Book Review: Don’t Look for Me | Wendy Walker

I was reflecting after finishing Don’t Look for Me that I want to find a way to describe Wendy Walker’s books stylistically. While she writes psychological thrillers, the resolutions to her stories tend to blend a twist with layers of emotion and often healing. If they weren’t so heart-pounding, they could almost fall into dramatic fiction. Don’t Look for Me is another perfect example of Walker’s work and why readers grow to care about what happens to her characters. Smart, layered, and suspenseful!

What is Don’t Look for Me about?

One night, Molly Clarke walked away from her life. She left behind a son, a daughter, and a husband. Her car was found abandoned, far from home on a remote stretch of road. Women disappear all the time. Sometimes they leave their lives behind and just walk away. Molly left a note for her family, imploring them “Don’t look for me.” What really happened to Molly?

Molly Clarke was the perfect mother and wife before everything in her life shattered in one horrible moment. She lost her youngest daughter in a terrible accident—one she’s never forgiven herself for. In the wake of it, Molly and her family fell apart. Her older daughter Nicole has never forgiven her (or herself). For five years, Nicole has harbored guilt over what happened that day—guilt she often took out on her mother. Molly and her husband used to have an ideal marriage, but after that day they became like strangers. Molly suspects he is having an affair. She can’t totally blame him

That’s not the whole story of what happened to Molly on the night she disappeared, though. A storm kicked up and Molly ran out of gas. A man in a truck stopped to offer her a ride to town. She wanted to say no, but with him was a little girl that reminds her so much of the daughter she lost. Suddenly Molly wants to be home more than anything. She accepts the ride. But when it’s clear that they are not headed into town, Molly begins to get nervous. Is it really due to the storm like the man says, or did she make a terrible mistake getting into that truck?

Molly’s daughter Nicole may have spent years wallowing in grief and anger, but she can’t believe her mother would just leave the way she did. Nicole goes to the place where her car was found, searching for answers. Nicole finds a small group of locals who seem to want to help—a bartender who worked right near where it happened; an innkeeper who lets her stay; the police officer who helps even though it appears to be intentional. The more Nicole learns about that night and the town, the more disturbing it all seems. As Nicole gets closer to the truth, her mother may not be the only one in danger…

What did I think of Don’t Look for Me?

There is so much to unpack in this book. Molly and Nicole are the authentic characters that I have come to expect and love in Wendy Walker’s novels—flawed, grieving, and unable to pull themselves to the surface in the wake of tragedy. For Molly, this means thinking that she is a burden to her family—that they can’t forgive her. She may need to accept that her family would be better without her. For Nicole, this means spiraling into alcohol abuse and one night stands, destroying her once-promising future and becoming a shell of her former self.

The story follows two plotlines. One thread starts with Molly deciding to get into the truck, and follows what unfolds from there. That story is eerie, unsettling, and heart-pounding. The other thread follows Nicole as she goes to the place where her mother was last seen to try and find her. Nicole’s story is raw, emotional, and teetering on destruction. We learn through Nicole’s eyes that her father doesn’t really seem to be looking for Molly. Nicole is convinced he is having an affair, and she’s disappointed that he has turned away from her mother. Nicole is barely holding herself together, but she’s also the only person who seems to think something terrible happened to Molly.

Kidnapping stories are a tough read for me. The trapped, claustrophobic feeling the victim is experiencing seems to jump off the page and grab hold of me. However, in this case the story was so well-written and intriguing, I was able to stay glued to the page. In a way, the kidnapping brings Molly back to life. Initially she goes through what many women experience—the feeling that something isn’t right, but worrying about offending or causing a scene if she points it out. But eventually, the old Molly—the one from before the accident—takes over. This Molly is sharp, attentive, and good at reading people.

The key to Molly’s fate rests partly on Nicole, but partly on Molly herself and what she can learn from the girl in the house. Molly was a fantastic mother and teacher. She knows how to slowly build trust with this girl and glean information from her. The girl is erratic and often acts much younger than her age. At times she is kind, but she’s also cruel. She centers everything around herself. Rather than judge her, Molly sees her for what she clearly is—a girl who was raised in this house of lies, unable to go outside or interact with others. The scenes between Molly and the girl were captivating and frustrating. Why couldn’t this girl see that the man has been lying to her?

The two stories slowly creep closer together as Nicole follows any lead she can to find her mother, and Molly unravels what is really happening in the house she’s trapped in with the man and the girl. The closer Molly and Nicole get to uncovering the truth, the more terrifying the story becomes. I was in a chokehold reading this book. I couldn’t look away but I was also scared of what might happen next. The ending is satisfying in terms of resolution to the central tension, but also emotionally. Walker once again delivers a story that is equal parts suspenseful and heartbreaking. Will Molly and Nicole find a happy ending through all of this? And what will be left of their lives if they manage to escape?

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for my copy. Opinions are my own.

If you liked Don’t Look for Me, what should you read next?

About the Book

One night, Molly Clarke walked away from her life. The car abandoned miles from home. The note found at a nearby hotel. The shattered family that couldn’t be put back together. It happens all the time. Women disappear, desperate to leave their lives behind and start over. She doesn’t want to be found. Or at least, that’s the story. But is that what really happened to Molly Clarke?

The night Molly disappeared began with a storm, running out of gas, and a man in a truck offering her a ride to town. With him is a little girl who reminds her of the daughter she lost years ago. It feels like a sign. And Molly is overcome with the desire to be home, with her family—no matter how broken it is. She accepts the ride. But when the doors are locked shut, Molly begins to suspect she has made a terrible mistake.

When a new lead comes in after the search has ended, Molly’s daughter, Nicole, begins to wonder. Nothing about her mother’s disappearance makes sense.

Nicole returns to the small, desolate town where her mother was last seen to find the truth. The locals are kind and eager to help. The innkeeper. The bartender. Even the police. Until secrets begin to reveal themselves and she comes closer to the truth about that night—and the danger surrounding her.