She's Not There: A Novel

I was really looking forward to Joy Fielding's She's Not There. I love suspense novels, but this novel had no suspense nor a real mystery. Caroline Shipley and her husband, Hunter went on a vacation to Rosarito, Mexico fifteen years previously for their anniversary. Caroline would not leave the kids with her mother or brother, so they brought five-year-old, Michelle, and two-year-old, Samantha with them. On the last night the babysitter failed to show up. The hotel said that someone had canceled the sitter. Since they were going to be eating just outside (they could see the window from the table), they went to dinner (Hunter insisted because he had a surprise for Caroline). They took turns checking on the sleeping girls. When they go back after dinner, Samantha is gone. Who took her and why?

Fifteen years later Caroline gets a call from a young girl stating she might be Samantha. Could this be her long lost daughter? We get to see how this kidnapping affected the family and if this young woman is really Samantha. Will Caroline finally get the truth?

I found She's Not There to be a slow novel with no suspense. It was so easy to figure out who took Samantha and why. We are subjected to a lot of Caroline thinking (and over thinking) and disagreements between Michelle and Caroline. Michelle was a difficult child before the kidnapping and she has not improved over the last fifteen years (I got very tired of their arguments). I did not like any of the characters in the book. Caroline plays the blame game and has issues controlling her temper. The writing is okay (satisfactory). I kept hoping that there would be a twist at the end. I give She's Not There 3 out of 5 stars (which mean it was okay).

I received a complimentary copy of She's Not There from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review of the novel.