[Review] Caller Unknown - Gillian McAllister @gillianmauthor @williammorrowbooks

Summary: There is nothing that Simone won’t do for her daughter, Lucy. The two have always been close, and with Lucy about to leave home for university, they depart the UK for a vacation to Texas to spend some quality time together. But when Simone awakens on their first morning in the desert, Lucy is gone, missing from their rental cabin. In her place is a cell phone, and a voice on the other line issues a shocking ransom demand. Don’t tell the police. Come to this location. And be prepared to do a deal…

Though Simone’s husband urges her to bring in the authorities for help, she knows she can’t take any chances. The kidnappers might kill Lucy if she tells anyone. No mother would take that risk. Instead, that night, she drives to the isolated meet-up.

What she finds there changes everything. The mysterious kidnapper doesn’t want money. They want Simone to do something. The unthinkable.

A catastrophic chain of events is set in motion, with chilling consequences that extend beyond Simone and her family. What follows is a heart-pounding journey through the small towns and punishing deserts of remote Texas, in which Simone’s courage—and morality—is pushed to the brink as she discovers what it truly means to be a mother.

Unbearably tense, compassionately told, and full of well-crafted moral dilemmas, Caller Unknown proves once again why Gillian McAllister’s thrillers are “the best of the best” (Lisa Jewell). (Pub Date: May 5 2026)

This is the account of a woman desperate to save her daughter after she's abducted during a trip to the United States. She can't call the police and her husband is too far to help her, so she's take it in her own hands. 

I'll be honest, I was disappointed. But the story tends to get better as you advance. It is quite interesting how Simone is built and how she keeps being tested on how far she can go. What I really didn't like wasn't the story itself but the writing. It feels like a book that needed more time in the oven, needed a little more to get there, but that instead was rushed to get done, sacrificing the impact the plot twists could have provided. 

Nevertheless, I loved watching Simone's relationship with her daughter grow and even the one with her own husband, which was put to the test countless times. 

It's a very quick read that will keep you guessing for a long part of it. I'll be honest, I don't think I expected any of the reveals.

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

Rating: 3 out of 5.