Just Another Missing Person: The gripping new thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author

2.5 - 3 🌟 Ufff, I don't know. I'm not convinced, I didn't like it very much. I think I started too strong with "Wrong Place Wrong Time" 😅 The idea is vague, it doesn't hold up anywhere and the characters are shallow. Except for Lewis, I really connected with him. The reason for the disappearance seems absurd, weak and uninteresting to me 🤷🏻‍♀️ and, although I didn't predict everything that was going to happen, I did see one of the biggest plot twists coming... I'll keep reading Gillian's books, but this one was a bit disappointing....

The review is about the book quality and not the contents. The cover has a glossy layer that kept coming off in both the original and replacement and the big size of the book made the edges easy to bend. The font and margins make it easy to read. Paper quality was good too, just the cover was not good quality and sturdy enough. Ordered from Cocoblu and both times I had gotten damaged so returned it. The seller sent the book without any bubble wrap/protection.

Wrong Place Wrong Time is probably my all time favourite thriller, so Just Another Missing Person had a lot to live up to - and it didn't disappoint! It just proved that Gillian McAllister is a force to be reckoned with. This book centres around three parents and their three children, who are used expertly as vessels to question the lengths we go to to protect our kids. The main protagonist is Julia, a police officer, who has secrets in her past that explode into her present, threatening everything she holds dear. My favourite character was Lewis, a father, who was the perfect embodiment of doing wrong for the right reasons. The three narrators and the different narrative perspectives that the author chose to use were extremely cleverly done. It added mystery and suspense and enabled the ingenious plot twist which must have taken such careful planning to pull off. Like other Gillian McAllister books, it'll make you want to go back to the beginning and start reading all over again! Apart from the mind-bending plots, the perfect pacing and the accomplished writing, what I really love about this author is her ability to make a book real. The situations the characters face might at times be surreal, but they are always emotionally rooted in the real world with the same problems as the rest of us. JAMP touches on parent-sibling relationships, what it means to be a 'good' person, and what constitutes an identity. There are many many novels out there about missing people, but this one is the only one I've read which really make me think about what it means to exist and therefore what it means to be missing. It's not so much a psychological thriller as an emotional one. And talking of twists - although the mid-point twist is the one the book really hinges around, there are a plethora of others throughout the story which just keep coming until the very end, all of which are stunningly done. If you want a gripping book that will keep you up all night, then look no further. There are a lot of strands to the plot of JAMP, and I did start to suspect towards the end that some may not be tied up - but then she'd go and answer my question and it was all closed off nicely. If I was to be realllyy picky, I wasn't convinced by one particular element involving the contents of a locker - it wasn't so believable and I think the story would have worked without some of it - but that doesn't detract from this book earning a solid 5 stars. I've just read the extract from Gillian's next novel which is included at the end of this one, and boy am I excited! She is at the top of her game and I can't recommend her or this book highly enough.

DI Julia Day is thinking about work, but trying to enjoy dinner with her family, when she receives a call about a missing person. She immediately leaves to go investigate but feels guilty at leaving her family yet again. Close-caption cameras show the missing woman, Olivia, entering a dead-end alley, never to be seen again. As Julia and her team investigate this puzzling mystery, Julia is suddenly accosted by a man in a balaclava who instructs her to frame and arrest a particular man for Olivia’s murder, OR he will reveal to the world a crime involving her own daughter that Julia has covered up! Now, (normally by-the-book) Julia must make a decision about how to proceed. I have read some reviews that complain about a slow start to this one, but I disagree! When the author is gearing up for major twists and surprises, a little set up is needed! The moral dilemma Julia faces is described early on and that captured my attention. There are twists and red herrings spread throughout the book that will keep you turning the pages. But be prepared, just when you think the final revelation has been made, there is one last stunning twist! So my thoughts are this: 𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝘼𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙈𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙋𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 is an excellent, twisty thriller! It has an intricate plot and it is chock-full of surprises! The characters are well-developed; from Julia’s mom guilt as she attempts to balance work and home, to Lewis’s grief that is the driving force behind his actions. Read this if you enjoy unpredictable thrillers!

I found it an average read. Not a book I would recommend.