What She Knew
A Novel
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4.1 • 673 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
In her enthralling debut, Gilly Macmillan explores a mother’s search for her missing son, weaving a taut psychological thriller as gripping and skillful as The Girl on the Train and The Guilty One.
In a heartbeat, everything changes…
Rachel Jenner is walking in a Bristol park with her eight-year-old son, Ben, when he asks if he can run ahead. It’s an ordinary request on an ordinary Sunday afternoon, and Rachel has no reason to worry—until Ben vanishes.
Police are called, search parties go out, and Rachel, already insecure after her recent divorce, feels herself coming undone. As hours and then days pass without a sign of Ben, everyone who knew him is called into question, from Rachel’s newly married ex-husband to her mother-of-the-year sister. Inevitably, media attention focuses on Rachel too, and the public’s attitude toward her begins to shift from sympathy to suspicion.
As she desperately pieces together the threadbare clues, Rachel realizes that nothing is quite as she imagined it to be, not even her own judgment. And the greatest dangers may lie not in the anonymous strangers of every parent’s nightmares, but behind the familiar smiles of those she trusts the most.
Where is Ben? The clock is ticking...
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Gilly Macmillan’s psychological thriller kept us up way too late—we kept telling ourselves we’d read just one more page. The book opens with a nightmare scenario: One moment, Rachel and her eight-year-old son, Ben, are in the park; the next, he’s vanished. And things just get more suspenseful from there. As the recently divorced Rachel crumples under a barrage of social media attention, police detective Jim Clemo uncovers multiple family secrets that could explain the child’s fate. Macmillan’s crisp dialogue and expertly paced plot kept us hooked all the way to the explosive climax. Put the coffee on now—you’ll be up late.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
British author Macmillan alternates between two narrators in her haunting first novel: Rachel Finch, a grieving mother whose eight-year-old son, Ben, disappears from the Leigh Woods in Bristol 10 months after her husband left her for another woman; and Det. Insp. James "Jim" Clemo, who tirelessly searches to find Ben. Rachel can't forgive herself for letting her son run alone in the forest, and Jim blames himself for not solving the case sooner. In the aftermath of the investigation, Rachel learns disturbing things about her past and comes to the painful conclusion that she can trust only a few people in her life. Meanwhile, Jim suffers from severe depression that leads to acute insomnia and panic attacks, causing his department to mandate counseling sessions. The suspense intensifies as suspects are ruled out, and the media relentlessly pursue Rachel for negligent supervision of her son. Readers will have a tough time putting this one down.
Customer Reviews
Interesting
I enjoyed the plot as well as each character's perception presented in chapter form. I would have liked more dialogue and less descriptive narration.
Extremely
Well written. Most thrillers are just repeats/copies of well texted formulas. This is not one of those. Original but emotionally tough to read at times
What she knew
Great book