{Guest Review: Courtney} She's Not There by Joy Fielding

Page Count: 368 

Published On: February 23, 2016

Published By: Ballantine Books

Genre(s): Mystery, Thriller, Fiction

Source: University Library 

Age Rating: Adult fiction

Where To Find It: Amazon // Book Depository

My Rating: 4 stars

Goodreads Synopsis: 

A novel of psychological suspense about a woman whose life takes a shocking turn when a young girl contacts her, claiming to be her daughter, kidnapped in Mexico years earlier, from the New York Times bestselling author of Someone is Watching.

A lifetime ago, every year Caroline Shipley looked forward to her wedding anniversary. But then a celebratory trip to Mexico for the occasion with her husband and friends ended in the unsolved kidnapping of her infant daughter, Samantha. Now, fifteen years after that horrific time, divorced and isolated,Caroline is forced to relive the kidnapping by reporters who call every year on the anniversary of Samantha’s disappearance. However, this year when the phone rings, Caroline hears the sweet voice of a girl claiming to be her long-lost daughter. Plunged back into the world of heartbreak, suspicion and questions that led the case to run cold so many years ago, Caroline doesn’t know what or who to believe. But when she starts to figure it out, she finds the answers dangerously close to home.

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      As this review begins, I want to start out by saying that I never would have picked up this book if it had not of been for my boss. The only reason this book came into my life was because my boss had become annoyed with me because I was sitting at the library circulation desk and just staring off into space. She instructed me to go find a book to keep myself occupied during a slow day at work. I got up, I grabbed the first book I saw and ended up really enjoying it. I usually read YA contemporaries, so this was definitely out of my comfort zone. In the end, I am so glad I did because Joy Fielding has become a new favorite author. I have another one of her books in my work locker to read in the near future.

     The book is filled with flashback scenes as well as scenes that are set in the present. The book starts fifteen years ago when our main character is happily married with two beautiful children. This all quickly changes when one of her children Samantha, is kidnapped from a resort on a family trip to Mexico. This book follows the events that unfold from Carole’s point of view in the years following. She becomes the victim of the media and eventually divorces her husband and becomes estranged from her other daughter Michelle.

      Out of the blew close to the fifteenth anniversary of her daughter's disappearance she gets a phone call from a young woman claiming that she believes she is Samantha and from there it takes us on the journey of finding out the truth. I won’t go into any more details to save you from the spoilers so you can take the journey I took. But I will say it is worth the read and I highly recommend it.

      She's Not There has striking similarities to the May 2007 disappearance of Madeline McCann. She was snatched from her bed in a resort in Praia da Luz, a resort in Portugal. Her abduction occurred while her parents were in a restaurant below her. The McCann case caused an uproar because of the circumstances revolving around the disappearance. Though this book is fiction and does not end like the case does in real life the similarities are definitely there but the story still stands on its own and is very intriguing. As someone who loves true crime novels and actually follows the types of cases in true crime fiction novels, I really enjoyed the plot and pace of this novel. It had me on the edge of my seat the entire time.

Thank you guys for reading! Courtney {Instagram}

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