[Review] My Wife Is Missing - D.J. Palmer

Summary: A family vacation turns into a nightmare for Michael Hart when he discovers his wife and two children have disappeared from their New York City hotel room. Horrified, he fears they’ve been kidnapped. Michael’s frantic search to find them takes a shocking turn when he discovers that his wife, Natalie, appears to have left quite willingly, taking their children with her. The police want to know why, and so does Michael. But there may be a reason why Natalie ran, something Michael can’t tell the police—the truth about his past.

While untangling his deceptions might be the key to locating Natalie, Michael knows it could also be his undoing. To find his wife, he must now turn to the one person capable of exposing all that he’s been hiding. Natalie thinks she has Michael all figured out and has hatched a plan to escape from him permanently. One detail, though, threatens to derail her efforts: sleep—or more accurately, the lack of it. Since the moment the shocking revelations about her husband came to light, Natalie’s insomnia has worsened to the point that she now suffers from delusions.

Are her fears about Michael valid—or a symptom of her condition? With her children’s lives at risk, the stakes for Natalie could not be higher. On her own, running low on energy and resources, avoiding increasingly close calls with Michael—who is on the hunt and closing in fast—Natalie needs someone to turn to for help. But who can she trust when she can’t even trust herself? (Pub Date: May 10 2022)

 

I was very happy to get this book, so maybe my expectations were too high. Still, the mystery did get me curious, as it was hard to know in what to believe. At the same time, it was as hard to know which character to like. 

Natalie can't sleep and to make things worse, she's found out the truth. Michael is happy he could get Natalie and the kids to a trip to New York after so much they've been going through. But he doesn't get to enjoy it because next thing he knows they are all missing. To make things worse, the cameras show Natalie taking their children away from the hotel by her own volition. What did she find out to make her run away from him?

This is the type of book you know very little about the characters and have to find out little by little without even knowing if what comes up is true or not. 

I can see why many people loved the story, but it is not the kind of pacing for me. I thought the book dragged too much for something you couldn't trust the characters to keep you engaged. As I said, I was curious, so that made sure I got to the end, but it was just that. The characters really weren't for me. The plot twists were good, though. 

This is above your average thriller, but we could have been better and more entertaining, thus why I was disappointed.

Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

Rating: 3 out of 5.