Darlene's Book Nook: #Audiobook #Review: 4 out of 5 stars for What She Knew by Gilly Macmillan @GillyMacmillan @HarperAudio

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

#Audiobook #Review: 4 out of 5 stars for What She Knew by Gilly Macmillan @GillyMacmillan @HarperAudio

TITLE: What She Knew

SERIES: Jim Clemo, Book #1
AUTHOR: Gilly Macmillan

NARRATOR: Penelope Rawlins and Dugald Bruce-Lockhart

PUBLISHER: Harper Audio

PUBLICATION DATE: December 1, 2015

FORMAT: Unabridged audiobook

LENGTH: 11 hrs and 53 mins

GENRE: Mystery
ISBN: 9780062444622

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:

This book is every mom's worst nightmare!

Rachel takes her son, eight-year-old Ben, to the park and he begs to run off ahead of her as children often do. She allows him to do so, and then he is gone. The police are called, and a search turns up Ben's clothes. It is evident that someone has taken him.

I really felt for Rachel. The public scrutiny is unfair, and she's labelled a bad mother for allowing Ben to run ahead without her. The story is told through dual points of view from Rachel and Detective Jim Clemo.

Macmillan did a great job at raising suspicion towards multiple suspects, and I enjoyed trying to figure this one out! I thought it was a great debut, and I will certainly read more from this author.

I loved the dual narration by Penelope Rawlins and Dugald Bruce-Lockhart. This is a highly emotional story given the content, and they both conveyed the turmoil of the characters. Here is a sample of the narration:

MY RATING: