Don't Look for Me: A Novel

Wendy Walker

Sep 2020 · Sold by St. Martin's Press

About this ebook

A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year
“A twisty, hair-raising tale.”– Newsweek
"A fast-paced psychological drama." – GMA.com
“Compulsively readable.” – PopSugar
"Reinforces Walker’s place at the top of the genre." – Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Addictive." – A.J. Finn, New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window
"Gripping." – Adrian McGinty, New York Times bestselling author of The Chain

They said she walked away. But what really happened to Molly Clarke?
From the bestselling author of All Is Not Forgotten comes a compelling and emotionally powerful story of a daughter's desperate search to find her mother before it's too late.

They called it a “walk away.” The car abandoned miles from home. The note found at a nearby hotel. The shattered family. It happens all the time. Women disappear, desperate to start over. But what really happened to Molly Clarke?

The night Molly disappeared began with a storm, running out of gas, and a man offering her a ride to safety. But when the doors lock shut, Molly begins to suspect she has made a terrible mistake.

A new lead brings Molly’s daughter, Nicole, back to the small, desolate town where her mother was last seen to renew the desperate search. The locals are sympathetic and eager to help. The innkeeper. The bartender. Even the police. Until secrets begin to reveal themselves and Nicole comes closer to the truth about that night—and the danger surrounding her.

Ratings and reviews

Wendy Walker supplies her readers with another taut thriller: Don’t Look for Me. This standalone novel centers around the sudden disappearance of a woman, Molly Clarke, as she was returning home during a storm. It is assumed that she has purposefully run away from her family, ravaged with guilt over her role in the accidental death of her youngest child. Her oldest daughter, Nicole (Nic), refuses to give up the search for her mother even though everyone else seems to be quickly resuming their lives. Nic returns to Hastings, the small, run down New England town where her mother’s car was found abandoned. She had been contacted by a woman who claims to have seen Molly that night. Although her description and details are convincing, Nic and the authorities in town are suspicious that this new witness is motivated to collect the offered reward. Still, Nic wants to know how this woman came to know things that were not released to the public. The novel pivots back and forth between Molly and Nicole’s points-of-view, back and forth over the course of several days following Molly’s absence. Nic is tormented by her own memories and deeply conflicting feelings about her mother as a result of her sister’s death. Her struggles with alcoholism and compulsive promiscuity interfere with her judgement, but the men of Hastings she encounters all seem to be deceiving her in some way. It is the type of town that traps those who lack the wits to escape, and it becomes apparent that Molly is not the first woman who has inexplicably vanished from its boundaries. Walker skillfully interweaves timelines to a satisfying end, with some unexpected twists and a complex but credible conclusion. Although the inner monologues of the two women are at times repetitive, the characters are well-rendered and their emotional depth is impressively depicted. Don’t Look for Me would be a good pick for those looking for some solid suspense this Fall and fans of Wendy Walker will be sated by her latest effort. Thanks to the author, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a pre-release copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

I received a free electronic ARC of this spine-chilling novel from Netgalley, Wendy Walker, and St. Martin's Press. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. Wendy Walker writes a novel with tight, fast action, empathetic protagonists, and deeply felt emotions. It is a look at and exposure of the 'walk away' disappearances of women, questioning the veracity of that case closure and the sins behind it. Yes, it does happen - once in a blue moon. All those other women were taken and/or killed and buried deep. We do not see Molly's husband John nor her college-bound son Evan, but they too play a roll in this tale. It is nigh on to impossible to tell the good guys from the bad guys in "Don't Look For Me". The characters are all a little bit of both and it doesn't really shake out until the very end though we will be fairly sure it is one or the other one early on. I love a tale that keeps you guessing... We see the action from the viewpoint of the mother, Molly, or her 20-year-old daughter Nicole. The Clarke family, is still in crisis following the accidental death of the youngest child, nine-year-old Annie, five years ago to the day. The Clarke's are perhaps easier to manipulate than would be the average family, and though most are in or have been in counseling the guilt and angst stirred up by that death are still there in every waking moment and some of the sleeping ones as well. Our scene of the crime is a tiny village on Route 7, Hastings, Connecticut, one of the old industrial hubs of the eastern seaboard, a town with a slowly dying population since the last major employer shut down their pharmaceutical plant. Hastings is isolated from major thoroughfares to and from the larger east coast cities. There is no other traffic on old two-lane Route 7, and her normal mid-trip stop when visiting her son's college, the Gas and Go, is unexpectedly closed. The weather is dicey, with a category four hurricane in the offing. And Molly is running out of gas...

This was my first taste of Wendy Walker and I can smugly state I picked an excellent starting point to sample her lovely wares. Her storylines were frighteningly realistic and so emotive and tautly written that my kindle seemed to be vibrating from the tension and I am now in need of a spa day to work out the knots in my neck and catch my breath, which I often caught myself holding during perusal. This was a complex, gripping, and heart-squeezing tale laced with tragedy, grief, intrigue, and family drama. There were numerous tangled webs as well as oddly compelling characters to unravel, and this wily wordsmith kept me guessing on several fronts. I fell right into her evocative prose, which smoothly scrolled through my gray matter with sharp imagery and heart-wrenching scenarios. It was marvelous.

About the author

WENDY WALKER is the author of the psychological suspense novels All is Not Forgotten, Emma In The Night, The Night Before, and Don't Look For Me. Her novels have been translated into 23 foreign languages and have topped bestseller lists both nationally and abroad. They have been featured on The Today Show, The Reese Witherspoon Book Club, and The Book of the Month Club and have been optioned for television and film. Prior to her writing career, Wendy practiced both corporate and family law, having earned her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and her undergraduate degree from Brown University. Wendy also worked as a financial analyst at Goldman, Sachs & Co. Wendy is currently finishing her next thriller and managing a busy household in Connecticut.