Review of Don't Look for Me by Wendy Walker

Walker offers a terrifying, disturbing premise--but I was fascinated with the character depth, explorations of grief, and the twist I never saw coming in this suspenseful book.

Molly Clarke is dealing with bottomless grief. Her youngest daughter died in an unthinkable accident, and for Molly, making her way through each day is like wading through floodwaters threatening to drown her.

So she walks away--from her distant husband, her always-furious oldest daughter, her absent middle son, her broken life, and her relentless pain. At least, that's what the clues left behind seem to indicate.

But the truth of what has occurred is horrible, terrifying, twisty--and absolutely fascinating. Don't Look for Me has disturbing echoes of Emma Donoghue's Room, and Walker's premise is often difficult to read and experience on the page.

But I was pleasantly surprised by the generous character depth, explorations of grief, and self-actualization Walker offers within her suspenseful, gripping Don't Look for Me. Situations aren't black-and-white, and terrible pain sometimes leads to intense realizations in what feel like realistically messy routes toward closure.

Our main protagonists are satisfyingly clever and resourceful, but they meet with plausibly complicated challenges, and nothing is too easy. There was a twist that I didn't see coming, and I thought it worked beautifully. Some of the wrap-up details near the very end felt a little bit unsatisfying, but resolving them cleanly might have felt too easy. I was intrigued by this book and flew through it in a day.

Do you have any Bossy thoughts about this book?

My book club likes to tackle a mystery read as one of our summer books, and this was our most recent one.

Wendy Walker has written multiple other books, including All Is Not Forgotten and Emma in the Night. I can't wait to read more by this author.