Adele Parks

HAPPY. MARRIED. MISSING. "A gripping story of greed, lies and dark family secrets." --Lisa Jewell, New York Times bestselling author, on Just My Luck Leigh Fletcher: happily married stepmom to two gorgeous boys goes missing on Monday. Her husband, Mark, says he knows nothing of her whereabouts. She went to work and just never came home. Their family is shattered. Kai Janssen: married to wealthy Dutch businessman Daan and vanishes the same week. Kai left their luxurious penthouse and glamorous world without a backward glance. She seemingly evaporated into thin air. Daan is distraught. Detective Clements knows that people disappear all the time--far too frequently. Most run away from things, some run toward and others are taken but find their way back. A sad few never return. These two women are from very different worlds. Their disappearances are unlikely to be connected. And yet, at a gut level, the detective believes they might be. How could these women walk away from their families, husbands and homes willingly? Clements is determined to unearth the truth, no matter how shocking and devastating it may be. #1 Sunday Times bestselling author Adele Parks returns with her most provocative, compelling book to date.

Woman Last Seen

Kristen Claiborn

There was a time when I used to read a book all the way through to the end, even when I really didn’t like it. I felt like it was a disservice to the author to not finish a book. I’m aware of how hard it is to get a book written from start to finish, then to go through the fight to get it published. It’s a difficult journey, and many times it can be heartbreaking. Especially once a book hits the market and the author is subjected to reviews, many of which won’t be stellar. Then at some point I realized the author would never have to know if I don’t finish a book! I can stop reading it, move on to another one that I hopefully like better, and nobody had to know. Since then, I rarely finish books that I don’t like, but I somehow powered through this one. 
	I’ve talked about the Brenda Novak book club before. It’s a thing on Facebook I somehow stumbled upon years ago. Brenda’s group has introduced me to many authors I now absolutely love (ya’ll know how I feel about romance), so I look forward to her monthly selections. This book is only the second book from those selections that I didn’t enjoy. I felt genuine relief that it was over when I finally flipped (can I use that word when I read the book on my kindle?) the last page over. Then I got mad about the ending, but I’ll get to that later. 
	Be warned, if you continue reading, you WILL encounter spoilers. 
	While I thoroughly enjoyed the twist of Kylie being married to two men, that’s about all I enjoyed. The kidnapper was painfully obvious from the moment Kylie disappeared. I appreciate that Parks made an attempt to pin it on Olie, but it was a feeble attempt. There was no way a child was going to work as an evil kidnapper, especially in a mass market paperback. Just no. Which left either of the husbands…or her best friend. Well, bestie was the clear frontrunner. It was almost disappointing when the identity of the person who imprisoned Kylie was made clear. 
	The other big problem was just Parks’ writing. She rushed through areas I felt needed more attention, but then would linger for pages on irrelevant details. One of my biggest pet peeves is when a paragraph lasts for pages…it drives me nuts. Especially lengthy paragraphs that just aren’t necessary, and there are so many of these in this book, it made my brain hurt (and I hate it when my brain hurts). It felt like Parks just needed fillers, but she focused so much on those fillers that she forgot the damn story. 
	And finally, the ending. Really? We’re just gonna leave Kylie like that? Just ugh. 
	Please, don’t take my word for it, go ahead and read this one. I’m decidedly not the end-all authority on books.

Megan Leprich

Once again I’m disappointed by an Adele Parks book, no one is surprised. And please don’t think that I go into these books expecting not to like them, I really do go in with an open mind and hope that I will enjoy it.

The story follows Leigh who seems to have a perfect life with her husband and her two stepsons. Until suddenly she goes to work and then never comes home.

The other main character in the story is Kai who is married to a wealthy Dutch businessman living the high life in her amazing penthouse. But suddenly a week after Leigh has gone missing, Kai is missing also.

Detectives start to investigate both cases and at first don’t believe that the two cases could be connected as the two women come from very different lifestyles. But as they dig farther into their lives and their families lives they realize people are capable of keeping great secrets.

The writing style doesn’t keep my attention and while some of the twists were good, I couldn’t get over how much I detested the main character. Only giving it 2 stars because the main character got what she deserved in the end.

*Many thanks to Mira Books for the gifted copy for my honest review!*

Totally Addicted to Reading

Having enjoyed the author's work in the past, I jumped at the chance to read her latest novel, Woman Last Seen.  Parks delivered a tale that will stun readers with its twists and many turns. 

Ok! What did I just read? I can’t believe I actually sat and read Woman Last Seen, gave up precious hours only to receive an ending that has me wanting to throw things. After all the jaw dropping twists, to deliver an ending that leaves the reader high and dry, is just plain cruel. I like closure in the books I read, especially thrillers. Well, this one left me trying to create my version of the outcome.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the book started out slow. When I say slow, I mean at a snail’s pace. I was subjected to a lengthy, boring introspection by Leigh, one of two women whose husband reported her missing. I considered throwing in the towel, then the author dropped a bomb, which made me reconsider giving up. The story started developing nicely after that, despite moments of tiresome introspection by each of the characters. I tried to figure who was behind the women’s’ disappearance and I narrowed it down to one person. My conclusion was spot on.

Now as for the characters. Goodness gracious, they were all abhorrent, well, except for twelve-year-old Seb. Their judgemental attitude and their constant justification of their actions made me hopping mad. Despite my dislike of them, I had some empathy for them. Regardless of their questionable actions, they were all victims.

Secrets, lies and deceit were the cornerstone of this story. Secrets and the truth have a strange way of coming to light and when it does, the domino effect can be far-reaching as the Woman Last Seen so aptly demonstrates.
It had the potential to be a five star read, but the start and especially the anti- climatic end took led to the deduction of stars.

NARRATION

The book was narrated by new to me narrator, Laura Aikman. I enjoyed her performance, which I credit to getting me through the first part of the book. She gave life to the characters. I would definitely listen to her again. 

Woman Last Seen

Reviews