She's Not There

A Novel

By: Joy Fielding

Narrated by: Tanya Eby

Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's Summary

A novel of psychological suspense about a woman whose life takes a shocking turn when a young girl contacts her, claiming to be her daughter kidnapped in Mexico years earlier, from the New York Times best-selling author of Someone is Watching.

A lifetime ago, every year Carole Shipley looked forward to her wedding anniversary. But then a celebratory trip to Mexico for the occasion with her husband and friends ended in the unsolved kidnapping of her infant daughter, Samantha. Now, 15 years after that horrific time, divorced and isolated, Carole is forced to relive the kidnapping by reporters who call every year on the anniversary of Samantha's disappearance.

However, this year when the phone rings, Carole hears the sweet voice of a girl claiming to be her long-lost daughter. Plunged back into the world of heartbreak, suspicion, and questions that led the case to run cold so many years ago, Carole doesn't know what or whom to believe. But when she starts to figure it out, she finds the answers dangerously close to home.

©2016 Joy Fielding, Inc. (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved. Recorded by arrangement with Ballantine Books, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.

A Page-Turner, Yet Characters Lack Verisimilitude

Husband was TOO selfish and conniving, while the wife was TOO noble (and oblivious?). Only one date in 15 years? Not likely, while she is young and beautiful and craving emotional support. The daughters were unrealistically diametrically opposed as sweet and sour. Setting the wife up as the perceived villain, brave and long-suffering, just didn't pass the reality test, when almost always it's the husband or boyfriend or male family friend. The supposed "motive"--cold, uncaring, irresponsible--was entirely unbelievable. The husband would clearly be the prime suspect, and remain so despite a little sniveling at the press conference. Nevertheless, the plot held the pageant together. I would have preferred a more complex ending, hinting at some personal triumph after so many years in limbo, but that would have required more depth of character all along.

Good One!

It's a simple story but very well done. It won't keep you on the edge of your seat but it will make you want to keep listening. The story flows nicely and the narration is excellent.

Plot was a little all over the place

The plot was a little all over the place for me and I didn't get the wow factor or aha moment with the reveal at the end. Also I found almost all the characters, even the main character to be not very likeable.

Awful

Generally I choose my next book by the overall reviews of readers. Boy, was that a mistake with this one. How on earth did so many people rate this book so high. This book is terrible. I continually had a knot in my stomach as I listened to the dialogue between mother and daughter, and among the other characters, as well. It's like watching a Jerry Springer episode. Also, the narrator really needs to work on her depiction of male characters. They all sound exactly the same, kind of like the same cartoon character with his voice stuck up in his throat and some kind of weird, suddenly very proper, accent. I'm not finished reading this book and I'm plodding through it to get to the end. I would have returned it had I not just returned the one prior to it. The story could be good and I'm curious to see how it's going to end, but the journey getting there is painful.

Just awesome

I thought this was fantastic. I loved it. It was well written and well read. Couldn't put it down.

The characters were not sympathetic

The use of the phrase "I don't understand" was overused. I could not drum up any sympathy for any of the characters. While the author may have been portraying them as flawed but sympathetic this did not come across in the narrative. The narrator's portrayal of the older daughter was irritating to listen to. I did not enjoy listening to this book. It is possible that I would have liked it better if I had read it or listened to it with a different narrator.

Narration was awful!

The story was ok, it was just hard to get past the narration. The whiny weak voice was just so obnoxious and the main character was worse. She let her older daughter walk all over her and treat her like crap and it was so annoying to listen to. No child, or person, should treat another like the eldest daughter treats her mother. It was disgusting and I wanted to reach through the book and backhand her. If the main character were stronger and if the daughter was put in her place, it would have been a much more enjoyable book.

OK but to b fair I did not finish. ..

I got bored with this book a few hours in so I cannot fairly give it a rating. For the price however, is it is OK and perhaps if I had not recently splurged on many other new Lisa Gardners and had a full Playlist I would have stayed longer. I would not waste a credit on it but i won't return it unless i give it another chance. ... if you are out of credits and need a cheaper book to kill time, it may be worth the 7 bucks. if I finish it someday, I'll update this rating.

Mean People

The story was good. The narration was good. I had a problem with how absolutely mean some of the characters were. It made me want to stop listening. I was ready to shake Caroline for her weakness with her daughter Michelle. I am glad I listened to the end, as the twist is worth waiting for.

Vicky J

a story from the headlines ***ending alert***

this story reminded me of the little girl in Portugal who is still missing to this day. unfortunately, the real story isn't as good as this story, though it would be wonderful if it was...