Not That I Could Tell

By: Jessica Strawser

Narrated by: Erin Bennett

Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's Summary

An innocent night of fun takes a shocking turn in Not That I Could Tell, the next thrilling audiobook from Jessica Strawser.

When a group of neighborhood women gathers, wine in hand, around a fire pit where their backyards meet one Saturday night, most of them are just ecstatic to have discovered that their baby monitors reach that far. It's a rare kid-free night, and they're giddy with it. They drink too much, and the conversation turns personal.

By Monday morning, one of them is gone.

Everyone knows something about everyone else in the quirky small Ohio town of Yellow Springs, but no one can make sense of the disappearance. Kristin was a sociable twin mom, college administrator, and doctor's wife who didn't seem all that bothered by her impending divorce - and the investigation turns up more questions than answers, with her husband, Paul, at the center. For her closest neighbor, Clara, the incident triggers memories she thought she'd put behind her - and when she's unable to extract herself from the widening circle of scrutiny, her own suspicions quickly grow. But the neighborhood's newest addition, Izzy, is determined not to jump to any conclusions - especially since she's dealing with a crisis of her own.

As the police investigation goes from a media circus to a cold case, the neighbors are forced to reexamine what's going on behind their own closed doors - and to ask how well anyone really knows anyone else.

©2018 Jessica Strawser (P)2018 Macmillan Audio

Critic Reviews

"Full of slow-burning intrigue, Strawser's second novel will appeal to fans of Liane Moriarty's Big Little Lies and Jennifer Kitses' Small Hours." —Booklist

Pleasant - yet thrilly - companion to jogging

Any additional comments?

This book was my companion for a week, as I listened to it during my runs.
It was a pleasant listen, I really liked the narrator. It had enough suspense to keep me intrigued - it reminded slightly of the beginning of the series Slasher, on Netflix - and a (in my opinion) solid conclusion.
Not rating 5 stars ("It's great" instead of "I loved it") because I would have liked more plot twists and surprises, but that's just my personal taste. Still would recommend!

13 of 13 people found this review helpful

Dull. Disappointing. Boring.

I hate to leave bad reviews but this book kind of deserves one. It’s completely honest anyway. This book was so boring. You keep waiting for something to happen. But nothing does. You keep waiting for a twist or some giant reveal and nope. To be fair, there is ONE slightly dramatic scene toward the end of the book by even that is a 3 on a scale of 1-10 in drama. And there IS a little “I didn’t see that coming at the end” but it wasn’t a wow moment.

You never get to know Kristin before she disappears. You never get to know the husband before she disappears. I couldn’t even imagine what the neighbors looked like in my mind because there was no real description. There was a side love triangle thing she tried to make work in the story but there is no point to it. The writing style was fine but the book was missing plot twists, drama, shock, emotion...it was just boring day to day lives of be neighbors and then wondering where Kristin went.

And by the way, it’s also completely predictable. Not even much of a hint of it being anything but what the author leads you to believe. This is not a thriller on any level so if that’s what your going for, stick to books like The Wife Between Us and The Last Mrs. Parrish. I’m so confused how anyone can think this a 5 Star book. NOTHING HAPPENS. Exactly what parts were so amazing? Again, I hate being ugly about a book but after reading her first book I was excited about this one. Skip it.

9 of 10 people found this review helpful

OMG.... Unbelievable story line

I so loved this book and will recommend it to all my family and friends.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Blessings

It took me a little while to get into the story, but once I did I needed to finish. It was hard to pit it away once the characters and the connections developed. This hot close to home (wasn’t expecting it to be what it was) and was happier for the ending. My own mother was a version of Kristin. Many women..... are not.
I enjoyed this book. In a different way then I gotta joy others.
(Also randy and Roda are my favorites!! I could do with MORE of the ladies all together😍❤️)

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

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What disappointed you about Not That I Could Tell?

I figured out the ending in the first two chapters but kept listening hoping for a plot twist. Too many irrelevant characters. It's long and slow. I wanted to return it less than halfway through but often times books pick up in the second half. This one didn't.

Has Not That I Could Tell turned you off from other books in this genre?

No. This is my favorite genera so there's bound to be a few duds. It's a watered-down, off-brand to "Gone Girl".

Did Erin Bennett do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

No, but partially because there are what seems like 27 irrelevant characters. The voices of the little children are cringe-worthy.

What character would you cut from Not That I Could Tell?

Most of them! The middle 30 chapters could be omitted and you wouldn't miss a thing.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Slow but catches up in the end

At first there seemed to be too many characters and it was hard to figure out what was going on but then eventually it starts to make sense. Although the it’s not a complete new story it’s still interesting.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Has a more more boring? Rambling? Pointless book ever been written

I only continued listen to found out what happening to the wife and kids . Every single page was filed with inconsequential drivel. I hate leaving books half read but I had to keep rewinding to figure out the point (or pointlessness) of what I had just daydreamed through.
This is probably the worst book I’ve ever read/listened to, second only to..... nah it’s the worst.
Please don’t waste your time.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

A big disappointment

This story started off so well, with an interesting set-up. Unfortunately the author wasn't as interested in the mystery of "what hppened to Kristen" as she was in discussing the angst and melodrama of the neighbors lives. I disliked almost everyone (except Randi and Rhonda); I even disliked the missing woman and had no sympathy for her. The story took the totally predictable way out to reach a conclusion. I was impressed with the narrator, Erin Bennett. She did a good job with this lame material.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Really wanted more out of this book.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Eh, not really. It will not be a book that leaves a lasting impression.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

It just was written on a very juvenile level. I was so excited for this story to come out and was disappointed with the plot and ending.

What aspect of Erin Bennett’s performance would you have changed?

Narration needed better voice changes for each character. It was unclear many times who was speaking and I think there were too many undeveloped characters to begin with.

Was Not That I Could Tell worth the listening time?

No not really.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

I really wanted to love this but....

The description of the book captured my attention and that’s why i pre-ordered this book. Premise was great... narration (which is key in my opinion) was also great. Can’t fault that. But the story line just didn’t capture my attention like i thought it would.
No real plot twists throughout the story like in a lot of the books, what happened to the missing chick was also pretty obvious, and even the part that confirmed it / major reveal was...unexciting. I kept trying to get to the “good part” but it never came. Most of the Izzy storyline felt unnecessary. It didn’t take away from the story but it didn’t add anything either. Seemed like the 12 year old had the most depth and common sense out of that entire neighborhood. If you like fairly dry books with just one major reveal / turn then you might like it. If you are into twists and turns and for the story to keep you guessing, then you will be disappointed.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful