Review : What She Knew by Gilly MacMillan
What She Knew by Gilly MacMillan
Pages : 384
Genre : Mystery
Stand alone
My Rating : 4/5
About the Book :
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.
My Thoughts :
Of all the thrillers I’ve read in the past few years, What She Knew feels almost refreshing, not because it creates something new or surprising, but specifically because it doesn’t. It doesn’t rely on unpredictable twists and shocking ideas, and doesn’t try to imitate Gone Girl and all of its successors. It feels more traditional, perhaps, but its writing and fast pace make it a really fun reading experience.
What She Knew tells the story of the missing child from two point of views, the mother and the investigator. Both point of views were interesting, and unlike I Let You Go, I did feel that the investigator’s personal life was relevant to the case. We get to see the pressure the police feels while we also understand the immense despair of the mother. They are two likable but flawed characters, written with complexity.
It’s funny that I mentioned What She Knew not being an imitator of Gone Girl, because one of my favorite aspects of this book was also an important theme of Gillian Flynn’s spectacular thriller : that is, the media. Newspaper, blogs and the like are so incredibly present in our lives, it makes sense to me that they would play an important role in a case like this. It’s interesting and scary to see how fast public opinion can form and change, and how intense it can get, too.
Overall, I really enjoyed What She Knew. The pace was fast, the story interesting, and I liked that there were many suspects, none of which were specially obvious. I had a few suspicions but no certainty until the guilty party was revealed. That, to me, is the mark of a great suspense.
Nice review…I enjoyed this book too. A good mystery/suspense.
I actually forget who the suspect was. I will have to go back and re-read the book. Or I may e-mail you and ask. 🙂
It was a secret until the end….If I recall, I never guessed.
I hope you are having a good weekend.
Elizabeth
Silver’s Reviews
My Blog
I love books like this and don’t know why I don’t read them more often.
I really enjoyed this book as well! Your right- it really is different than the type of books that have come after Gone Girl. Great review!
Yes, it feels quite different doesn’t it? And I loved Gone Girl, but I appreciate reading something different. Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
I love not knowing the identity of the perp until the end…or near the end. I started getting suspicious, but like so many of these books, our suspicions aren’t always realized. So it is great to breathe a sigh of relief, just knowing.
Thanks for sharing…I loved this book, too.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it too! It’s a great experience not to know for sure what will happen in a good thriller!