Book Review: Missing Molly

Missing Molly

Author: Natalie Barelli

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Lori's Book Club Rating: 6 Thumbs Up!

"Everyone has secrets, and Rachel Holloway is no exception. She's worked hard to keep the past where it belongs: dead and buried. And so far, she's been very successful. But now the small newspaper where she works wants to produce a podcast on a cold case: the disappearance 12 years ago of young Molly Forster. 

Some secrets should never see the light of day, and, as far as Rachel is concerned, whatever happened to little Molly is one of them. Rachel has a life now - a boyfriend she loves and a three-year-old daughter she adores - and she will do anything to protect them. But to do that, no one can ever know that she is Molly Forster." (From the description page on Amazon)

Lori's Review
WHAT THE... WHAT?!?  The author tells us, straight up, that Rachel Holloway is the girl who has been missing for twelve years. The girl everyone has been searching for. The girl presumed dead by most, but who's story lives on in conspiracy theories. This tidbit of information is typically revealed at the end of a book. One final twist that nobody saw coming. But Natalie Barelli has even written her twist with a twist. The reader cheers Rachel on in her attempt to hide her identity from the people who so desperately want her found. This becomes problematic when Rachel's employer tasks her with investigating the Forster family murders and subsequent disappearance of twelve-year-old Molly.  

This is one book I could not put down. It had me from page one. I.WAS.IN! And I was rooting for Rachel the entire time, on the edge of my seat and wanting so badly to see her come through this trial unscathed. The author had me brainstorming options for Rachel in my spare time. At one point she even had me questioning what I believed to be true about the story line. It was just one fantastic web of intrigue, uncertainty, and deception. The only thing I didn't like about the book was the end. Not the "ending", but THE END.  I just didn't want the story to end. Natalie Barelli books are now on my radar. Six enthusiastic thumbs up!