Just Another Missing Person

Wasn't really grabbing me,getting a bit bored.

Her writing style is just not for me. Too dry, too confusing, I don't know. 

4.5 stars rounded down to 4. I read this after Wrong Place Wrong Time, and the things I loved about that book are here as well. Gillian's writing style is exactly what I prefer in that we get a good introduction to the characters, the story starts quickly and is well paced, and the twists make sense but are hard to see coming. I didn't give this 5 stars because it was all a bit too fantastical in the end (which was the same and only thing I didn't like about Wrong Place Wrong Time), but it was very well written. For one of the twists, I went back to earlier chapters many times so sure I had seen something but I was wrong. Really well done, I'll definitely be reading more of her books.

I really enjoyed the plot and some of the characters. Couldn't stop reading.

Found Emma so grating. Some of the characters were very annoying.

I'm learning that I'm a not a big fan of books with differing perspectives. The change in writing style and jump in timeline ends up throwing me, and I tend to favour one voice over the rest.

In this case, the differing perspectives worked well for the story, and the twists within it. The plot dived into unrealistic territories at times but, in saying that, I did find myself racing through it to unravel the tale and all the little pieces of loose thread woven throughout.

Sadly, the ending and the twists didn't quite live up to the expectations spelled out at the beginning of the book, and it ended up just falling a bit flat. But, boy, can McAllister build up to something brilliantly.

A mixed bag for me, but ultimately I did enjoy this and McAllister is a author I will keep an eye out for, for sure.

DNF @ 40%

After absolutely loving 'Wrong Place, Wrong Time', this was a massive disappointment.

40% in and I'm bored to tears and have absolutely no inclination to get back to it.

The story wasn't that interesting, the different POVs were confusing, especially with the change of third to second person between them. Also the main detective seemed like a total wet blanket with zero personality apart from making terrible decisions.

I'm not writing this author off but this one wasn't for me at all.

I had a bit of trouble switching the POV so much but other than that, this was an outstanding read. I thought the plot was intriguing and different than most, enjoyed the deep dive in character (so many of them were different than I first assumed) and especially liked the intricracies of the parent/child interactions - not only Genevieve and Julia (but what an outstanding moral dilemma to have Julia live through) but also Sadie/Lewis and Emma/Anthony. Extra star for going deep.

What a complicated, yet suspenseful story! I had to go back and reread multiple times to understand what had just happened. What a parent wouldn't do for their child, or to do what is right in spite of being a parent to a child... Lots of twists I didn't see coming, as well as “loose ends” being a bit too quickly tied up. A good page-turner! My 3 rating is for me getting so confused as to what was happening at times.

I've been meaning to read [b:Wrong Place Wrong Time|59947696|Wrong Place Wrong Time|Gillian McAllister|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1659457434l/59947696.SY75.jpg|91884344]for a while, but when I saw McAllister had a new release I decided to start here.

Just Another Missing Person follows Julia, a chief detective looking for a young woman who walked down a dead end alley and never emerged.

Chapters alternate between three characters, all of whom are parents warring with the actions of their teenaged or newly adult children. Though a mystery thriller, the underlying theme really is parental love. How dangerous, preposterous choices become inevitable when you feel that protective over someone, when you love them that much.

I think the book is written well, and the audiobook is produced well. I was really liking the first 80% of the book. I was pausing the audiobook to stop and think through all these moving parts. I was stumped and also hooked. I thought this might be a rare exception to my general distaste for thrillers. But then the ending was just so....dumb. Somehow both absurd and obvious.

The biggest issue I have with the ending is not the reveal, but that I don't think the characters we are supposed to think are good, actually are good. I love characters who are morally gray and unlikeable. But Lewis was let off the hook pretty immediately for being a blackmailer. He's just a sad dad, who can blame him? If anything, everything he did was vindicated by finding Sadie alive. I suppose it would have been hypocritical of Julia to go after Lewis while committing so many crimes for her own child. But hypocrisy rarely seems to stop her. Julia and Genevieve are wholly let off the hook for killing Zach and then covering it up. This is because Lewis makes Price, poor Price, break into the prosecutor's house and threaten her with violence. Why couldn't Lewis do his unhinged idea himself? He already has the homemade balaclava. Everyone leave Price alone. I like him.Also, wasn't Lewis just working with Zach's brother to ruin Julia's life? Are we worried about Zach's brother? Poor Zach. It may be strange to feel for a mugger, but it just doesn't sit right with me for his death to be swept aside so completely, especially when almost all the characters ended up being criminals. It's like Zach's life wasn't worth anything because he was less effective than the police at crime. It is gross copaganda. Maybe it's because I just read [b:Miracle Creek|40121959|Miracle Creek|Angie Kim|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1537287675l/40121959._SX50_.jpg|55758063], but I would have been more swayed by the parents being willing to pay the price to protect their child, and then they ACTUALLY pay the price. Not some weird trial of faith, but rather a world where consequences move beyond the hypothetical. And, maybe, just maybe, the kids themselves could have taken some accountability. I wish there had been some reckoning, some honesty, anything other than a series of tidy coincidences where the characters we're supposed to like are bailed out. Julia doesn't even learn anything about being too invested in the job, after it threw her marriage into an awkward stalemate and threatened to imprison her daughter, after she herself narrowly escaped murder by a colleague. She's just like, “Let's get back to work. I am more dedicated than ever.”I also didn't love how Julia was surrounded with so many men and so few women of import. Art, Jonathan, Price, Lewis. For one dollar, name a woman. Other than her daughter. Other than “attractive” young blonde women who are missing and presumed dead. Please, McAllister, may I have one Bechdel test. I don't even know what I'm saying anymore.

For me this was a solid four stars for the first three quarters of the book. In the end it undercut itself and tied up too many things in ways that rubbed me the wrong way. Even still, I would try [b:Wrong Place Wrong Time|59947696|Wrong Place Wrong Time|Gillian McAllister|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1659457434l/59947696.SY75.jpg|91884344]. Just probably not for a while.

4 Stars

Missing girls. Twists and Turns, multiple points of view, and a detective on the case.

A missing person case with a few moral dilemmas as well!

This book was so good. We are following a few different perspectives, so we get some great insight into the thoughts of other characters that aren't the main detective on this case. I also found the different moral dilemmas very interesting and looked forward to seeing how they would play out. The plot has lots of twists and turns along the way, and it really kept me flipping the pages.

Thanks to William Morrow for sending me an early copy through a giveaway!

4.5, I almost didn't read this because I hated her last book so much. I'm glad I gave her a second chance. I loved this one!