Missing Molly

Product Information

All-in-all, the book felt cheap. I guess I should have figured, considering that the tag line is “an unputdownable thriller that will leave you breathless” or whatever. For the love of God, stop calling mediocre books “The Next Gone Girl!” It was nowhere close. And, from now on, I think I’ll ignore any thriller that approximates itself as The Next ANYTHING.

Natalie Barelli and Lucy Price-Lewis in tandem do a great job of the drunken 'pissed' Rachel and her inebriated ramblings to her boyfriend before passing out. Woah. This book surprised me in the best possible way. I wanted to listen to an audiobook and found this one on Hoopla. I knew nothing about it except the short description that was provided which sounded interesting. I had no idea I would love it as much as I did. The narrator was what made this story for me. She did such a great job of connecting herself with the character. At times I would forget I was listening to a book and not an actual podcast or behind the scenes of a podcast. That is exactly how good the writing was and how well the narrator connected to this story. I could feel the emotion and when the main character was in pain I could feel it. When she was screaming out for her daughter it literally gave me knots in my stomach. The most glaring hole for me is the murder that is the basis of this book. A family got murdered by the police commissioner's son. The youngest daughter ran out of the house, escaped the murderer twice, ran to the police station, and told the police commissioner who the true murderer was. The commissioner calmed her down then called his son over to "take care of it". The girl overheard the call, got spooked, and bolted, never to be seen again. One: All the bad guys speak in a sing-song voice. I very much doubt that this is a general psychopathic trait. Makes the story unbelievable. Then when the main character asks a 3-year-old to tell me where they were in London I just lost the will to live. The book starts and gets you hooked on the characters from the first few short audio chapters. The story is from the point of view of Rachel Holloway, our slightly naive and unstable heroine. Lucy Price-Lewis does a great job of vocally defining the coworkers and other characters that dialog with Rachel. I was especially impressed with her vocal of Gracie, her three year old daughter.I was entertained and I liked the guessing game of whether Rachel really was Molly or if in fact she was psychotic, although I found myself searching for red herrings that I never found and didn’t get caught up in unexpected twists and turns like I’d hoped. There was one incident that initially surprised me but one I’d read it it made perfect sense and I was able to come up with the reasons behind this and who had done what quite easily.

Super engaging plot and easy to read, I enjoyed this one. I'm happy to be the first reviewer on Good Reads! I've enjoyed this author before, and I'm sure I will again. The main character often comes across as younger than she is, sometimes unaware of the meaning of words I'd consider relatively simple, which I was confused by at first but then realized it was down to her abnormal childhood. I figured this one out early and it has a bit of soap opera drama to it, but it was a fun ride. It gets a 3.5 from me, worth the read for suspense lovers who want an easy read with high stakes and a lot of drama. And now with the staffs’ podcast choice made, Rachel is suddenly griped with fear. She can’t let this happen! After all, Molly Forster is hiding in plain sight. Four: There are so many convenient coincidences that seem to happen (and I try not to give the plot away here). Like people just happen to be at the place where the evidence is? The book has an interesting premise, but the execution doesn't fulfill its potential. I personally would give this book a two. The audiobook gets a three because the performance really gives it emotional lift, which made me able to connect to Rachel when I least expected to. Also, minor spoiler, but the so-called “best friend” was a total bitch. She was only interested in the promotion of her own self interests. At no point was she actually a “friend” to Rachel/Molly. She was a jealous twat who was too consumed by envy to congratulate Molly on her own accomplishments. She often talked down to her, as though she were a mental patient with a learning disability.And, when the penultimate moment finally arrived, the best friend completely brushed Molly/Rachel off, as though she were a child and not a 28 year old woman with good instincts. Thank you to NetGalley, The Last Bureau and Natalie Barelli for an ARC to read in exchange for an honest review. The first few chapters were a bit slow, but it was understandable because it was just the beginning. I’m glad I didn’t put it down. The plot had a lot of turns, but not as much twists as I had expected. I loved Barelli’s easy writing and the fact that this novel went on for how long it needed to be.