“Something’s wrong. Something’s wrong, thudded her heartbeat.”
Just Another Missing Person, Gillian McAllister
My book club read Wrong Place, Wrong Time last year, and I was enthralled. Then I read The Good Sister, and I knew I was going to read everything Gillian McAllister writes. Just Another Missing Person has all the hallmarks of a McAllister thriller: concerned parents, morally gray decisions, and emotional intensity. The three narrators are parents, each with a kid in their late teens/early twenties. Julia is a detective with a high-school aged daughter, Lewis is the father of a missing girl, and Emma’s son was a person of interest when his girlfriend went missing a year ago. The three parents all orbit around each other, occasionally connecting, as a new girl has gone missing. Each parent has made questionable decisions for their child and are now facing the consequences.
The parents are written as real people. They’re flawed, desperate, and with time, willing to do almost anything for their child. And yet, I was drawn to each of them because of their loyalty and desperation. And as each parent seems to reach a safety point, a hidden plot twist brings them back to rock bottom. The story bounces between two timelines: the current year where Julia is investigating the disappearance of a girl named Olivia, and a year prior, where Julia was investigating the disappearance of Lewis’s daughter, Sadie. Each timeline has a perfect blend of mystery and procedural drama, with Julia’s investigative work the center of each.
Ready for my full review (with spoilers)? Continue reading here!
A lot of thrillers stay firmly in the “popcorn” category for me because everything feels ridiculous. All the characters are running around with no real purpose, just making choices that seem insane. The most important part of this book is the parents’ motivations. There’s a depth to each narrator that most thrillers don’t have, and it made the book feel more raw and true-to-life, with consequences that held my attention. This book is a thought-provoking, heart-wrenching, trippy timeline thriller, in line with McAllister’s other titles. If you enjoy her thrillers, or have ever had one recommended to you, READ THIS when it comes out. Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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