhalen #HarperMuse #NetGalley

So much more than a missing person thriller, this novel explores the impact on the lives of family members, witnesses, police, and the primary suspect. Told from multiple perspectives in two different timelines, the characters were vividly drawn and the pacing kept me turning the pages. Highly recommended

Thanks to NetGalley and Clarion Books for an advanced reader copy

Marybeth Whalen's novel about child loss is a heart-rending perspective on the people attached to the child. Davy Malcor, age 11, went missing from his small North Carolina town in 1985. Davy's parents were out, and his older brother TJ (Thaddeus) was supposed to watch out for him. Twenty-one years later, the story reveals the actions, thoughts, and feelings of each person connected to Davy and to the event of his disappearance.

Whalen's writing is wonderful. The story's flow kept me riveted from beginning to end. I recommend this thoughtful piece about love and grief.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of the book, which will be published on October 1, 2024.

Every Moment Since will tug at your heart and soul. Characters and settings are beautifully developed to the point I felt I was living in the community with the family of the long-missing child. The sad story swirls around several family members as they grapple with loss, lingering doubts, and love.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Muse for the opportunity to read this ARC.