What She Knew by Gilly Macmillan
(Excerpt from Goodreads) In her enthralling debut, Gilly Macmillan explores a mother’s search for her missing son, weaving a taut psychological thriller as gripping and skillful as The Girl on the Train and The Guilty One.
In a heartbeat, everything changes…
Rachel Jenner is walking in a Bristol park with her eight-year-old son, Ben, when he asks if he can run ahead. It’s an ordinary request on an ordinary Sunday afternoon, and Rachel has no reason to worry—until Ben vanishes.
Police are called, search parties go out, and Rachel, already insecure after her recent divorce, feels herself coming undone. As hours and then days pass without a sign of Ben, everyone who knew him is called into question, from Rachel’s newly married ex-husband to her mother-of-the-year sister. Inevitably, media attention focuses on Rachel too, and the public’s attitude toward her begins to shift from sympathy to suspicion.
As she desperately pieces together the threadbare clues, Rachel realizes that nothing is quite as she imagined it to be, not even her own judgment. And the greatest dangers may lie not in the anonymous strangers of every parent’s nightmares, but behind the familiar smiles of those she trusts the most.
Where is Ben? The clock is ticking…
My Review
5 stars
Rachel Jenner has divorced her husband in the last year. He has moved on and remarried but Rachel is still broken from the divorce. But she does everything for her son, Ben. He has had trouble in the past from the divorce but with the help of his teachers he seems to have come through. One Sunday they are at the park playing and Ben wants to go ahead. Rachel lets him and doesn’t see him again. It is now a race against time to try and find Ben.
This book is told alternately between Rachel and James. Rachel is the grieving mother but it is quickly turned against her in social media when people start blaming her for his disappearance. It is also a race since James knows that most cases are solved in the first 48 hours after the disappearance.
This is a heartbreaking and riveting story. I couldn’t help wanting to stand beside Rachel and fight those that were accusing her. I have seen how fast those that are innocently asked for help via social media quickly get everything turned on them and they become the accused. And it seems with each clue the story evolves and made me question what I though could have happened.
For a debut book, What She Knew is a knock out. It is a great psychological thriller up to the last page. Make sure you get a copy of this book, you will NOT be disappointed.
To purchase What She Knew, or for more information make sure to check out Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Goodreads.
I received What She Knew for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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