Title: When We Go Missing
Author: Kristen Twardowski
Published:Createspace, December 2016
Genre: Psychological thriller
How I got the book: I received a free digital copy from the author in exchange for an honest review
Summary:
Once, Alex Gardinier was a successful physical therapist and a happy wife. Now she is trapped in a crumbling hospital room. Seven years ago Alex’s ex-husband, Nathan, was convicted of murdering five girls, and he has been rotting in prison ever since. Except the doctors say that Nathan isn’t in prison. In fact, they don’t believe that he is a criminal at all. According to them, Nathan is a devoted husband who visits her every week. But Alex can’t recall ever seeing him at the hospital, and the last time they met he was holding her hostage on a boat.
Maybe the doctors are right – maybe these memories of his crimes are her own personal delusions – but if they are wrong, then Nathan somehow escaped from prison. If they are wrong, he has trapped Alex in a psychiatric ward.
If they are wrong, he is hunting her sister.
My Review:
From the moment the author contacted me about her book, I was intrigued. The summary sounded exciting and I love a good mystery/thriller.
I thought all of the characters were well-written and enjoyable to read about. Alex had a good head on her shoulders and I loved the dynamic between her and her sister, Carolyn. I originally thought this book was about Alex, the protagonist, and her crazy husband, Nathan, but as the book went on, I felt as though the story was no longer about Alex. But I’ll talk about when I touch upon the writing style.
Nathan was a good antagonist to the story, but there wasn’t enough background information on him. I would love to know what makes him tick, what makes him do the things he does. I want to know how he got this way in the first place. But, the main background we get on him is how he and Alex met and came to be.
Nathan is a killer and Alex knows it. However, he kidnaps her and throws her into a foreign mental institution to get her out of the way making people believe he’s the victim and Alex is just crazy. I thought it was different and awesome because I started going crazy for Alex since she couldn’t understand anyone at the hospital and she didn’t belong there in the first place. It was definitely an intriguing plot for a story.
I liked how the author wrote the story. Each chapter was in the POV of someone else. Alex before finding out Nathan was crazy (the past), Alex after in the hospital (the present), Carolyn, and Alex’s nurse at the hospital.
My only problem with this was, as I said earlier, I started to feel as though the story was no longer about Alex towards the end. Her chapters became less frequent as we focused more on Carolyn and her “relationship” with Nathan. And, that’s where all the action was since Alex was stuck in the hospital, but even the ending of the story was more closure for Carolyn than it was for Alex.
This was an enticing thriller that made sense and was easy and fun to follow with a great cast of characters. I would read more of Kristen Twardowski’s books and recommend this to people who love a good thriller.
When We Go Missing by Kristen Twardowski gets…
4 out of 5 stars
Favorite Quote:
“His bark of laughter curdled the air.” –Kristen Twardowski, When We Go Missing
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