Tag: Mary Kubica

Book Review: Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica

Local Woman Missing
Author: Mary Kubica
Published: May 18, 2021
Audiobook

Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: March 2-8, 2022
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars

Book Description:

People don’t just disappear without a trace….

Shelby Tebow is the first to go missing. Not long after, Meredith Dickey and her six-year-old daughter, Delilah, vanish just blocks away from where Shelby was last seen, striking fear into their once-peaceful community. Are these incidents connected? After an elusive search that yields more questions than answers, the case eventually goes cold.

Now, 11 years later, Delilah shockingly returns. Everyone wants to know what happened to her, but no one is prepared for what they’ll find….

In this smart and chilling thriller, master of suspense and New York Times best-selling author Mary Kubica takes domestic secrets to a whole new level, showing that some people will stop at nothing to keep the truth buried.

Jessica’s Review:

Mary Kubica has mainly been a miss for me. I enjoyed her first novel The Good Girl but figured out the big reveal. And I like to have my mind blown and not figure ‘it’ out. I had read some of her other novels, but then decided she was not an author for me. Authors will not reach every reader. Then I heard about Local Woman Missing and it was seemingly getting good reviews, so I decided to give her one more try… And I am so glad I did! I was drawn in from the beginning and had no idea what direction it was going to go let alone what that ending would be! And that last 20%: OMG!!! That last portion of the book was very intense and I HAD to finish it!

Local Woman Missing has what I like in it: multiple narrators and we also have the two timelines: Present and 11 years ago. Are the missing women connected or not? Eleven years later how and why did Deliah return? And what secrets does she have?

The novel is far from perfect with the lack of believability in it and unanswered questions along with some decisions made by certain characters. I just enjoyed this novel for what it was and went for the ride. Local Woman Missing did have me forgive Mary Kubica, and if she writes a novel that interests me, I might read it.

I listened to the audiobook and there were multiple narrators, which also helped with my enjoyment of the novel.

Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK

Every Last Lie

Author: Mary Kubica
Published: June 27, 2017
AUDIOBOOK

Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: August 6-21, 2017
Jessica’s Rating: 3 Stars

Book Description from Amazon:

Clara Solberg’s world shatters when her husband and their four-year-old daughter are in a car crash, killing Nick while Maisie is remarkably unharmed. The crash is ruled an accident…until the coming days, when Maisie starts having night terrors that make Clara question what really happened on that fateful afternoon.

Tormented by grief and her obsession that Nick’s death was far more than just an accident, Clara is plunged into a desperate hunt for the truth. Who would have wanted Nick dead? And, more important, why? Clara will stop at nothing to find out—and the truth is only the beginning of this twisted tale of secrets and deceit.

Told in the alternating perspectives of Clara’s investigation and Nick’s last months leading up to the crash, master of suspense Mary Kubica weaves her most chilling thriller to date—one that explores the dark recesses of a mind plagued by grief and shows that some secrets might be better left buried.

Jessica’s Review:

Mary Kubica may not be the author for me.  I did enjoy her first book The Good Girl, but I figured out the big twist to it. I wish I had not as I would have enjoyed it much more. I have read all of her books except Don’t You Cry and I do still plan to give it a chance and read it.  The book description of Every Last Lie intrigued me and I was excited to find out my library offered it as an audiobook. Knowing there are two narrators (Nick from before the accident and also Clara), I was ready for this book! I am a huge fan of multiple points of views in books.

Nick dies in a car crash while his and Clara’s young daughter Maisie survives unharmed. The crash is ruled an accident but Clara has her doubts and believes that someone killed Nick. She has no idea why someone would kill Nick. She starts digging and discovering secrets that her husband had that makes her wonder if she ever really knew him.

Days before Nick dies in the accident Clara gives birth to their second child.  Giving birth and also dealing with Nick’s death, Clara experiences a wide range of emotions throughout the novel.  Mary Kubica got these emotions spot on!  I actually had to stop listening to the audiobook for a short time as the emotions Clara experienced affected me.  Those emotions felt 100% real and I started to identify with them.  Once I was in a better place, I picked the audiobook back up and started it over.

It is a slower paced novel but I never lost interest in it. I really wanted to know what happened with Nick. The direction that the author chose to go with was not for me.  It was an unexpected route that people will either like or dislike.  For me it was a big build up to get to the conclusion, which not deliver.  There are some other things I did not like about the novel: There are several times that Clara leaves her children in the car alone while she ‘investigates’.  No child should ever be left in car alone, especially small children, with one being an infant.  There was also one decision that Clara made towards the end that was a bit extreme for me. Nick also ends up having so many secrets it seems unrealistic that Clara would not have known something was going on.

Every Last Lie was not for me, so I can’t recommend it.

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Author Spotlight: Mary Kubica

Mary-Kubica-9-websitesmall

Courtesy of Mary Kubica

Mary Kubica has written three novels. Her novels are of the thriller/suspense genre. I have read two of her three novels and will review the two I have read in this Author Spotlight. I have not read her newest, but hope to read it relatively soon and review it on this blog.

Mary’s Writings:
The Good Girl
Pretty Baby
Don’t You Cry


18812405

352 Pages in Kindle

Published: July 29, 2014
Dates Read: January 3-10, 2016

My Rating: 3 Stars

 

Book Summary from Amazon:

“I’ve been following her for the past few days. I know where she buys her groceries, where she has her dry cleaning done, where she works. I don’t know the color of her eyes or what they look like when she’s scared. But I will.”

One night, Mia Dennett enters a bar to meet her on-again, off-again boyfriend. But when he doesn’t show, she unwisely leaves with an enigmatic stranger. At first Colin Thatcher seems like a safe one-night stand. But following Colin home will turn out to be the worst mistake of Mia’s life.

When Colin decides to hide Mia in a secluded cabin in rural Minnesota instead of delivering her to his employers, Mia’s mother, Eve, and detective Gabe Hoffman will stop at nothing to find them. But no one could have predicted the emotional entanglements that eventually cause this family’s world to shatter.

An addictively suspenseful and tautly written thriller, The Good Girl is a propulsive debut that reveals how even in the perfect family, nothing is as it seems.

 

My review:

This is the first novel by Mary Kubica and I enjoyed this book! I read it in 8 days which I usually average 2-3 weeks to read a book. It was hard to put down. I wanted to know what was going to happen next, but… The thing is, I knew there was a twist and I figured out what that twist was going to be. If I had not figured it out, I know I would have been blown away by the book, especially with the last line! I enjoy thinking I know what a twist will be and NOT being right.

I recommend the book and will be reading more books by Mary Kubica.


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400 Pages in Kindle

Published: July 28, 2015
Dates Read: January 12-25, 2016

My Rating: 3 Stars

 

Book Summary from Amazon:

She sees the teenage girl on the train platform, standing in the pouring rain, clutching an infant in her arms. She boards a train and is whisked away. But she can’t get the girl out of her head…

Heidi Wood has always been a charitable woman: she works for a nonprofit, takes in stray cats. Still, her husband and daughter are horrified when Heidi returns home one day with a young woman named Willow and her four-month-old baby in tow. Disheveled and apparently homeless, this girl could be a criminal—or worse. But despite her family’s objections, Heidi invites Willow and the baby to take refuge in their home.

Heidi spends the next few days helping Willow get back on her feet, but as clues into Willow’s past begin to surface, Heidi is forced to decide how far she’s willing to go to help a stranger. What starts as an act of kindness quickly spirals into a story far more twisted than anyone could have anticipated.

 

My review:

This is Mary Kubica’s second novel. I thought the premise of the book was very interesting! I enjoyed the different perspectives in this as in The Good Girl.

It was a little too slow paced for me. Some parts of the book you can see coming. The last 6 chapters really picked up for me. My mouth dropped a few times with what happened towards the end.

Not as good at The Good Girl to me, I still recommend it and look forward to reading Mary’s third novel.


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320 Pages in Hardback

Published: May 17, 2016

 

Book Summary from Amazon:

In downtown Chicago, a young woman named Esther Vaughan disappears from her apartment without a trace. A haunting letter addressed to My Dearest is found among her possessions, leaving her friend and roommate Quinn Collins to wonder where Esther is and whether or not she’s the person Quinn thought she knew.

Meanwhile, in a small Michigan harbor town an hour outside Chicago, a mysterious woman appears in the quiet coffee shop where eighteen-year-old Alex Gallo works as a dishwasher. He is immediately drawn to her charm and beauty, but what starts as an innocent crush quickly spirals into something far more dark and sinister than he ever expected.

As Quinn searches for answers about Esther, and Alex is drawn further under the stranger’s spell, master of suspense Mary Kubica takes readers on a taut and twisted thrill ride that builds to a stunning conclusion and shows that no matter how fastand far we run, the past always catches up with us in the end.

 

 

This is Mary Kubica’s third novel. I have not read this, so I can not review it. I do hope to read it soon and give it a proper review on this site. I always enjoy thrillers, so I am sure I will enjoy it. It looks like we get multiple points of view in this book, which I always enjoy!!!

 

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