What Remains

 

Detective Elise Sutton went to buy pink towels for her two daughters. That’s when the shooting began that changed her life and took someone else’s. The trauma of that alone has shaken her to her core, but little could she have anticipated how the act of saving a life could begin a nightmare that threatens her own and others she loves.

This was intense! I’m not sure what’s happened to me, but apparently I’m onboard with a little action in my thrillers now. Who knew? Wendy Walker delivers with a psychological/crime thriller that is really a cover-to-cover cat-and-mouse game between Elise and a new “admirer” from the store shooting. How that psychological chess match gets started was gripping reading, even if I had to suspend a bit of disbelief! 

The strongest and most compelling part of the story is seeing how Elise’s stalker gets inside her head. Is it always realistic? No… but is it visceral and nerve-wracking? Definitely. This book made me feel all kinds of vulnerable! I did want to scream at her a lot for her unwise choices, but Walker did a great job of getting the reader into her headspace so I could understand her reasoning, even if I didn’t agree with it.

I liked Elise’s partner, Rowan, and even her husband, Mitch, despite his past affair.  That story thread felt a little unnecessary, but I guess it made it easier to believe some aspects of her actions. The only thing I didn’t love was a separate story thread involving an investigation at a hunting cabin. It ties in ultimately, but was the least interesting part of the story. In the author’s note, Walker mentions her passion for discussing the impact of trauma, and that’s very evident and well explored in the pages as well.

After loving Don’t Look for Me, this is another excellent thriller from Wendy Walker and I highly recommend it!

★★★★ ½ 

Thanks to Edelweiss, Blackstone Publishing, and author Wendy Walker for this ARC to review honestly. It’s due to be published June 13,2023.