Thank you Libro.fm / William Morrow for the ALC and William Morrow, #partner for the advanced e-copy of Caller Unknow in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: William Morrow / William Morrow
Published: May 5, 2026
Summary:
How far would you go to rescue your child? A mother races against the clock—and finds herself on the wrong side of the law—in a desperate fight to save her teenage daughter in this pulse-pounding thriller from the author of Reese’s Book Club Pick and New York Times bestseller Wrong Place Wrong Time.
There is nothing that Simone won’t do for her daughter, Lucy. The two have always been close, and with Lucy about to leave home for university, they depart the UK for a vacation to Texas to spend some quality time together. But when Simone awakens on their first morning in the desert, Lucy is gone, missing from their rental cabin. In her place is a cell phone, and a voice on the other line issues a shocking ransom demand. Don’t tell the police. Come to this location. And be prepared to do a deal…
Though Simone’s husband urges her to bring in the authorities for help, she knows she can’t take any chances. The kidnappers might kill Lucy if she tells anyone. No mother would take that risk. Instead, that night, she drives to the isolated meet-up.
What she finds there changes everything. The mysterious kidnapper doesn’t want money. They want Simone to do something. The unthinkable.
A catastrophic chain of events is set in motion, with chilling consequences that extend beyond Simone and her family. What follows is a heart-pounding journey through the small towns and punishing deserts of remote Texas, in which Simone’s courage—and morality—is pushed to the brink as she discovers what it truly means to be a mother.
My thoughts:
Gillian McAllister is one of those authors that I automatically reach for, no matter the book. Her thrillers are always binge-worthy, full of twists, impossible to put down and this latest one is no exception!
What I love most about McAllister’s book is how she manages to create stories that keep you on edge where you don’t know what to expect next. And she takes ordinary people and puts them in challenging situations – this could happen to you or I and that is just so incredibly frightening and makes for such a compelling read! The whole time I was reading this, I kept thinking, what would I do? Would I be making these same choices as Simone?
This is such a tense and emotional journey. We see the lengths a mother goes to for the love of their child, the sacrifices one is willing to make, and the secrets one is willing to keep, all in the name of love. The writing is sharp and it is filled with messy, emotional drama as much as it is anxiety-inducing fear – and with twists you don’t see coming, it really is a great thriller that keeps you guessing all the way through!
Audio thoughts:
I thought the audio of this, narrated by Juliet Rylance, was fantastic! Not only did she do a great job with the voices, but she infused just the right amount of tension to her voice that added more unease to the story. It was very well-done.
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